Read Online Marjorie Farrell by Autumn Rose - Free Book Online Page B

young man’s passion, thought Sam. The belief that because one wanted so much, everyone must also see the rightness of it and want the same for him. He remembered how he had thought Lavinia must love him, if only because he loved her. And as his passion for Lavinia had died, so too would Jeremy’s love for this unknown girl.
    “Well, it certainly sounds as though a meeting were in order.”
    “Then you do understand! I knew you would.”
    “Better than you would think, for a gentleman of my advanced years.”
    “Pah. You are in better shape than many of my friends, who spend their time drinking and gambling. You don’t look a day over thirty-five!”
    “Thank you, Jeremy,” Sam replied dryly. “Now I must ask you one thing, which is not, I think, unreasonable.”
    “Yes?”
    “I think it best to keep the engagement informal for a few months.” As Jeremy started to protest, Sam held up his hand. “Hear me out. This will allow your mother and me time to become acquainted with the Dillons. You will have a sanctioned, if private betrothal, and should any change of heart take place on either side, neither you nor Miss Dillon will suffer in the eyes of society. And, to be quite truthful, I cannot, at this point, imagine getting your mother to agree to anything else.”
    Jeremy sighed, and gave in. “You are probably right. And since there will be no change of heart, we can make our announcement at the beginning of the Little Season and introduce Miranda to society then.”
    “Now, how do we arrange our first meeting?”
    “I think I will ride out to Hampstead this afternoon,” Jeremy said. “I will speak with Miranda’s mother, and we will decide who should call on whom first.”
    “You hadn’t spoken with Mrs. Dillon either, I understood from her.”
    Jeremy had the grace to blush. “No, we kept it secret from her also. I can see now it was a thoughtless thing to do. How did you like her?”
    “She seems an independent sort.”
    “Yes, Nora has supported them both on her own,” Jeremy said. “And, Sam, one of the wonderful things about this is that I can offer her some help after all her years of poverty.”
    “You are generous, Jeremy.”
    “But I have so much,” Jeremy replied, with that openness he had had even as a small boy, when he was forever giving toys and puppies away.
    And I mean to see you are not taken advantage of, thought Sam, who could not help but have lingering doubts about a woman who seemed honest enough, but who was, after all, a mother. And what mother would not want to advance her daughter and herself?
     

Chapter 6
     
    It was not until more than a week later that the first meeting took place. By the time Jeremy and his mother spoke again and he and the Dillons met, having the most formal conversation since they had been acquainted, with Jeremy taking the responsibility for the deception, the earliest convenient time for both the families was the second Tuesday in June. The meeting was to be in Hampstead: a picnic on the Heath with tea later back at the cottage.
    Jeremy and Sam dressed comfortably for a day in the country, but had not been able to convince Lavinia that half-boots would be more appropriate than kid slippers and that an everyday round gown was more appropriate than the muslin walking dress she chose to wear.
    “I am meeting my son’s fiancée for the first time, and no matter that she is beneath him, I intend to dress according to the occasion. And surely I have dressed like this for other picnics. It is quite the thing,” said Lavinia at the door when Sam had remarked upon the formality of her attire. Jeremy grimaced behind her and said: “I tried to convince my mama that a picnic at Richmond is a bit different than one on the Heath, but with no great success.”
    “No matter,” Sam said, thinking things were going according to plan. Lavinia had always been at her best in the city, and aside from riding, enjoyed no physical activity. It was the one