Chapter 42
Another Betrothal is Almost Unbelievable
Meanwhile, at Villa Montblanc
The reality of what he had agreed to when he had met with Conte D’Avalos the hour before was settling over David when the dessert course was served at dinner that evening.
Marry her in a fortnight, and I’ll not only pay you her dowry, I’ll give you the sheep.
Having spent the last half hour in the library researching marriage in Rome when he should have been changing for dinner, David had grown frustrated.
He was sure the D’Avalos family was Catholic. As an Englishman, he was Anglican. Would Vittoria even be allowed to marry him? Why hadn’t her father asked about it?
David glanced down the table to where his brother was seated at the carver. “Brother, pray tell, how is it you and Nikky were able to marry?”
Conversation about the table suddenly ceased. Everyone turned to stare first at David and then at Donald, their expressions indicating their curiosity.
“I admit I had wondered the same thing,” Will said.
Donald straightened in his chair. “Are you asking because she is Catholic, and I am not?”
“Yes,” David replied.
Inhaling slowly, his gaze briefly going to his wife, Donald finally let out the breath in a whoosh. “You were there,” he said. “We married in Catania. A priest performed the ceremony after Nicoletta received special permission from a diocesan bishop.”
“So... you have converted to Catholicism?” Will asked. There was no censure in his voice, merely curiosity.
“I have,” Donald admitted. “I find it’s not so very different,” he added. Redirecting his attention to his brother, he said, “Nicoletta’s rank helped to secure the bishop’s permission, of course.”
David nodded his understanding. “Did it take long? More than a fortnight to gain the special permission?”
Vittoria looked up from her plate to discover several people had turned their gaze on her. “Why are you looking at me?” she asked meekly.
Diana and Helen quickly diverted their gazes to their husbands before pretending interest in their meals.
Tom and Randy exchanged curious glances, while Barbara seemed to be watching a Shrovetide football match, her head turning back and forth between David, Donald, and their father.
“Less than a week,” Nicoletta said. “Might I inquire as to why you asked?”
About to pretend it didn’t matter, David decided to give a truthful answer. “Although I have no intention of converting, I’m going to need permission if I’m to secure a particular flock of sheep,” he said.
Everyone regarded him as if he was a candidate for Bedlam. “Why would you have to convert to Catholicism to acquire some sheep?” Randy asked. “And since when are you interested in sheep?”
“Because the sheep are part of a bargain,” David replied, his gaze going to Vittoria. “Seems their wool is already contracted to that American who attended Donna Vittoria’s ball the other night.”
“Mr. McAdams?” Will asked.
“Him, yes.”
“He’s in textiles. Has quite a thriving business in Boston and is expanding his sources for wool and silk here in Europe,” Will explained.
David pulled out his pocket watch. “I expect he is proposing to Donna Armenia at this very moment,” he said.
Vittoria blinked. “How do you know this?” she whispered.
“I was with him this morning when he bought her a ring. A ruby and diamond confection that should match quite nicely with all the red roses he intended to bestow on her today.”
“Oh, how romantic,” Nicoletta breathed. “They make a very handsome couple.”
“Is that why I couldn’t find any roses at the florist today?” Tom asked in a teasing voice.
“She must not have known of his intentions,” Diana said in wonder.
“She said nothing of being courted whilst we were in her company today,” Helen remarked, completing Diana’s thought.
“Mr. McAdams is quite in love with her,” David stated. “And I think... well, I think she feels affection for him, too.”
“That must have been some conversation you had in your equipage after we left the Forum,” Will commented.
David nodded, his gaze darting to Vittoria when he realized she was staring at him. Her expression made her appear suspicious, and her next words confirmed it.
“Those are my sheep,” she stated.
The dining room was suddenly quiet as everyone turned to stare first at her and then at David.
“Your sheep?” Nicoletta repeated. Her eyes suddenly rounded. “Oh! Those sheep,” she said on a chuckle.
“However did you come to own your own sheep?” Diana asked, her curiosity genuine.
Well aware everyone was staring at her, Vittoria lifted a shoulder. “I asked for them. For my tenth birthday,” she replied.
“My brother bought her ten sheep. Eight yews and two rams,” Nicoletta confirmed. “Now I think there are more than seventy sheep in that flock. Edoardo always gives her whatever she asks for,” she added on a sigh.
“Which is why I’m spoiled,” Vittoria said matter-of-factly. “So now I wish to know why it is my sheep have become part of a bargain,” she added, directing her gaze on David.
“I can see to it your sheep will continue to be your sheep, but in order for you to benefit from the contract your father signed with Mr. McAdams, we’ll need to marry,” he said. “Within a fortnight,” he added, his manner rather serious.
With the sounds of gasps and scoffs surrounding him, he pulled the ring box from his waistcoat pocket and opened it. “Vittoria D’Avalos—forgive me for not knowing all your other names since you refused to tell me—”
“Amalia Sofia Martina Isabella,” Nicoletta said, leaning over so she was as close as she could get to her brother-in-law.
“—Vittoria Amalia Sofia Martina Isabella D’Avalos,” he repeated, rising from his chair so he could move around to where Vittoria sat on the opposite side of the table. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He knelt down next to her chair and held up the ring.
His mother gasped. “I thought he didn’t like her,” she whispered.
“That was yesterday, my sweet,” Will replied. “Do keep up.”
Vittoria glanced around the table before she turned her attention on the ring. “Is... is that a ruby?” she asked.
“Indeed. It’s merely a betrothal ring, of course. There will be another for the ceremony,” he assured her. “I bought it this morning before I ordered your half-boots,” he added, hoping the reminder of the footwear would convince her of his sincerity.
She sighed and her expression displayed disappointment. “How much did Zia Armenia pay you?”
David blinked. “What? Nothing,” he insisted. “Wait. Are you saying I could have been bribed to propose to you?”
Nervous laughter erupted around the table as Vittoria took the ring from him and slid it on her fourth finger.
“Well, now we will never know,” she said, holding up her hand as she finally allowed a teasing grin.
She wiggled her fingers before leaning over to kiss him on the forehead.
“I will give you my answer later tonight,” she whispered.
“Minx,” he replied. He straightened and made his way back to his seat while the others at the table watched in disbelief.
Nicoletta exchanged a quick glance with Donald before she said, “Well, ladies, I think it’s time we leave the gentlemen to their drinks while we have tea in the parlor.”
Murmurs of disappointment followed the announcement, but the women stood and filed out of the dining room.
The men leaned back as a footman deposited glasses of grappa before them. Once the servant had disappeared, they turned their attentions on David.
Randy held up a hand. “I wish to go first,” he stated. “Best wishes, cousin, but what the hell?” he asked. “I heard you arguing with her all day yesterday. I fear you two are going to annoy one another to death.”
“That could happen,” David replied dryly.
“Me next,” Tom said, holding up a hand. “Allow me to be the second to say best wishes and suggest that perhaps you might take her somewhere more appropriate—more romantic—for a proposal? Trevi Fountain, perhaps?”
“We would require a chaperone,” David responded. “Sort of defeats the desire for privacy.”
Will lifted a hand. “I would like to say I am not surprised, but I am, and I wondered if you had thought about the logistics of such a union.”
David nodded. “I have. We’ll live in the Devonfield townhouse in London.
I told Conte D’Avalos I would bring her back to Rome every two years or so.
” He dipped his head. “Vittoria has relatives in London, and although Lady Morganfield is getting on in age, there are a number of cousins living there.”
Nodding, Will said, “She may have more friends there than she does here.”
“My turn,” Donald announced. “First, I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart, because Nicoletta has been hoping for this marriage for I cannot tell you how long,” he said. “Yes, she gets whatever she wants—”
“Are you referring to your wife or to Vittoria?” Tom asked in a tease.
“Both, actually, but I could not have found a better wife in all of England,” Donald admitted. “The fact that she came with the Montblanc fortune means our lives are far more comfortable than I could have provided on my meager earnings from my books, so there is that as well.”
“You’re welcome,” David replied. He lifted his glass of grappa. “Here’s hoping she accepts my offer.”
“Here, here,” they replied in unison, downing the liquor.
Meanwhile, in the parlor
Arranged in chairs and a settee in a semi-circle in front of the fireplace, Barbara and Nicoletta sat to Vittoria’s left and Diana and Helen took the chairs to her right.
Left in the settee in the middle, Vittoria held her teacup and saucer in her hands while a maid saw to completing the tea service.
Once everyone had been served and the servant had departed, a cacophony of voices sounded while Vittoria calmly took a sip of tea.
“One at a time, mia donnas,” she said in a quiet voice. The women collectively stopped speaking all at once and then giggled at the sudden silence.
Helen tittered. “We sounded like a hen party,” she said, helping herself to a lump of sugar from the sugar-pot. “Barbara, what are your thoughts? He’s your son. Should she accept his offer?”
Vittoria held up a hand. “Before you say anything, know that we shall live in London.”
The older matron nodded and angled her head to one side. “I have been rather happy to gain a daughter from this country, and although I never thought it could happen again, I will be very happy to welcome you as my second daughter,” she said. “And hopefully Nancy as my third.”
“Grazie,” Vittoria whispered. “So you are aware, I didn’t think Don Penton liked me, either.
At least, not until today when his actions proved he more than liked me.
” She lifted the hem of her skirts to reveal her half-boots.
“He had these made for me,” she said. “And they are far more comfortable than the slippers I should be wearing with this gown. He has already ordered two more pairs in other colors.”
“Oh,” Diana breathed appreciatively. “So... do you like him? Because, truth be told, yesterday I thought you despised him.”
Vittoria allowed a long sigh. “I fear I have been raised to believe the worst of men, and due to the circumstances of our original meeting—when I did not give him all my names—I thought he was like all the others.”
“A rogue, you mean?” Helen asked softly.
She nodded. “Our aristocratic society here is filled with them. It is why Zia Armenia has not wed. But David came to rescue me from such a beast, and I did not trust his motives.”
“He’s not a rogue,” Diana assured her.
“I know that now,” Vittoria replied.
They all turned to Nicoletta, who was beaming in delight, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “I am so happy for you,” she said, the tears escaping to roll down her cheeks. “I have been planning this match for you since I met David two years ago,” she said on a sob.
“Oh, Nikky,” Vittoria said, leaning over to offer her aunt a handkerchief. “Don’t cry.”
“I may join her,” Barbara said, sniffling.
Diana and Helen exchanged quick glances. “Are you going to accept his offer?” Helen asked.
Vittoria nodded. “Of course,” she replied. “I told him I would speak with him tonight. That is, if we can do so without a chaperone.”
“You’re allowed,” Nicoletta said, grinning despite the tears that continued to stream down her face. “Mayhap the library, for the privacy,” she suggested.
“Sì,” Vittoria replied. “I’ll go there now.”
The other four watched her take her leave, their collective sighs of relief resulting in another round of giggles.