Chapter Eighteen #2
“Lark, I know you’re giddy in love and all that,” said Hugh, “and I’m very glad your melancholia has passed, but your delight in scandal and the misery of others is going to take a moment to get used to again.”
“Giddy in love!” Anthony said, laughing. “Is that what you are?”
Lark rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “I’m just making suggestions.”
“And fine as they may be,” said Fletcher, “I don’t intend to create a scene if I can help it.”
“None of you are any fun.”
“Marlborough’s mistress has gifted him with an illegitimate heir,” said Anthony.
“And?” said Fletcher.
“Just sharing gossip. And, I suppose, feeling a bit put out that this news has mostly been greeted with yawns—a young duke fathering a child before he marries, something that has happened since the first duke was created—but so many less significant things are considered scandalous. And I could easily take this to a dark place, so let us ignore me and carry on brainstorming how to get Fletcher out of his predicament.”
“Well, what do you suggest?” Fletcher asked Anthony.
“Money fixes everything.” Anthony shrugged. “I share in Lark’s delight in the possibility of a scene at a wedding. Were any of the rest of you at Mitford’s wedding, when he was left at the altar? Couldn’t have happened to a bigger cad.”
“I only heard about that,” said Lark. “If I recall correctly, the scandal sheets reported he’d been regularly spending nights with a lady of the night, and indeed, spent the eve of his wedding with this woman he was paying.”
“I don’t blame his would-be bride for avoiding syphilis and ending that whole charade,” said Anthony.
Fletcher looked back and forth between Lark and Anthony, who were leaning toward each other as if this were the most fascinating conversation they’d ever had. He cleared his throat.
“Oh, right,” said Anthony, grinning. “My point was, I understand why you would perhaps not want to make a scene, much as I might enjoy it. But this might be one of those cases in which you might deploy your substantial power and fortune in order to orchestrate the outcome you most desire.”
“I had already come to the same conclusion,” Fletcher said, “although it may be a great deal of money. There’s a sheep farm in Bristol that—”
“Is this much ado about a sheep farm?” Anthony asked Lark.
“It is. But it’s a famous and quite profitable sheep farm. Your coat may very well have been made with wool from said sheep farm.”
Anthony looked down at his black wool suit coat and ran his hands over the lapels. “All right. Someone spell out the particulars for me.”
Anthony sat patiently as Fletcher described the situation again. When Fletcher finished, Anthony said, “All right. I’ve got an idea.”
Fletcher listened and found it oddly reasonable. “I’ll take that into consideration.” He wasn’t willing to commit to a plan, but Anthony’s idea was better than anything he’d come up with so far.
“It is nice to see you out here, solving our problems again, Anthony,” said Hugh.
“I am nothing if not unerringly practical.”
“Ha,” said Lark.
Anthony cut Lark a wry look, but said, “I do enjoy your company, gents. Many of my friends have abandoned London in recent years and I am grateful that Lark introduced me to you all.”
“Just don’t let Lark be hanged,” Hugh said. “That’s all I ask.”
“I spend every day trying to determine how best to ensure no harm comes to him.”
“This is an odd situation we all find ourselves in,” said Fletcher.
Owen held up his glass. “Let’s toast to Lark’s and Anthony’s happiness. And Fletcher’s, too.”
All five men clinked their glasses together.
* * *
Louisa frowned at the pink blob that was supposed to be a flower in her embroidery project. She must have miscounted stitches. But then, of course she had; her mind was elsewhere.
Her father appeared in the doorway of the sitting room, which surprised her. He was rarely home at this time in the afternoon.
“There you are,” he said, as though he’d been looking all over for her.
“Hello,” she said. “Did you need something?”
Father walked into the room and sat next to her on the sofa. “Let me speak with you about something.”
“Please do.”
He frowned. “Fletcher Basildon came to speak to me today.”
Louisa’s pulse sped up, but she felt somewhat gratified that Fletcher had abided by his half of the bargain. “And?”
“Do you really feel trapped in your engagement to Rotherfeld?”
Lord George Petty had long been a bit soft, something Louisa had always appreciated. He was ruthless in business, but kind and empathetic with his family. The way he said the word trapped made Louisa believe that he’d understand her plight in a way her mother didn’t.
“When Rotherfeld first started to court me last season, I was open to him,” Louisa said, deciding to start at the beginning.
“He is very handsome, after all, and he was kind to me, and he was always a perfect gentleman. That all impressed me. It wasn’t love, but I know better than to expect love, at least right away.
When he proposed, I couldn’t think of a reason to say no, and I imagined that, over time, we’d get to know each other and grow fond of each other and have a perfectly agreeable marriage.
However, this season, as we have gotten to know each other quite well, some… new facts have come to light.”
“Yes, Fletcher mentioned. But why don’t you tell me yourself?”
Louisa wondered how much Fletcher had told Father.
“I did tell Mother, and she essentially told me I was being foolish, and I did not have a choice in this matter.” She sighed.
“As for Rotherfeld, I don’t think we suit, is the main thing.
I find him dull. He thinks my interests are frivolous.
Often when we spend time together, we run out of things to discuss.
And perhaps that is something that can be overcome, but I…
” Louisa felt tears sting her eyes. These were petty reasons not to marry.
She was reluctant to talk about Daniel’s affairs with men, but she didn’t know how else to convince her father.
“And I believe he’s having an affair with someone else.
I suppose I don’t have proof, and I am just operating on a gut feeling I have, but I’m certain I saw him with someone at the Atherton ball, and…
Well, it doesn’t much matter. I confronted him yesterday, and he didn’t confirm my suspicion about the affair, but he didn’t deny it either.
So I asked him to let me out of the engagement, and he refused.
And he was honest. He wanted a wife. He as much as admitted that he chose me because I’m old enough to be on the shelf and he figured I’d be desperate.
I wasn’t desperate, but he seemed like a nice man, and who was I to turn that down?
But now he’s got this business arrangement with you, and I just think…
I think he and I will make each other miserable.
Neither of us wants to be married to the other, but Rotherfeld feels that he must marry, and so, yes, I find myself trapped. ”
Father looked at the floor for a long moment.
“There have been some unsavory rumors about Rotherfeld in the past. I ignored them because he seemed like such a good-hearted young man when we spoke. And when he came to me with this farm deal, I thought he was acting as my future son-in-law and introducing me to a good business prospect. I didn’t realize he was putting me in a position where I could not say no to him. ”
“I don’t think he’s a bad man. But I don’t want to marry him.”
“Fletcher offered to marry you.”
So he’d really said it all. “Did he?”
“This cannot be a surprise. I take it you and he have been discussing it.”
“I… yes. He hasn’t formally proposed, but he told me he’d marry me if I ended my engagement to Rotherfeld.”
“Do you want to marry Fletcher?”
“Yes,” Louisa said, suddenly overcome with her emotions.
The longer she stared down this situation, the more clear it was to her that she very much wanted to marry Fletcher.
She could practically see their whole future together, laughing and teasing each other and making good on the promise of a few stolen kisses.
She knew she would cry now, frustrated as she was with Daniel, and she hated it.
She wanted to show strength. But the predicament she found herself in now weighed on her.
“Yes, I want to marry Fletcher. I wish either of us had realized how much we meant to each other sooner than a month ago, but here I am now. Rotherfeld and I are not married yet. Please tell me it’s not too late. ”
“Oh, my dear. I hate to see you cry.” Father reached over and wiped away an escaped tear with his thumb.
“I do not believe it is too late, but it’s possible Rotherfeld intends to ruin me financially if you don’t go through with it.
Which is not my way of saying you must marry Rotherfeld, but I do not know what I will do if you don’t. ”
“Fletcher can help, surely. He just inherited his father’s business holdings.”
“I don’t want to ask that of him. Financial entanglements with one prospective son-in-law should not be cured with entanglements with another. On the other hand, I’ve always liked that boy.” Father shook his head. “I know not what to do about any of this.”
“In other words, you won’t force me to marry Rotherfeld, but there could be serious consequences if I don’t.”
Father sighed and nodded. “That is about the sum of it.”
What a mess. Louisa had no idea what to do. And there was less than a week to go until the wedding.