Chapter 11
Richard had no more doubt. He was in love with Lady Loretta de Melville and was fairly sure his feelings were returned.
The family was to decamp to the north in a fortnight, and he did not want to have Loretta’s family leave London for their estate, Broadhurst in Essex, before he had asked her the most important of questions.
He was aware they would be in Derbyshire in June for Lizzy and Will’s wedding, but he could not wait that long before offering her his hand in marriage.
It was a cool spring day when Richard dismounted his horse and handed the reins to the waiting groom in front of Jersey House.
He was admitted by the butler and requested to see Lord Cyril.
“Sit, Richard,” Lord Cyril indicated to a chair in front of his desk after the butler closed the door.
“Good morning, your Lordship; I am here to request a private interview with your daughter,” Richard asked, not one for small talk when there was a task to accomplish as crucial as the one before him this day.
“I assume it is to request Loretta’s hand in marriage.” Lord Cyril asked for Richard was not the only one who was candid.
“It is, my Lord.” Richard agreed with a quick nod.
“I will not insult your intelligence to ask about your situation again, Richard. I know you are more than able to afford a wife, so you have my permission to see Loretta in private. Ten minutes; the door will be open partway and remember there are large footmen in the hall. Wait here. I will ask Loretta to join you.” The Earl rose and left to find his daughter.
“Papa said you wanted an audience with me, Richard. Why so formal today? You call on me practically every day…unless you have a particular reason to see me today,” Loretta surmised when she saw him stand tall, relieved that Richard was finally ready to get to the point.
“It is for a very special reason that I requested to see you alone, Loretta,” Richard agreed.
As he dropped to one knee, he took her left hand in his right.
“Loretta Hazel de Melville, I love you; I am in love with you and do not want another day, another minute, to pass without declaring my undying love for you. Will you do me the great honour of accepting my hand in marriage?” Richard held his breath as he waited for her response.
“I have been dreaming of this day for some time, Richard. It is my heart’s fondest desire to marry you as I love you deeply. Yes, Richard, I most certainly will be your wife, for it is a position I have long hoped to fill,” Loretta said with pleasure.
Richard slid a simple gold ring with a large, empire-cut centre diamond with smaller ones to either side of her finger.
He had had the ring made for her, declining both his brother and mother’s offer to take one from them.
He wanted to give her something new, something that no one had ever worn before, something that he had had a hand in making perfect for her.
He stood and saw the permission in her eyes to kiss her, something both had been wanting for months, but there had been no chance.
Their first kiss was anything but chaste as they allowed their mutual desire to rule.
Loretta’s hands snaked around his waist as his brushed one of her breasts on the way to cup her cheek.
Loretta let out a gasp of pleasure, taking his hand in hers and pressing it to the side of her breast in hope for him to do it again and sighing in relief when the feathered touch of his thumb explored her.
She could not wait for more, but she knew that standing in her father’s study with the partially open door was neither the time nor place.
All too soon, they parted, and it was not a full minute before there was a warning knock on the door that allowed them just enough time to put themselves to rights.
The Earl and Countess walked in. The Countess looked amused as she spied her daughter’s swollen lips. “I assume that you accepted him, Loretta, by the ring on your left hand?” her father asked, trying not to see the very things his wife was enjoying the seeing off.
“Yes, Papa, I most certainly did!” Loretta exclaimed.
“I request your consent and blessing to marry your daughter, Lord Cyril and Lady Sarah,” Richard asked.
He knew it was unnecessary to ask Loretta’s mother, but he felt it was a mark of respect to her as she was present, and it was her humour and example Loretta followed closest which had caught his attention.
“Welcome to the family, son. You have our consent and our heartfelt blessing.” Lord Cyril extended his hand to Richard.
“Have you discussed a date?” Lady Sarah asked after hugging and congratulating her daughter.
“We have not, Mama,” Loretta answered.
“Do you have a minimum requirement for the betrothal, Lord Cyril?” Richard inquired.
“I think we can dispense with the Lord, and you shall call me Father Cyril. My minimum is two months,” Lord Cyril replied, not missing his daughter’s disappointment.
“You will find that two months will pass very fast; besides, your mother would have me hung, drawn, and quartered if I did not allow her time enough to organise the wedding of her only daughter.”
“We will marry from Broadhurst unless you object, Richard,” Loretta looked at her newly minted fiancé expectantly.
“You will hear no objection from me. I do have one suggestion, though. As Will and Lizzy will marry on the twentieth of June, would you mind if we wait until the beginning of August to make sure that my sister and new brother will be able to attend our nuptials?” Richard requested hopefully.
“As much as I would like to marry sooner, I too would like them at our wedding, so yes, Richard, I have no objection to early August,” Loretta responded lovingly.
“The first day of August is a Thursday, if that is acceptable to both of you,” Lady Sarah said as she consulted a calendar in her husband’s study and the newly betrothed couple agreed to the date.
“If I have your permission, Father Cyril, Mother Sarah, would it be possible for Loretta to accompany me to Matlock House to share the good tidings with my family?” Richard requested.
“She may, but she will be with my wife and me in the carriage, so we can be there as well when you share your good news with your family.” Lord Cyril chuckled.
He only had one daughter, and so in seeing her pleasure, he did not intend to miss sharing the happiness of Elaine’s as she would with himself and Sarah had the roles been reversed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Andrew and Marie departed Town at the end of April so that Marie would be back at Snowhaven well before her confinement. Richard was left responsible for Matlock House, his mother, and his sister. As the Bennets and Darcys were also in Town, there was no shortage of men for protection when needed.
Elizabeth was sitting next to Will as their mothers were discussing the impending wedding.
There would be an engagement ball at Pemberley on the Friday prior to the wedding; it was now less than a sennight to the day, and Will and Lizzy wished it already passed.
The invitations had been sent, and answers received, to which there had been almost no negative replies.
The Duchess of Kent had replied for their Majesties and family with regrets as the wedding was so far out of London.
Conversation stopped as Richard led Loretta into the drawing room, holding her hand, and her beaming parents followed behind the couple.
Elizabeth did not miss the ring on her friend’s, and evidently soon to be sister’s, finger.
She was about to jump up and hug her friend and her brother but knowing that her brother was about to make an announcement, she remained seated.
“It is with the greatest of pleasure that I can announce that Loretta accepted my hand in marriage,” Richard grinned as he shared his news. After receiving a congratulatory hug from his mother, Richard opened his arms to receive his younger sister.
“Oh, I knew how it would be. You and Retta are perfect for each other, Itch. I could not be happier to gain my friend as my newest sister. If wealth were measured in family, then we would be the wealthiest family in the kingdom,” Elizabeth told her brother as she kissed his cheek.
“Well, well,” Will clapped Richard on the back, “I never thought you would allow yourself to be leg shackled.”
“You have no room to talk, Will. You will be entering that state before me,” Richard returned his cousin’s good-natured ribbing.
Richard and Loretta shared the date and location of their wedding with the family. “Will we have completed our wedding trip by then, Will?” Elizabeth asked in concern as she did not want to miss the wedding.
“We will return about a sennight before the first day of August, so we will be in attendance,” he reassured Elizabeth. “In fact, rather than returning to Pemberley, we will travel directly to Broadhurst if that is acceptable to the de Melvilles.”
“You know that you need not ask. You will be more than welcome,” Lady Sarah shook her head at their children, amused at the request.
After informing the Bennets of the good news, Richard and Loretta returned to Matlock House.
The de Melville's accepted an invitation to stay for one of the family’s impromptu dinners.
Cook just shook her head good-naturedly and sent a boy over to Darcy House to coordinate with her now extended staff, as hers was theirs.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As scheduled, while the Fitzwilliams were still in Town, the Darcys and the extended Bennet family departed London for Derbyshire.
The Bennets, Phillipses, and Gardiners were to be hosted at Pemberley; the official reason being that with Marie entering her confinement and a wedding to be held at Snowhaven, it would be easier for the three families to stay at the Darcys’ estate.