Page 98 of Regency Whispers: Scandalous Matches

‘Do you have to get married, Uncle?’ she asked, clutching her doll to her chest. ‘I don’t want you to.’

‘I have to get married,’ Simon said, stopping what he was doing and coming to sit beside her. ‘I would not be a very good person if I did not.’

‘I wouldn’t tell anyone you had been bad.’

‘You might not tell anyone, but I would know.’

‘What is she like? I probably won’t like her.’

‘Nonsense, Sylvia. I think you will like her very much.’ He hid a grimace. He at least hoped so. Miss James seemed decent and kind, but he barely knew her. In the course of the last twelve days since he’d proposed, he had spent at most an hour in her company, the very minimum he could get away with. The truth was he didn’t want to get to know Miss James. He didn’t want to know her hopes and fears, her likes and dislikes. It would make leaving harder. This way Miss James remained a stranger, even if they would be married in an hour.

‘Is she very pretty, like a princess?’

Simon considered. ‘Yes, she is, although not as pretty as you, of course.’

Sylvia giggled and rolled her eyes. ‘You have to say that. You’re my uncle. Will you come and live with us, now you are to be married?’ At present his sister-in-law and nieces lived in one of the many houses that made up the Westcroft estate. It was modest in size, plenty big enough for the growing children, but small enough to feel homely. Simon had offered Westcroft Hall to Maria and her children, insisting they need not move out of the home they had shared when Robert was alive, but his sister-in-law had refused, saying she could not bear to wake up in the bed she had shared with Robert every day, knowing she would never see his smile or feel his arms around her again. It meant Simon reluctantly had moved into Westcroft Hall, feeling as though he were stealing more of his brother’s life from him.

‘No, little minx,’ he said with a sad smile. Of all the things he would miss about England, his nieces were at the top of the list. He loved the time he spent with them, the fun and laughter they brought to his life. They were one of the main reasons he had decided to go too. It was much better he fade from their memory, dead in a distant land, than they witness him expiring in front of them. That sort of thing scarred a person for life.

‘I wish you would. I like it most of all when you are there, and I suppose I would learn to like Miss James.’

‘Things will change these next few weeks, Sylvia,’ he said, his tone serious. He hadn’t told anyone of his plans yet, only Miss James who had been sworn to secrecy. Tomorrow he would bid farewell to his mother, his sister-in-law and his nieces before starting his journey south.

‘I don’t want things to change,’ Sylvia said, her voice quiet, and he wondered if she had sensed something big was about to happen, something more than this sudden marriage to Miss James.

‘I know it can be hard when things change, but you must remember that you are surrounded by people who love you.’

Sylvia looked at him with her big eyes and nodded sadly, perhaps sensing there was more than what Simon was saying, more that would unsettle her.

‘Sylvia, stop bothering your uncle,’ Maria said as she bustled into the room. ‘He has a wedding to prepare for.’

‘I’m not bothering him. He likes my company,’ Sylvia said, smiling cheekily at her mother.

‘Go and find your sisters, Sylvia. I need to speak to your uncle in private.’

Sylvia pulled a face but slipped off the bed and left the room. Maria poked her head out the door after a few seconds to check she wasn’t listening outside.

‘Everything is ready downstairs,’ she said, looking at him with concern. Everyone had been treating him like he had gone a little mad the last couple of weeks. The marriage they could understand, even if it was not ideal. He had been caught compromising the reputation of a young lady. Anyone who knew him would understand that he could not let the young woman in question suffer the consequences of their indiscretion alone, but it was the speed of the wedding that was a shock to his family. After delicate enquiries—which he quickly suppressed—as to whether Miss James was expecting a child, his friends and family had started to give him concerned looks all the time. He knew he could fix things by telling them of his plans, but he couldn’t bear the burden it would place on them, knowing he too could follow in the path of his father and brother and expire any day.

‘Are you sure you want to go through with this?’ Maria asked, hovering near the door. ‘There would be no shame in a longer engagement. It would allow you to get to know Miss James a little more. Surely that can only be a good thing.’

‘Everything is arranged, Maria. The vicar is downstairs. This marriage needs to happen. What is the sense in delaying things?’

Maria bit her lip and stepped closer, laying a hand on his arm. ‘If you told me you loved her, that you could not bear to spend a single moment apart from her, then I could understand the rush, but I do not think that is the case. You speak of Miss James with respect but not love.’ She studied his face, and Simon felt as though she were looking into his soul. ‘There is something more, isn’t there?’

He swallowed, knowing if anyone was able to work out that he had been suffering with his headaches it would be Maria. She had watched her husband go through much the same, and he was worried she could see the same patterns emerging in him.

‘Let us just enjoy the day,’ he said, giving her a smile that he knew didn’t reach his eyes.

Maria sighed but nodded, turning to leave.

‘I wish you every happiness, Simon,’ she said softly at the door. ‘I know you think you do not deserve it, but you do.’

He stalled for a few more minutes before heading downstairs, a heavy weight in his stomach. Even though he didn’t plan on sticking around to be part of this marriage he was entering into, it was still another person he was taking responsibility for. With one final check in the mirror, he tried to ignore the dark circles under his eyes and walked from his room.

Alice shifted nervously, wishing her mother would stop fussing and leave her alone. Her parents were understandably delighted by the turn of events; their daughter marrying an earl was beyond their wildest dreams.

It hadn’t been all pleasant when she had first told them: they had been furious that she had allowed her reputation to be compromised, and only a visit from Lord Westcroft to assure Mr and Mrs James his intentions were now honourable could quieten their fears Alice would end up deserted and ruined.