“Congé?”
“Farewell gift. A substantial payment to secure her comfort until she can find another protector.”
“I see.” Sarah felt ill and very weary. “I think it is time I went to sleep,” she said, sliding down the bed and rolling onto her side.
“Good night, my dear, and try not to worry so much about the duke. I believe all the signs are very positive that he esteems you highly. I am confident you will find great felicity in your marriage with him, Sarah. He is a good man.” For the third time that night, she heard that term applied to the duke.
But he had offered hera marriage of convenience.She swallowed, her throat tightening. She would not cry, could not, for if Daphne heard her, she would demand to know what was wrong. And Sarah was too ashamed to tell her that she was so hopelessly in love with the duke that the notion he wanted a marriage of convenience made her ill.
In the morning she slept very late, but then so did the rest of the household. Daphne was still asleep when she went down to breakfast, and she met only the servants, being informed that the duchess and Lady Ava were having trays in their rooms and the Layne men had all breakfasted earlier and gone riding in the park.
After a light breakfast, she went in search of some quiet reading to soothe her troubled heart and ventured into the library. She found a book and curled up on one of the sofas. A few minutes later, she became conscious of a purring noise and looked down to see an exquisite little black cat with a torn ear and emerald-green eyes rubbing herself against the sofa.
“Gosh, where did you spring from?” she asked, bending to pat the creature. The little cat uttered amrrpnoise and leapedup into her lap where she proceeded to knead and circle, rubbing her face against Sarah’s hand.
“Sarah?” The duke’s voice behind her made her start. She looked round and he came toward her. “I trust you slept well?” he asked, bending to kiss her cheek before she could react. “Ah, I see you’ve made Em’s acquaintance.”
“Em?”
“Emerald,” he said, petting and scratching the cat under her chin.
“I didn’t know you had a cat.”
“She is a fairly recent acquisition.” He picked her up and cuddled her, she even let him roll her onto her back and pat her tummy. Sarah stared at this side of him she had never seen before. “She found me on the steps of the Levington’s house waiting for my carriage and inveigled me into bringing her home.”
“She’s a stray?”
“Yes, poor thing. She had this ratty ear and was thin as a rake. No longer so skinny now though, are you madam?” he said, rubbing her tummy.
Sarah gaped at him. After the revelations from Daphne last night, she was in a muddle about how she felt about him. And this was just another piece of the puzzle to confuse her more.
He sat down beside her still holding the cat. “Mama and Ava will be leaving for The Castle in a few days to get the wedding preparations underway. I thought that would be a good time for us to visit your parents. I’ve already written to your father. Do you think you could be ready to travel on Thursday?”
“I suppose so,” she said, feeling winded.
“If we leave early, we should be able to make it in one day. It will be tiring but better than staying somewhere overnight, I think. My carriage is well sprung, and with a team of four we should make good time. What do you think?”
“Ah—yes. Yes, it will be wonderful to see my family.” The thought of seeing them again made her heart surge with joy.
“Good.” He put down the cat and kissed her hand. “I look forward to meeting them very much.” He said it with such a warm smile, her heart turned over in her breast.He is doing it again! Charming me into falling for him, and I must not!She needed to remember this was a marriage of convenience. She was giving him her money. He was giving her a title—not that she wanted one—but that was all he was offering. She thought about the faceless Madeleine and felt sick.
Chapter Sixteen
Robert stepped downfrom the carriage and turned to help Sarah to alight, followed by Lady Holbrook, who had accompanied them on this journey into Hampshire so that he could meet Sarah’s family.
The trip into Hampshire had taken a full day, and it was just on dusk as the duke’s carriage drew up outside the vicarage. The church, dedicated to St. Catherine, stood to the right of the vicarage. Both buildings were at least sixteenth century or earlier by the look of them. The vicarage door opened and out poured three young ladies, a little girl and three little boys.
Within moments, Sarah was surrounded by this vociferous herd, all of them talking at once, it seemed to Robert’s overwhelmed senses. Added to the confusion was a white fluffy dog of indeterminate pedigree, whose excited barks, leaps of joy, and wagging tail created even more chaos. He tried for a moment to work out who was who from Sarah’s descriptions of them, but he soon gave up. Looking over Sarah’s head toward the vicarage doorway, he spied a middle-aged man and a woman who must be her parents. Making his way around the Watson brood, he approached the front entrance of the thatch-roofed, stone-built house.
“Mr. and Mrs. Watson?” He offered his hand. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. Robert Layne at your service.”
“Your Grace,” Mrs. Watson curtsied, obviously flustered, and the vicar, a little more collected than his wife, inclined his head, shaking the hand that Robert offered.
Sarah resembled her mother, with brown curls and eyes and a comely face. Mrs. Watson showed the thickening of figure to be expected of a woman who had born at least eight children. The vicar was of medium height and spare frame with thinning hair, grey eyes, and a rather beaky nose.
“Will Your Grace be joining us for supper? It is only plain fare—”
“I will be delighted to accept your hospitality, Mrs. Watson, and well pleased with whatever is put before me,” Robert hastened to reassure her. The last thing he intended was to play the grand duke for his future in-laws. “You need not be concerned about where to put me, either. Lady Holbrook and I will both be staying at the Blue Boar for the night.”
