“You’ve persuaded him, then,” he said flatly. “Have the two of you quite taken leave of your senses?” There was no hostility in his voice, just a weary resignation.
“Possibly,” Charlotte replied. “But I’m certain of this.”
“As am I,” Henry interjected.
William looked at him appraisingly. “You promise to protect her, Henry? Whatever the outcome of this?”
Henry inclined his head. “With my life.”
William sighed but then nodded. “Then I suppose I’ll try to be happy about it. For you both. But if anything happens to her—”
“It won’t,” Henry said firmly. “And I have heeded your advice. We will—with your blessing—be betrothed, but I won’t be going ahead with the wedding itself until this issue with my mysterious letter writer is solved.”
William looked thoughtful. “Perhaps the betrothal will draw them out. We should think about how best to announce it publicly—and mark who is there. It will need to be carefully planned.”
Relieved to have William on their side, Henry nodded. Then William grinned suddenly, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into a tight embrace.
“You goddamn scoundrel! Now we really will be brothers.” They were both less than dry-eyed as they pulled away from each other, although they quickly wiped at their faces to disguise that fact. Henry saw Charlotte smile to herself and roll her own eyes.
“We should tell my mother before we plan anything further,” Henry said. “She will be going into breakfast. I’ll ask her to come outside, and we can tell her quietly.”
However, as they entered the breakfast room together, his mother caught sight of them walking together, and her eyebrows flew up into her hairline, especially when she saw William alongside them. Before Henry could say anything, she hurried over to them and grabbed his arm.
“Something has happened,” she exclaimed. “What is it?”
“Nothing, Mother.” Henry winced as heads started to turn their way. “We have something to tell you. If you have a moment.”
“Oh my goodness!” The dowager duchess pressed her hand to her mouth as she looked at the three of them in turn. “Are you two…?”
“Mother, keep your voice down!” Henry hissed, rather louder than he had intended. “I hardly wanted to tell you here, but yes, Charlotte and I are betrothed.”
Her eyes widened. Henry could hardly blame her. It was only yesterday that he had threatened to call a halt to her entire engagement scheme. She looked from him to Charlotte, and then her eyes softened.
“I’m very pleased,” she said, smiling at them both.
“We aren’t making it public knowledge yet,” Henry told her.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Miss Brighton, seated not far off, gasped dramatically. “Goodness! Did I just hear that His Grace is engaged? ”
Every gaze in the room turned to them.
CHAPTER 26
Henry mentally cursedhimself for not asking his mother to leave the breakfast room before he had broken the news. Of course someone would overhear, of course the entire table would fall silent, and of course it would be Miss Brighton who all but shouted the news like a crier in the square.
His mother bit back a smile, her eyebrows rising with delight. She slipped her hand around his arm. “Is it really true and not some jest, Henry?” she asked, barely concealing her glee. She spoke loudly enough that anyone who might have failed to hear Miss Brighton’s proclamation couldn’t possibly miss it.
He nodded stiffly. “Yes. Charlotte and I are betrothed.”
The gasps that followed from various corners of the room might have been more fitting if he’d just announced an elopement or a scandal.
Someone, likely one of the younger misses, piped up, “But where’s the ring?”
Charlotte sent him a panicked look.
“It hasn’t been arranged yet,” William smoothly cut in. “The decision was made only this morning.”
A louder voice, shrill with indignation, broke through the murmurs of excitement now filling the room. “Well, what onearth are the rest of us going to do for the remainder of the week? This is most discourteous, I must say.”
