He nodded as if he could hear her thoughts. “If we are able, do you wish to marry earlier?”
Perhaps that was the answer. “Yes, oh yes. I want all this uncertainty to be over.”
“Grace, my love, when you came to me at the inn . . .”
“My lady, my lord, Lord and Lady Evesham would like to see you,” Royston said.
“Please show them here and bring tea.” She wondered what brought their friends without warning. Was it wrong of them to take all their brothers and sisters to church? No, it couldn’t be that.
Her butler bowed. “Yes, my lady.”
She took Matt’s hand. “I wonder what this is about. Did you see them to-day?”
“I did.” He stroked her back. “You had your head down.”
Grace sighed. “I suppose I did.”
They stood as Phoebe and Marcus were shown in.
Phoebe could barely contain herself. “Grace, everyone in Town must have been at St. George’s this morning. You and Worthington are all anyone talked about.”
The room whirled and grew dark.
“She’s fainted,” Phoebe said calmly. “Marcus, I have smelling salts in my reticule. Please give them to me.”
Matt looked down at the limp form of his betrothed in his arms. Fortunately, he’d caught her as she fell.
“Worthington, take Grace to a parlor and lay her on a chaise.”
He did as he was told. “I don’t understand. What happened to her?”
“No, I daresay you don’t,” Phoebe said. “Let’s get her settled, and I shall explain.”
Carrying his love to the chaise, Matt tenderly laid her on it. Then sat next to her and chaffed her hands.
Phoebe came over. “Grace was always shy. It’s easy for her to talk with one or two people, but she has a tendency to panic in larger crowds. Since she came out, she’s always been concerned about gossip. But after her parents died and the battle for her brothers and sisters began, I could tell, through her letters, that it had become almost an obsession. She is afraid, no terrified, that someone will start a rumor, and the children will be taken away and parceled out to various family members. Which, of course, means she’ll have failed in her oath to her mother and in her duty to the children. I shouldn’t have said what I did without preparing her.” Phoebe took the salts from Marcus and glanced up. “Worthington, tell me you understand.”
“Yes, I think so. Come to think of it, when she noticed the attention we were receiving in church, she seemed to go somewhere else.”
“That’s not surprising. All she needs is support, and she’ll be fine.” Phoebe passed the salts under Grace’s nose, and she came around.
“Grace, my love.” He held her to him. He hadn’t fully appreciated the extent of the burden she’d been carrying, but he should have. All the more reason to get leg-shackled as soon as possible.
“Did I faint?”
“Yes, it’s no matter.” Phoebe handed Grace a glass of water. “I knew better than to shock you. Come sit up. Worthington, help her. Grace, you’ll be right as a trivet in no time.”
He held her as Grace drank.
Putting the glass down, she said, “I’m fine. Now, tell me your news.”
Phoebe sat down, her lips tilted. “Everyone is talking about how Worthington swept you off your feet and is acting just as he ought. Some of the talk originated from Lady Bellamny’s party, but some if it has to do with Worthington taking care of the little contretemps your brother was involved in.”
The tea Grace asked for was brought in. Phoebe served them before continuing her story. “Mrs. Babcock has told anyone who would listen Lord Worthington is fixing his attention on you. And your aunt Herndon is putting it around that Worthington is speaking with your uncle this afternoon.”
Grace’s startled eyes flew to Matt’s. He hugged her to him. “It’s all right.”
“But we still have so much to decide.”
