“You could say so,” he said at last. “But my mother does not command my destiny. I do.”
Lord Farendale gave a grunt. “Generally, I would offer some wise counsel about obeying one’s parents, but in this case your obedience suits us well. This contract is acceptable.”
He signed with a flourish and pushed the document back across the table.
It was a carefully drawn up contract ensuring both Graham and Lady Ursula would have access to their own finances, something which would protect them from further scandal for the time being at least.
The whole situation felt like a dream.
“Two days, then,” Graham managed at last. “Two days till the nuptial vows.”
Lord Farendale smiled, tight-lipped. “My wife is preparing the wedding. It will be a rather simple affair. I doubt we’ll have many guests.”
Graham held the man’s stare. “It isn’t about guests, is it?”
“No,” Lord Farendale answered after a moment. “I suppose it is not.”
“I shall take my leave of you.”
“Have tea in the parlour, first.”
Graham paused, half-risen from his seat. “Thank you, but I’d rather…”
“You must socialise with us a little,” Lord Farendale barked. “It’s clear that this is a matrimony of convenience, but you’ve barely been in the house for ten minutes. I’d appreciate it if you would not humiliate myself and my daughter, please.”
Graham stared at him, shocked. “I never intended…”
“Intentions mean nothing,” he interrupted. “We have learned that by now, I believe. There’ll be tea in the parlour. You don’t have to speak to anybody, simply sit there for a while and drink alone. You’ll come out of the house later, and watchers will assume that you spent time with your fiancé.”
“Why… Why the subterfuge?” Graham stammered. “Why not simply…”
“Wearebeing observed,” Lord Farendale interrupted once more. “And you will have plenty of time to spend with my daughter once you are wedded.”
There was really nothing to say to that. Graham rose to his feet, made a neat, silent bow, and retreated.
Out in the hall, he heaved a long sigh of relief.
That study makes me feel as though I can’t breathe,he thought miserably. Keen to get away, he turned on his heel and strode away down the hallway.
Fairmont House was a large, sprawling building, with long and thin corridors that twisted here and there like a maze. It did not take Graham long to realize that he was, in fact, lost.
He paused, looking about him as sweat started to break out and run down his forehead. Sweat prickled on his forehead.
Excellent! I declare! So am I to understand I shall be quite unable to find my way about in my unwilling fiancés house? How positively delightful?
Clenching his jaw, he set off at a brisk jog, determined to find a way out of the wretched placesomehow, even if it meant that he ignored the tea waiting for him in the parlour. Picking up the pace, Graham tried in vain to conjure up a map of the house in his head, wondering whether he should take this turn or that one, or if the exit would lead him through another room, or…
Hurrying around the corner, Graham walked straight into a woman carrying an armful of books, sending them both flying.
“Oof,” she managed, and Graham recognized the voice immediately.
“Lady Ursula,” he murmured.
Just my luck.
She shook her head, visibly dazed. Half a dozen books spanned out on the ground between them. One of them wasFrankenstein.
Graham leaned forward and began collecting the books.
