Mrs Merrington set down her coffee cup. “My dear Charlotte, a wife must go where her husband is.”
“But he could be here if he wishes, the duke has said so. A studio in Brinchester for his painting, and we could have a little apartment at Staineybank, just as Georgie and Mr Hammond have. Would that not be convenient, Lance?”
Lance frowned. “Hammond’s case is different. He is an employee who will live out his working life here at Staineybank, and the apartment is where he was born. No doubt when there are too many children to be housed there, the duke will give them a cottage on the estate. I am a guest, however, and it would not be proper to allow the duke to house and feed me over an extended period, still less a wife as well, when I have a perfectly good house in London. Of course, if you prefer to live in Brinshire, then we can take a house in Brinchester and I can travel to town when I need to.”
“And how convenient that will be!” Mrs Merrington said. “We can all dine with you before a ball, so that we need only take a chair to the assembly rooms.”
Charlotte’s eyes went from one to the other and back again, but she said no more. Lance was not surprised, however, when she proposed a walk in the gardens after breakfast. Naturally, all her sisters went along, too, together with Simon Payne, but Lance was used to that now. It was not difficult to walk a little more slowly, to pause at a particularly enticing bloom or to admire a butterfly, so that the others had soon left them behind. Charlotte was silent, her arm in his, her expression thoughtful.
Lance had no hesitation in broaching the subject. “You like living at Staineybank, I think, Lottie.”
“Oh yes! Who could not?” A hesitation, but then she went on, “But you dislike it?”
“Not at all, but I cannot take advantage of his grace’s hospitality indefinitely. You will enjoy having your own establishment, I am sure, and it need not be London, not if you dislike it. We can live anywhere you like. My work will take me often to town, but you do not need to be always with me. I do not plan to be a dictatorial husband, Lottie.”
They had reached the upper bridge over the river, and she released his arm to lean on the parapet and look down towards the builders, hard at work on the new bridge. The rest of the party had long since disappeared into the woods, even their voices no more than faint echoes.
“It is difficult, this marriage business,” she said, with a sigh.
“Is it?” he said, in light tones. “I would not know, since I have never been married.”
She turned to face him but there was no smile. “All my life I have wanted to marry,” she said in a low voice. “It was my only object in life, to find a husband — any husband, you understand, although if he should be handsome and charming, so much thebetter. And here you are — excessively handsomeandcharming, and everything a woman could want in a man. I could hardly believe my luck when you offered for me. And yet… there is something troubling about it.”
He waited, but she said no more, her head lowered again.
“Tell me what troubles you,” he said gently, raising her face with one finger under her chin. “I would not have you made unhappy by anything it is in my power to amend.”
“You are kind,” she said, lifting her face fully towards him.
She fell silent again, leaving him confused. Was this simply about houses? Or was there something more to it?
“Lottie,” he murmured, taking her face in his hands and lowering his head.
To his surprise, she spun out of his arms. “Stop that!” He was shocked by the rage in her voice.
“What is it? Am I not allowed to kiss my future wife? What is the matter, Lottie?”
“Stop calling me that! I wish— Oh, I cannot tell you what I wish. You would only give me honeyed words that mean nothing to you.”
“Lottie, I—”
“My name is Charlotte!”
“Charlotte, I do not know how I have offended you, but I assure you I have never given you honeyed words that mean nothing. I have never told you anything but the truth.”
“Do you love me, Lance?”
His intake of breath was audible. Still, if she wanted honesty, she should have it. This was no time for prevarication.
“No. Nor did I love Patience when I offered for her. Marriage does not need to be built around romantic love, Charlotte. A good marriage — ahappymarriage — needs only respect and two minds which understand each other. I am very fond of you,and I do not doubt that my affection for you will grow year by year, but I am not in love with you.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“That is not a fair question to ask me. You have every right to discover the truth of my regard for you, but no one is entitled to see into any man’s heart in its entirety.”
“I beg your pardon,” she said in a low voice. “I did not mean to pry. I thank you for your candour, and in return I shall tell you that I am not in love with you, either.”
He laughed then. There seemed no other possible response. His treacherous heart leapt with sudden hope, but he dared not think about that. He was still irrevocably engaged, his fate entirely in Charlotte’s hands.
