“He might be worried now, but imagine his relief when he sees me tonight at dinner. We can all have a laugh and it will dissolve some of the unpleasant awkwardness of our situation. Although, I would have much rather met him here, away from prying eyes. Perhaps you should have grabbed him.”
“He was gone before I had a chance to realize it. He turned and left without so much as a good-day.”
“Still…”
Helena threw her hands up in the air. “Do you think I could have wrestled him to the ground? We called after him. He didn’t stop.” Helena’s lip was going to be chewed right through if shedidn’t quit biting it. “Not everyone likes to laugh as much as you do, Lucy. He might not find this situation at all humorous.”
“Well, I hope, for both our sakes, that Mr. Harrison does.” His carriage was long gone. He would have to send it back to retrieve his parents. Then she would be introduced to him in front of everyone.
Helena stared down the road as well. “He had a strange look on his face. I’m not sure we should have done that.”
Lucy brushed her hands along her skirt and pulled Helena back toward the church. “It is too late now. I’ll explain everything to him tonight and we will find out if my husband-to-be is capable of forgiving my silliness.”
“He’d better be,” Helena grunted. “He has a lifetime of forgiving that particular trait of yours ahead of him.”
Lucy bumped Helena with her hip. “I’m notthatbad.”
“You are, and somehow you always drag me into it.”
Helena was dragging her feet. Lucy pulled her along more forcefully. Now that she had seen Mr. Harrison, and especially since she had no idea of his state of mind, she was anxious to have their introduction over with. “You thought he was handsome too, didn’t you? I didn’t imagine it?”
“He’s handsome.”
Lucy sighed. She had been prepared for the worst. She didn’t need to marry someone handsome. It was far more important that he was kind. But it certainly didn’t hurt.
Lucy returned to church with Helena. Mama raised her eyes at them, but Lucy simply shrugged as if nothing had happened. Helena followed her lead and did the same. Perhaps it would be better if Helena wasn’t always in Lucy’s company. Lucy wasn’t a shining example of propriety. Still, being separated from Helena would be by far the worst part of this marriage. If Mr. Harrison wouldn’t allow her sister to come visit them often, she would rue the day she agreed to the marriage.
When they stepped outside after the service, the Bridgewaters’ carriage had returned to the spot it had been occupying before, but Mr. Harrison wasn’t in it. He must have stayed at home. Which meant she would be introduced to him at dinner with loads of people around.
Perhaps Helena had been right, and their plan hadn’t been the best choice.
Lord and Lady Bridgewater stopped on their way to their carriage and introduced themselves to Lucy and Helena. Lady Bridgewater wore a hat with a pheasant on it, which bounced every time Lady Bridgewater nodded—something she did a lot. “I’m sorry my son left before meeting you,” she said. “But you will meet him soon enough.”
Lord Bridgewater looked her up and down as if she were a filly he was considering purchasing. “He will be very pleased to meet you, Miss Bateman. Very pleased, indeed.”
Lucy smiled at the older gentleman, even though she felt the slightest of flushes come to her cheeks. As worried as Lucy had been about Mr. Harrison’s looks, Mr. Harrison must have been even more so. For that was the way of men, wasn’t it? Not to mention the fact that she was a young woman with a hefty dowry that had resorted to an arranged marriage.
“I’m looking forward to our introduction,” Lucy answered.
“Of course you are, my dear.” Lady Bridgewater took Lucy’s hand, wrapped it around her arm, and patted it. “Arranged marriages are quite romantic, don’t you think?”
Most of the world would think love matches were romantic, but she wasn’t about to correct her future mother-in-law. Romantic or not, Lucy’s life was planned now, so there would be no going back. “I hope mine is,” Lucy answered. Saying the words out loud brought a prick of longing to her chest. She hadn’t allowed herself to think too much about her future after the betrothal was arranged. Lord and Lady Bridgewater hadn’tinsisted on an introduction before the banns were read, and neither had her betrothed. It had seemed odd, but she’d pushed forward with the plan anyway.
Now that she was here in Mr. Harrison’s parish—now that she’d seen him, well-dressed with long legs and hair that flopped down behind him as he lay on the ground—she had the sudden thought that perhaps this marriage could, indeed, lead to love. Somehow. This evening’s dinner would be a good indicator of her chances.
But Mr. Harrison didn’t show at dinner. And he didn’t return the next day, either. Lord and Lady Bridgewater made excuses for him and always promised they were certain he would return soon—definitely before the wedding.
But he never did.
Lucy had known her plan had come with risks. Several of them. What if Mr. Harrison was intrigued by her little sister? What if he had tried to accost her, thinking she would soon enough be his wife? Lucy had hidden behind an oak tree to keep an eye on the situation, not only to protect Helena, but to watch his face when he discovered who Helena was pretending to be. She hadn’t wanted him to be pleased that it looked like he was going to marry a child, but she hadn’t been prepared for him to run away.
It was to his credit that he left. Truly it was. And yet, it left her in a very particular bind.
And it was, in no uncertain terms, Lucy’s fault.
CHAPTER 3
“Lucy!”Lady Bridgewater beckoned to her from the other end of the shop. In three pitiable years of Lucy living with her perhaps-someday mother-in-law, Lady Bridgewater had never missed an opportunity to find the most expensive hat at any milliner’s shop. It didn’t matter if the shop was in London, near the Bridgewater estate, or some remote village like this one. If there was an overpriced hat to be found, Lady Bridgewater would find it.
