“I had been hoping to meet you and find you to be vain and pretentious.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it would have been easier to tell my parents that we weren’t compatible,” he explained.
Her smile grew genuine. “I also found some disappointment in meeting you. I find you to be quite pleasant.”
He chuckled. “I do apologize about that.”
“Since we both don’t want a marriage between us, how should we proceed?”
Mr. Drew glanced at the open door and lowered his voice. “I propose we continue to get to know one another, for our parents’ sake. Then, in a few days’ time, we will both amicably decide that we don’t suit, and we will part ways.”
“I can do that.”
“It is a simple plan, but sometimes those work the best.”
“My parents will be furious.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “As will mine, but we can both at least say that we tried.”
“I agree.” Henrietta rose and paused. “Would you care to go on a ride with me?”
“I would like that very much.”
“Wonderful.”
9
THE BAROUCHE CAMEto a stop outside of Miss Henrietta’s townhouse and Charles stepped out. As he approached the main door, it was opened, and Walters greeted him.
“Good afternoon, milord,” the butler said, ushering him in.
Charles stopped in the entry hall. “Good afternoon,” he replied. “Would you kindly inform Miss Henrietta that I have arrived for our carriage ride?”
Walters tipped his head in acknowledgment before he headed towards the drawing room. While he was waiting, Charles admired the portraits that hung on the ivory-papered walls. He came to a stop in front of an elderly woman dressed in her finery.
Miss Henrietta’s voice came from next to him. “That was my great-grandmother, Eleanor,” she shared. “She was the first Viscountess of Finsbury.”
“Is that so?”
“According to my father, she was quite the beauty in her day and had caught the eye of a French prince,” Miss Henrietta said, looking up at the portrait. “Her parents were adamant that she marry the prince and cast my great-grandfather aside.”
“Did she defy her parents to marry the man she loved?”
“Sadly, no,” she replied. “Her parents locked her in her bedchamber until she agreed to a union with the prince.”
“How awful.”
“On the day of the wedding, my great-grandmother was inconsolable, but her parents ignored her pleas,” she shared. “Her groom, however, was so pleased by his new bride that he started celebrating early with champagne. The prince became so inebriated that when they arrived at his ship to go on their wedding tour, he fell off the gangplank and drowned before they could rescue him.”
Miss Henrietta continued. “Since my great-grandmother was then a widow and had a jointure from the prince, she was free to marry whomever she wanted to, and she chose my great-grandfather.”
“She sounds like a remarkable woman.”
“I believe that to be so,” Miss Henrietta said. “She was fiercely loyal to her husband, and they passed within a few months of one another. It was the perfect ending to their love story.” She shifted to face him. “Have you ever thought about how we will be remembered by others?”
“I have not considered that.”
