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“I don’t think it will do much good. She ain’t been brought up to run a house like this,” Leonard replied glancing around the plush confines of the bedchamber.
“It doesn’t matter. She can read. What she doesn’t know about running this house already she can learn. Mrs Kempton here already knows her and has already been working with her for the last several weeks. Aggy here is going to be her personal maid, and my brother and I, and Rollo, can help her with anything else she needs to learn to live here as the new lady of the manor. Of course, people will gossip, but I don’t really care what anyone thinks. Nobody will dare cast aspersions on her once she is a member of my family. Nor will the family raise issue because that it isn’t their concern. This is my life. Petal is my choice of a bride, and I fully intend to live my life as I see fit.”
“Here, here,” Jerry murmured from his position beside him. He stepped forward and held his hand out. “Good for you, brother mine. We will deal with the dowager and Edwards together. You sort out Petal.”
“There is one thing,” Aidan warned a stunned looking Leonard.
“Oh?” The man shifted on his feet warningly.
“The marriage needs to be quick.”
Aidan lifted a hand to halt him when he saw the outraged look on the older man’s face. He knew then that Petal hadn’t told her father everything that had happened between them. For that he could only be entirely grateful because although there was youth on his side, he wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight against the much larger and considerably more muscular man before him.
“There are wolves circling who planned to take advantage of my poorly state to claim the position as my wife. I think it is what Edwards was planning when she concocted a little scene Petal stumbled upon this morning. To get rid of Edwards once and for all, and ensure that Petal’s integration into this house is as smooth as possible, I am not prepared to wait to make her my wife.”
“Why are you so keen to marry her?” Leonard asked, wondering what he was not being told.
He suspected that he already knew his daughter loved the man before him. Although she hadn’t said as much, her tears spoke volumes. Because of the master’s rather unconventional attitude toward the snobbery and refinement he lived in, Leonard could see the attraction. He was far more down to earth and approachable than any nabob he had ever met in his life. His brother was the same. It was a little strange if he was honest, but he wasn’t prepared to question it as long as the man was being honest, and intended to do right by his daughter.
“I care about her a great deal,” Aidan replied, sensing the man’s doubt.
He didn’t tell them how deeply he loved her. He wanted Petal to be the first one to hear just how much she meant to him.
“I don’t want her dragged into any scheming. Petal’s not like that,” he warned the room at large. “She isn’t a trophy. I don’t want her used to solve your problems.”
“I can promise you she won’t be. I need her back in this house with me where she belongs.”
Leonard still couldn’t see why the man was so determined to have Petal as his wife, but then had never been all that good with matters of the heart. Thinking about the way he felt always left him wanting to tug his collar and go down the pub for a pint instead.
“Well, you have my permission to ask her, but I don’t think you are going to get her to agree. She was mighty upset when she appeared this morning. When she got to the house, she was frozen and soaking wet. She was asleep when I left her. It would be best to leave it until the morning.”
“No,” Aidan protested.
The last thing he was going to do was leave her to stew overnight over what had happened. It would give her far too much time to put barriers up against him, and that was something he didn’t dare allow to happen in case he couldn’t break them back down again.
“I have already sent a footman with a note to the magistrate. We can get a special licence and be married this afternoon. With your permission, I shall call upon Petal immediately.”
“This afternoon?” Mrs Kempton gasped.
Aidan let the initial flurry of gasps and cries of astonishment die down for a moment before he looked at each person in turn.
“I have made my mind up. I am not going to allow her to escape me. I think Petal needs a lesson in just how much she means to me. Assuming I can get her to agree, we will marry this afternoon.”
“What do you want me to do?” Leonard asked with a scowl.
“You will need to be there to witness the wedding and give your daughter away. I have already notified the vicar and have instructed him to keep the matter private for the time being. Jerry can be my witness. Aggy, you can be Petal’s bridesmaid. Mrs Kempton, you can be the matron of honour. Rollo, I need you to go to the church and ensure that only the vicar and the organist are in attendance.” Aidan suddenly stopped when he realised nobody had moved or said a word for the last couple of minutes. “Petal will need a dress.”
“She has the one her dear mother wore on her wedding day. They are the exact same build. I am sure she planned to use that if she is ever married,” Leonard offered, still unconvinced this would work.
; He was slightly dazed that something like this was possible. Still, the man had declared to everyone just how much Petal meant to him, and to humble himself like that in front of the staff earned respect in his eyes.
“Right, well, everyone has their orders,” Aidan declared when nobody moved.
“We will go to the church to wait,” Mrs Kempton offered.
“I can pick some flowers from the garden for her,” Aggy offered, smiling when Rollo nodded.
