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Henry shook his head. “I don’t think so, Lady Eleanor. I’m not sure how something like this could ever work out.”
She guffawed. “It will work out swimmingly. We have enjoyed a pleasant conversation here tonight, and I’m sure that as we spend more time with one another we will continue to grow in our appreciation of one another.”
Henry started to protest, but Eleanor continued with her speech. “You have a large manor. I will move in, and we will be man and wife, but you will hardly notice I’m there. I will keep to my own bedchambers, and you will keep to yours.”
“But my grandmother wants me to continue the family line. It’s very important to her. We will need to produce an heir,” Henry said, feeling chagrined at having to bring up such a topic in this manner.
Eleanor narrowed her eyes. She looked him up and down once, and then she lifted her chin stubbornly. “I see no problem in accomplishing that. As man and wife, we will have children.”
Henry tightened his mouth into a grim line. He didn’t like the way this conversation was going. Admittedly, he did see and appreciate the practicality of it, but the way they were discussing their shared future seemed cold and impersonal. He glanced at the kitten that was still nestled safely against Eleanor’s bosom. She did seem to be a nurturer. She probably would make an excellent mother someday. Henry knew, at that moment, that he wouldn’t be able to refuse Eleanor’s proposition, even if he wanted to. She would fulfill all his needs and he knew she was headstrong enough to be desirous of her personal freedoms, while also respecting his.
“And what about your pets? Based on what I’ve heard and seen now with my own two eyes, I’m guessing you have quite a few,” Henry asked, looking from the kitten to Eleanor. “I won’t allow you to bring gaggles of geese or litters of pups to my manor.”
Eleanor made a wry face. “Of course not, Your Grace. I will respect you and your home. I will treat it in the same reverential way I treat my own, as it soon will be.”
Henry nodded then with finality. “I can’t find any reason to argue with you, Lady Eleanor.”
“Then don’t,” she interjected with a triumphant grin.
“You certainly do enjoy being right, don’t you?” Henry asked, but it was a rhetorical question. He already knew the answer quite well.
Eleanor beamed at him, and he reached forward to take her hand. “Shall we go tell our families of our decision?” she asked.
“Now?” Henry questioned, feeling taken aback by this next step. He wanted his quest to find a wife ended immediately, but he didn’t see any need to race inside the ballroom and tell his grandmother of his betrothal presently.
Eleanor nodded enthusiastically. “Yes,” she breathed excitedly. “I think we should tell them at once. Come along,” she gave his hand a quick tug as she stood in one fluid motion. Henry followed her lead and so she sped off, winding her way through the garden paths, moving back toward the noisy ball room.
“Shouldn’t we perhaps talk over the details or maybe even seal the proposal with a kiss?” Henry asked Eleanor. He was hoping to slow her down somehow, but she didn’t hesitate.
“We’ll have plenty of time for all that later,” Eleanor replied. Henry just had time to think that Eleanor wasn’t nearly as romantic as most other women, when she turned her head and shot him an exhilarated grin. Perhaps this was her idea of romance. She seemed to be thrilled by the spontaneity of it all, and so Henry just smiled at her in return and swept along in her wake.
As the couple emerged from the gardens and to the back door, Eleanor stooped and released the kitten from her warm embrace. “Go play,” she told the animal and it scampered off at once. She squeezed Henry’s hand tightly and then he turned to look at her again. Eleanor, standing in the doorway, her pale skin almost translucent in the moonlight looked quite becoming. Henry stared at Eleanor for a fleeting second, realizing she was quite a pretty young woman. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed it earlier. As they were still holding hands, Henry was obliged to follow her and so it was, with a smitten look on his face, he tripped after Eleanor into the ballroom.
He spotted his grandmother almost immediately, but as Eleanor was in the lead, they went in the direction of her brother. Henry did not know a great deal about Lord Frederick Hart, Earl of Barrow. They had both attended Cambridge, but as Frederick was three years older than Henry, they had not run in the same circles.
“Frederick,” Eleanor said sharply as she and Henry came to a halt in front of her brother.
“Eleanor. . . Your Grace,” Frederick replied, inclining his head dutifully toward Henry. He had been talking with a small group of friends, and the ladies amongst the number tittered nervously.
“Frederick,” Eleanor spoke his name, calling his attention back to her. “I have wonderful news. His Grace has proposed just now, and we are to be wed at once.” Frederick’s eyes widened, the green irises looking like a couple of green apples.
“Is that so?” Frederick asked, gazing at Henry for confirmation.
Henry nodded. He didn’t mind so much that Eleanor had manipulated the details of their engagement. He knew that she did it with both their best interests in mind, and so he affirmed her story. “Yes,” Henry answered. “I am quite taken with the lovely Lady Eleanor and with your permission, I would like to ask for her hand in marriage.”
Frederick coughed. He was clearly so surprised by this announcement and by Henry’s verification of it, that he needed a moment to wrap his head around it. “I…” Frederick stammered, but before he could respond thoroughly, Henry’s grandmother appeared at his elbow. The ladies and gentlemen who had been crowded around Frederick took a step back now to admit the Dowager Duchess into their circle.
“Grandson, what did I just overhear?” The Dowager Duchess asked, raising her chin so she could stare down her nose at him.
Henry gulped nervously. “I have asked Lady Eleanor to be my wife,” Henry said. “I am enchanted by her, and I wish to marry her at once.” Henry felt Eleanor’s fingers squeeze his own and he found his confidence. Henry looked from his grandmother to Frederick. “With your permission, Lord Hart, I will arrange for a special license so your sister and I might wed at once.”
The Dowager Duchess leaned in toward Henry and whispered harshly, “I can see that you’re bewitched, but what’s the hurry? Why can we not have a splendid celebration?”
As soon as his grandmother uttered the word ‘bewitched’ a nervous murmur spread through the crowd. Henry knew that people found Eleanor to be a bit curious, but she had not ensnared him in any disreputable way. Eleanor had appealed to Henry logically and as he heard the women around him whisper darkly behind their gloved hands, Henry’s resolve became firm. He looked at Eleanor and gave her a calm smile. Then he turned back to his grandmother.
“There is no rush. I only wish to be wed to this remarkable woman immediately. Lord Barrow…” He looked over at Frederick. “Do I have your consent?”
“Of course,” Frederick mumbled, looking thoroughly flabbergasted.
