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Forty minutes waiting was a waste of time to him.He drank another glass of port and turned to watch his wife.She appeared pale and anxious.“Rose, what is it?”
“I need to sit down.”
He led her to the corner settee.“When are you due?”he asked.
“Seven months.Hopefully the babe is in no hurry to arrive.”
“You ought not worry.London calendars are notoriously flexible.Why didn’t you pursue another option?”
She scoffed.“In a back alley?What I have done is the least seemly of all options, believe me.I have some experience, Mr.Hardy.Your world is not so shocking to me as it might be to a young debutante.”
“And what about the ward for your children?Will there be any fuss?”
“Cyril Elliston is their guardian.”
The irrational and treacherous duke.
Matthew had myriad plans for the dissipated young man.Rose was silent on another subject he knew well.She might have been better off to publicly accuse him of his madness, but she may not have had the necessary proof.Matthew did or he thought he did.
“Come Wednesday, I will pay the duke a visit.I am adept at explaining facts,” he said.
She laughed lightly, perhaps the first time she showed some teeth and a little life.“I am sure you are.And, oh, how I would enjoy seeing that.”
They were interrupted by three servants filing into the room.The first carried a foldable table that he popped open in the middle of the room, followed by two trays of small foods, along with plates and forks.“Lord!I thought I was going to get through the day without cucumber sandwiches,” Matthew said.
“I will forever ban cucumber sandwiches at your...our home.”
“Highwood at Canonbury Square.Islington.”It was perfect by his measure of such things.Spacious grounds with ancient oaks and large flower gardens.A rather tricky maze.Stable and outbuildings.Wide green yards that surrounded the circle drive.And few immediate neighbors bearing down upon him.
“Mrs.Hardy of Highwood.There’s a certain ring to it,” she said.
“May I fill a plate for you?”he asked.
“I didn’t eat today, so anything is fine.”
He prepared two plates and returned to sit beside his new wife.Watching her face, he could see what she did not like, so he ate those morsels.And morsels they were.Barely a mouthful.
“May I ask you about...our future?”she said hesitantly.
“You mean marriage consummation?”he asked.“I would guess you have nothing to worry about, having already lived through the shagging as a virgin in bed with a rigid duke.I won’t bore you with comparisons, but I am competent.As in everything I do.”
“Confident.And forthright.”
“All I am missing is a title,” he said, smiling widely.
“My father was an earl.There were days when I believed he would have been willing to sell the title to the first person who asked for it.”
“There were no dukes of my acquaintance willing to sell their title to me,” he said.That might have solved many of his problems though.
“Do you even know a duke?”she asked, smiling.Willing to allow him to jest even with the seriousness of the evening.
“Actually, I do.”
After the food was gone, the minister left, followed by the witnesses neither he nor Rose knew, leaving them alone with Alice.
“We will need to leave soon,” he said.“Wagons will be waiting for us at Sandhurst if we don’t hurry along.”
“I need to speak with Madame DuPuis first,” Rose said.
“I’ll wait.”
He went for another drink, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Rose was concluding her business.Matthew’s arrangement still had to fully play out, of course.
As Alice bade them good evening, she shook his hand.“I have an idea about your other project, if you would like to speak in a few days.I know you will be engaged for the foreseeable future.”
Matthew was not embarrassed by such bawdy hints.He leaned to kiss Alice’s cheek and whispered in her ear.“Rest assured, my foreseeable future is looking rather bright, but I’m sure I can find a few minutes to plot Sandhurst’s well-earned ruin.”
Alice burst out laughing.“Whatever we can do for either of you, you know where to find me.”
