She looked defensive. “He is the third son of a wealthy, titled family.”
“I wonder more about his beliefs.” Hugh knew not all vicars were especially religious, but one expected them to be upstanding members of the community.
“I know what you’re thinking. But it was all my doing.” She shrugged. “We love each other. Michael has told them he is prepared to take a parish somewhere in England if we marry. But I don’t want to remain here. It wouldn’t matter where we went in this country. Rumors spread. It would be too hard on Mama.”
“But where would you go?”
“Michael has had a living offered him in Ceylon,” she said, motioning Hugh to a pair of wicker chairs. “He requires a wife.” Her lips firmed. “I shall go with him.”
Hugh stared at her as they took their seats. “That would be difficult, Isabel, even dangerous.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“It would be a very harsh life. You have not been brought up to face such hardship.”
“Nevertheless, I intend to go. It is for the best. Papa feels my disgrace will ruin the family name and standing in the community. While Mama still yearns to see me married to you and living nearby.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
She shook her head. “Thank you, but no. Because I was yet to make my debut, our betrothal was never formally announced. It’s my hope that gossip and speculation will die down quickly after I leave England. Father will come up with some acceptable reason for my absence.” She reached across and took his hand,squeezing it, her eyes gentle. “You are free to marry someone you love, Hugh. Be happy.”
“We could have made a go of marriage, Isabel,” he said. “Your mother seems to feel I failed you when I joined the army.”
“What nonsense. We were only ever friends. This is entirely my fault. I want more from life than an arranged marriage, and so do you.”
He had to admit it was true. While he feared for Isabel’s future, he realized how strong she was, mentally at least. But physically? “Is the vicar a good man?” He clamped his jaw at the urge to draw the man’s cork.
“Indeed, he is.”
“I’ll visit him and ensure he has your interest at heart.”
She placed a hand on his arm. “No, Hugh. Michael was quite prepared to remain here. He put no pressure on me. It was I who refused. This is the work he has always yearned for, and he is passionate about it. I want to help him. To be by his side through thick and thin.”
“But will you leave before the baby is born? The sea voyage…”
“I shall endure it. I sent you a letter, explaining all this, but you obviously haven’t yet received it. Michael has arranged for the vicar of St. Martin’s in Canterbury to marry us in a month’s time after the banns are read. We’ll sail the following day.” She looked so different, so animated, her eyes gleaming, her cheeks flushed. “I am looking forward to the trip. To visit a new, exotic land. To have the Lord’s work to do. Never have I felt this excited and hopeful. And you must know I would have made a very bad countess.”
“I doubt that.” He sighed, concern for her tightening his chest. “Will you write?”
Isabel nodded with a smile. “Of course.” She bent forward, put a hand on his shoulder, and kissed his cheek.
Hugh declined to dine with the Ashtons. Isabel’s determination to depart England in a few weeks had brought on a fresh set of tears and moans from her mother. Her father glowered, a line of white around his hard-clenched mouth.
“We need to keep this secret until Isabel leaves the country,” he said to Hugh. “There were many expecting you two to marry. Can I ask that of you, Lord Dorchester?”
“But of course, sir.”
Hugh thought he was intruding and that he no longer had any place there. As he rode home, he felt as if a chunk of his life had been ripped away. But at the same time, the sudden release of tension in his body that he’d hardly been aware of, made him gasp. After supper, he sat in the library with a book on his knee he barely glanced at. It suddenly hit him. In a month, he was free to choose his partner in life. Acknowledging it made him lightheaded. He’d never realized how much his and Isabel’s arranged marriage had weighed on him. And shaped his life.
The clock struck midnight when he finally climbed the stairs. With his batman-come-valet, Wickstaff, visiting his sick mother, Hugh prepared for bed and slipped beneath the covers. Blowing out the candle, he lay in the dark, his mind too busy for sleep. He had not wanted to marry Isabel, in truth. But for it to end this way…
With a deep sigh, he decided to visit Mr. Benson tomorrow and make sure the vicar was everything Isabel thought him. But if Hugh was unconvinced of the man’s ability to take care of her, what could he do? She was so determined, he doubted she’d listen to reason. And the truth was that her life as she knew it would be finished should she remain in England. Unless a suitable husband was quickly found. It didn’t stop the anger boiling inside him. The vicar didn’t deserve her. What does a tenderly raised girl know of life at eighteen? To seduce her before marriage, and whatever Isabel said to the contrary, heshould have taken control of the situation to protect her. It will be difficult to face the man when Hugh itched to give him a good thrashing.
Giving vent physically to his anger was impossible. It would only make matters worse. After he’d seen his staff in the morning, he’d stop at the presbytery on his way up to London. He was anxious to be back in the city. He didn’t trust Cardew, who seemed put out by a possible rival. Might the man now be considering marrying Sarah? Hugh very much doubted Cardew would go against his mother’s wishes. Yet Hugh didn’t trust him an inch. As Sarah’s older brother and guardian, he could insist she never spoke to Cardew again. But he knew her too well. It would only serve to make her rebel.
He allowed his thoughts to dwell on Miss Kershaw. Would he see her again soon? She was as skittish as a foal, determined to remain aloof from him because of some misplaced idea that she would draw him into a scandal. But he had to admit there was reason for her concern. Word had obviously spread about her supposed inheritance, thanks, he supposed, to Mrs. Vellacott. He had noticed the woman’s sour expression as she’d sat at the table at the Williams’ party. She might believe the rumor to be true and was gaining some notoriety for herself by being the first to share the news, but his gut feeling told him she knew it was a lie and had taken it upon herself to spread that nasty rumor, keen to discover more fuel to add to the fire. Though the reason why it concerned her so much, he couldn’t imagine. Was it merely the loss of a few pounds in a bad investment?
Chapter Nine