“You were still a child.”
Christopher brought his free hand to his scar. “But I was an imperfect child, and my father bought a new house in London and wished to join Society. He did not want me to ruin it for the rest of them.”
Sarah grabbed his hand from his beard and squeezed it tightly. “Your father was an idiot.”
A surprised laugh escaped Christopher’s chest. It was the last thing he’d expected her to say, and yet somehow it was healing. Papa had been an idiot. Christopher had been an exemplary son, and it wasn’t his fault that his father hadn’t seen it. Besides, he didn’t need Papa’s approval anymore—he had Sarah’s. And her opinion meant everything to him. “And so is yours.”
She grinned, nodding her head in approval. “The greatest of idiots.”
“We won’t invite him to go swimming with us.”
A tear slipped from one eye, but she was smiling. “Not that he would come. Papa has cut off all contact with me.”
“Maybe it is a good thing.”
She blinked. Her lashes were wet again.
“If he were to come to the celebration of our wedding, we might not have the space for him at Manderfield Hall,” Christopher said in a straight voice. “Your Aunt Beatrice does have twelve children, after all. Three of whom are married.”
Sarah gave a sudden chortle and rubbed her face into his sleeve. “I knew you were a good man, but I had no idea you were such a funny one!”
Christopher gently caressed the side of her face. “We are only beginning to get to know each other.”
She took his wrist and kissed the palm of his hand. “Luckily, we have a lifetime to learn every detail.”
Chapter 18
Sarah’s hair had finally dried,but the heat in her cheeks remained. She did not think she’d contracted a cold from her swim. Rather, she’d been grinning and blushing since spending time with her husband. Christopher had listened to her like no one in her life had before. He was sweet. Kind. Funny. Handsome. And she may be ever so slightly in love with him. Having never been in love before, Sarah could not be certain. But if the heat in her cheeks and the inability to stop smiling were any indications, she was entirely smitten.
Tracing her lips, she remembered his warm kisses. The scratchy sensation of his beard and the softness of his mouth. His arms wrapped around her waist. For the first time in years, she’d felt whole. Since her mother’s disappearance, Sarah had felt something was missing inside of her, as if she were a puzzle that was put together but lacked the final two pieces. Or, rather, three pieces: Christopher, Margaret, and Deborah. She’d needed a family of her own to love and to care for. And hopefully, in time, she and Christopher would add to their family. Being an only child, she’d always wished for siblings to play with. Ralph had made a wonderful substitute, but he lived a carriage ride away.
She huffed as she thought of Ralph. He’d come across Sarah and Christopher when her husband was staking out the lake and had joined their ride back to Manderfield Hall assuming that he would be welcome. And he was. For the most part. However, Sarah had been enjoying a private tête-à-tête with her husband. Christopher had been talking to her about his canals and the ports where he had businesses. They sounded nothing like London Society, which was the only other place she’d visitedbesides her school in Bath and the village of Eden. His words had made her wish to travel—to leave Manderfield Hall for just a little while.
Not forever. A couple weeks, perhaps. Certainly shorter than the two months of the London Season.
It would be nice to have a wedding trip without Ralph, Margaret, or Deborah interrupting their time alone. Indeed, her cousin had even invited himself to dinner that night. Ralph had always been welcome before and assumed Sarah would be delighted by his company. She hoped Margaret and Deborah would be the delighted ones this evening so that she could spend more time with her husband.
Alas, he would be at the opposite end of the table.
“No need to pinch them cheeks,” Nelly said. “They’re as pink as a piglet’s and twice as rosy.”
Touching her chest, Sarah explained, “While swimming, we bared ourselves.”
Her friend winked. “I’m not sure what’s so shocking about that. You are married to each other, after all.”
Blushing hotly, Sarah pushed her maid’s hand playfully. “Not that sort of bare—I meant that I shared the deepest feelings of my soul, and I believe he did too. I used to think love was like an obsession, like how my father treated my mother. He hovered, hindered, and hounded her. But it is not. Love does not trap; it sets one free.”
“Free to leave Manderfield Hall?” Nelly asked with one hand on her hip.
“Free to let go of the past,” Sarah said. “Christopher told me it wasn’t my fault that my mother disappeared, and I needed to hear those words so badly.”
Her maid shook her head. “None of us ever thought that it was your fault. Your father may have loved your mother obsessively, but the only person she loved was you. We all knew it as we allknow now that if she could have come back, she would have, Sarah. Your mother loved you, and what she wanted for you more than anything else in the world was a husband and home of your own. She would be so happy for you now.”
“Truly?”
One side of Nelly’s mouth quirked up. “Almost as happy as she would have been for Guy and me.”
Smiling, Sarah shuffled to her feet and patted down her lace overlay. “And how many days until your wedding, Nelly? Is it eleven? Have you started to count down the hours yet?”