* * *
Mark was feeling a great deal of sorrow as he entered the drawing room where Sophie was occupied with her maid sorting through a box ofbuttons.
Sophie gave Mark a large grin and stood up while dismissing her maid with a wave of herhand.
“Mark, how lovely to see you. I was in the process of looking for buttons as eyes for a doll I am making my youngniece.”
She practically danced over and threw her arms around Mark. He very gently but firmly pulled her arms away. Her countenance immediatelydarkened.
“What?” she asked, steppingbackward.
“Please sit with me. I have something to tellyou.”
“Is it your grandmother?” she asked, sensing something momentous hadhappened.
“No, the Duchess is well,” he said, leading her to a sofa where theysat.
“Are you still grieving over your father?” she asked, as she reached for his hand, which he refused toallow.
This darkened her countenance even more, and she sat very straight and demanded, “What. Tell menow.”
Mark took a breath and said, “I am engaged to be married to EmilyDunn.”
Sophie’s face remained remarkably calm and she saidnothing.
Then Mark pleaded, “Please remember our enduring friendship. Ever since we were children we have had a deep and abiding affection for one another. Do not let your disappointment in what you hoped would be our marriage detract from our lifelongrelationship.”
To his surprise, she formed a faint smile and answered, “I have been expecting this meeting for some time now. How can you think I did not know where you were headed? We have always been able to read each other and, of course, I could see that Emily was besotted with you aswell.”
“Then why have you persisted in this charade of courting without telling me youknew?”
“Because I thought you might want a cover with your father and grandmother. Miss Emily hardly seemed to be the sort of woman they would look for as the bride of a duke.” Mark was truly surprised by her answer. “And howisyour grandmother taking the news of this surprise engagement?” Sophieasked.
“Very well. She is very fond of Emily, and after some reassurances, I believe they will make a good team—the two duchesses. But what about you? I hope your cover for me has not impeded your own romanticlife.”
“Oh, no. I have been seeing a young man—a family friend—who is the first son of a count and will one day run a quite lovely estate inHampshire.
“I see.” Mark laughed. “And I came here thinking I was the one with a surprise and it ends up being you who held the trumpcard.”
They bothlaughed.
“Oh, Sophie, I cannot tell you how relieved I am at your great news. And how happy I am for you and your new beau. And I trust we shall never keep such secrets from each other ever again, and always remain the best offriends.”
Chapter 33
Emily’s mother was ecstatic—two weddings—who would have thought? She barely knew which way to turn, until Emily announced thatherwedding was to take place at Linfield Hall. The protocols and requirements of a duke’s wedding were far beyond the scope of the Dunn family and the Duchess had taken on that task with some additional help fromAlice.
But it was quite enough for the family to prepare for Ruth and Spencer’s upcoming wedding. Ruth had arranged for the reception at Harrods with Fanny’s help, as Emily had suggested. Since Teresa suddenly considered herself the new fashion expert, she was helping Ruth choose the bridal gown. Mother was taking up the slack by arranging everything else. It had been discussed and decided that Emily would be far too busy with her new career to be of much help with this wedding—now that she had her own wedding to plan byOctober.
However, first, she was determined to get her career back on track. Mark made it clear he was expecting her to follow her dream and he was true to hisword.
Emily received a letter from him in the morning post. Itread:
My Darling BelovedEmily,
How I have missed you these few days we have been separated. But I have such great news for you. I have had a letter from Herr Darmstadt with the schedule for a proposed European tour for you in next year’s season. He was able to make these arrangements far in advance of the three months he had originallyanticipated.
I am planning to leave for Heidelberg in two days and should be gone no longer than a week to finalize the tour and program, and to sign whatever papers are required. I hope this meets with your approval, as you will not be there to see the schedule and programs for yourself. I considered asking you to accompany me, but I know you are busy with other matters and it would mean at least a week away from your rehearsing—which I believe you would notwant.
