Aaron offered a gentle smile. “I do not think you could, Leonard. Besides, now you have no choice. You must marry.”
“I do but I have already made it known to Lady Sally that this will not be a marriage based on love. This is out of necessity and nothing more – and it shall remain that way.”
Aaron watched him carefully. “If you say so. Am I to expect you here more often then?”
Leonard frowned. “No, not at all. Did you not hear what I said? This marriage is to protect her reputation. Nothing else will change other than that we will have a duchess in these halls once more. I will continue to visit the vineyards in Portugal, Spain, and around the country while you will deal with the merchants.”
“Very well. But I do not mind going to the vineyards myself, Lenny. Or we could send someone else. Almost no owner goes on their own to visit each location every year,” Aaron pointed out.
Leonard shrugged and got up, pulling his waistcoat down. “I know that, but I like it. And you like dealing with the merchants, thus it is a perfect arrangement. It is, in addition, the arrangement we made when I hired you as my assistant.”
He didn’t want to tell Aaron the real reason he visited vineyards every year. It would have meant exposing his father. The truth was, his father had purchased vineyards around England and the continent, but he’d manipulated the staff who tended to the vines into taking a cut of the proceeds in lieu of payment, telling them they would make much more that way – then, year after year he’d paid them a pittance, keeping the majority for himself. According to his workers, he’d told them that the vineyards were not making much money and that he too made only a meager amount. He’d discovered this thanks to his mother’s diary – and after his steward confessed to playing a part in the scheme. The whole truth hadn’t come to light until he’d taken it upon himself to speak to the workers – who’d been shocked to find out the wine produced by them was one of the most popular in England.
Since then, he’d taken it upon himself to visit those vineyards to ensure the workers who had slipped into poverty recovered not just their wages but their homes and health – all of which had suffered due to his father.
Alas, no matter how much he repaid, or how many visits he made nothing ever seemed though to extinguish the burning anger in his soul. Discovering his father’s actions had changed who he was. Gone was the Leonard of old, the charming, witty young man seeking love.
That man, he thought, would have been a good husband for Sally. But the man he was today? No. he could turn into a monster at any moment – and she deserved better than that. He’d not allow it, he’d now allow her to suffer – even if it meant he had to make her despise him.
He glanced at the grandfather clock and he realized he’d been procrastinating all afternoon to push out the inevitable. The Blackmores had to be waiting for him already. He really didn’t want to go to speak to her father, nor make wedding arrangements but there was no way around it. He had to go, and now.
CHAPTER7
Sally
In the opulent drawing room of Everbright Manor, a heavy silence hung in the air as the family gathered, the atmosphere weighed down by the uncertainty of the situation. It was late afternoon now and Leonard had yet to arrive.
“Where is he?” Sally’s mother said as she stepped to the window.
“Dear, I am certain he will arrive soon enough,” her father said and turned his newspaper to another page while from the next room, Rosy’s voice rose accompanied by her dog Maisie’s barks.
“What if he has had second thoughts?” Lady Carlisle speculated. “It could ruin our family’s reputation.”
Sally looked up from her place by the fireplace, the book she’d attempted to read on her lap. It had occurred to her this might happen but she hadn’t wanted to say it out loud, especially because she didn’t truly know how she felt.
Sally’s father shook his head in disagreement. “I doubt it,” he interjected firmly. “He is honorable, just as his father was. The late Duke of Chester was one of my staunchest allies in the House of Lords and he raised his son right. He would not do something like this.”
Sally looked up, her expression reflecting the inner turmoil raging within her. She knew deep down that marriage to Leonard was her only salvation, but the prospect filled her with a sense of dread and resignation all the same. She’d hoped to have a chance to speak to him when he arrived, so they might clear the air so to speak, alas it was getting later and later.
Just then, Rosy entered, her usually carefree face marked with a frown, and scanned the room. “He is still not here?”
“He will be,” Lord Carlisle replied.
“Or so we hope,” added his wife.
Sally wanted to ask her mother if she regretted her choices yet but knew it would only stoke more malcontent within the household.
“If this marriage doesn’t go ahead, I’ll be ruined too,” Rosy lamented, quivering with anxiety.
Sally reached out, offering her sister a comforting embrace after pulling her onto the chaise beside her. “No, Rosy,” she reassured her, her voice steady despite the tumult raging within her. “All will be well. You won’t be ruined. He will come, and I will be Duchess and your only problem will be finding a Duke of your own to marry, so that we can be the three merry Duchess,” she said, willing herself to feel the positivity her words hinted at.
Her father offered Sally a reassuring smile, a silent acknowledgment of her strength in the face of adversity. Their subsequent silence was interrupted when Maisie barged into the room, her bark echoing off the tall walls.
“Rosy, will you quiet this dog please? I do not know what it is with you girls and these dogs. First Joanna, now you. Do take her outside,” Lady Carlisle cried as she rubbed her temple. “They will give me a megrim.”
“It is just one dog and she barked only a little,” Rosy complained but did as she was told.
“Dear, why don’t you take the air as well. It isn’t healthy to be indoors all day long,” her father said, addressing his wife. Sally’s eyes narrowed as she watched the two look at one another. Then, her mother’s bright eyes swayed towards Sally and she scrutinized her for a little too long before nodding.
