“I thought you should know,” she murmured, “I am definitely not with child.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I had my monthly visitor, if you know what that means.”
“Ah. But you do want children,” he said, taking her by surprise. “I mean, if we marry. You want them, don’t you?”
Her heart in her throat, she nodded. “Children would be lovely.”
“Yes. I agree.”
When he lapsed into silence, she asked, “Has anything changed with regard to your . . . willingness to marry?”
“So much has changed.” With a glance at the door Norris would come through, he scooted his chair a bit closer so he could take her hand. “I’ve discovered that my family was more aware of Father’s machinations than I realized. But that’s not why I’m here. I wanted to tell you that—” He straightened and said in a more formal tone, “I am here to pay you the doubled fee I promised.”
Thrown a bit off guard by that, she frowned. Then she realized Norris had reentered the room. “Are you? But we’re only up to the fourth day, by my calculation.”
“Ah, but Rosy has had thirty young men pay her visits. And now she insists that because thirty visits divided by six days is five visits a day, the terms have been met.”
“That’s very kind of her,” Diana said, already trying to figure out what lengthy errand to send Norris on so they could have privacy.
“You’re not going to question the six days?” he asked.
“No. That’s perfectly clear. No one pays visits on Sunday. I always assumed we would not count Sunday.”
He laughed. “You and my sister are clearly of one mind. Perhaps you should marryRosy.”
She was about to say she’d rather marry Rosy’s brother when Norris approached her with an envelope. “I was told to put the note in your hand myself, my lady.” He bent to whisper, “It’s from Lady Rosabel, and I was told to make sure you were alone when I gave it to you.”
Diana’s attention immediately shifted to the envelope. “Did she say why?”
“He, the servant, said only that you would understand when you read it.”
She unsealed it at once, but as she read, her heart sank.
Dear Diana,
I have a favor to ask. By the time you receive this, your cousin and I will be on our way to Gretna Green. So if my brother or mother come looking for me, will you please instruct Norris to say I am out shopping with you? It will gain us enough time to get away. Your cousin says you will understand and help us, but I ask that you do it for me as a friend. If you do, I promise I won’t tell Geoffrey the part you played.
Gratefully,
Rosy
She dropped the envelope into her lap. “Oh, Rosy. You foolish little girl.”
“What is it?” Geoffrey asked.
She handed it over to him. “Your sister has eloped with my second cousin.”
“What? Who’s your second cousin?”
“Lord Winston Chalmers.”
And that probably spelled the end to any future romance between them.
Chapter Twenty
Geoffrey read the letter, growing angrier with his sister as he went along. Clearly she was taking advantage of her friendship with Diana to impose on her. His sister had even gone so far as to bringhiminto it with a not-so-subtle bribe to keep Diana quiet!
