by Anne Ashley
'And no one will ever learn it from me,' she assured him gently, happy to think that he trusted her enough to confide in her.
'You think I didn't realise that?' The tenderness was back in his eyes as he held her close and kissed her again. 'To think that eventually I took the advice of all my friends and decided to marry again for my children's sake. I went to London to find myself a sweet, biddable girl, and found the Vicar of Abbot Quincey's daughter. Perhaps not quite such a biddable girl, as she decided that her choice of husband would be hers and not her mother's,' he said, gently teasing, 'but exactly the right girl for me.'
'I'm so very pleased that my future husband is prepared to accept me with all my faults,' she responded in an attempt to maintain this lighter mood.
'Then you'll marry me, and soon?'
'As soon as you please, my darling!' She laughed lovingly up at him. 'You see how biddable I can be when I choose.'
'Then let us hope it lasts until after the wedding.' He was suddenly serious again. 'Clarissa and I had a large wedding in London. J do not want the same for us. I should like just close family and friends to be present, and the wedding to take place in the chapel at Courtney Place, with your father conducting the ceremony, if he is agreeable.'
She approved wholeheartedly. 'That sounds simply perfect to me.'
'And soon...? You'll marry me soon?'
'As soon as ever you like,' she assured him once again.
'Then we had best not delay in making the arrangement. You may have forgotten what that gypsy woman foretold a few weeks ago, but I most certainly have not,' he announced, very reluctantly releasing his hold and turning his attention to his horses once more. 'Our first child is to be born within a twelve-month. And the way I'm feeling at the moment the prediction will very likely come true, so I think I had better return you without further delay to the protection of my mother's side.'
Robina edged herself a respectable distance away. 'Your not so biddable future bride is on this occasion in complete agreement with you, my darling.'
