The Devil's Daughter
Page 18
But Harriet had the feeling that she was being unexpectedly rushed along by a whirlwind, and it did not seem to her that such indecent haste was necessary. Why, she and the Marquis had scarcely acknowledged to one another that they could not live without each other, and she wanted a little time to delight in her new-found happiness. And a faint mulishness, inherited from her father, caused her to raise some rather diffident objections.
“But I cannot see why there is any need for this haste,” she declared. “I mean—what will happen to Verbena?”
“Verbena will remain with me until your honeymoon is over, after which she will naturally be your responsibility—yours and Richard’s.”
“A ready-made family,” Richard remarked a little drily.
“But I shall like that very much,” Harriet admitted, and then sought Lord Capel’s eyes a trifle anxiously. Her refusal to be stampeded into marriage without so much as a single protest seemed to have wounded him considerably, and she was upset by the hurt look in his eyes. She said hastily: “It is just that I am a little bewildered, and—and it is putting everyone to so much inconvenience—”
“Nonsense.” Lady Fanny spoke briskly. “Everything is as good as arranged, and there is no question of anyone being put to the least inconvenience. A wedding in the Wendover family is something we all take pleasure in, and I am going now to inform Bruce that he can offer you his congratulations—he is waiting in the conservatory to hear that everything is settled satisfactorily—and once you have returned from your wedding-journey I shall suggest that he accompanies me to Italy, which will provide him with some diversion at least. And amongst other things I must see Pauncefoot and get him to lay on a light luncheon for us, and after that we really must leave without any further delay.”
She glanced at the two who were causing her so much excitement, blew a kiss to them both and left the room. Lord Capel approached his prospective bride and looked at her accusingly.
“You do not wish to marry me so soon?”
“I did not say so.”
“But you are not happy about Fanny’s arrangements? You think it is all too—too rushed, and not at all to your liking?”
“Of course not!” Very gently she laid a hand on his sleeve, and when he seized it and kissed it she lifted her other hand and lightly touched his cheek. With her heart thundering away beneath her demure robe and her green eyes alight, she confessed: “I have no objection at all to your marrying me whenever you wish, my lord—whenever you, do you understand that?”
“I do,” he answered huskily. “Only say ‘whenever you wish, Richard’.”
Softly she obeyed him.
“Whenever you wish, Richard.”
He caught her to him, and she found herself submitting to some rather violent love making which she found highly satisfactory. It was only when they thought they heard Lady Fanny returning that she managed, rather hurriedly, to ask him a question which she had been longing to ask for some time.
“How was it that you ever became guardian to the de Courcey children?” she wanted to know. “You knew so little about them when I first met you, and I cannot believe that you entered into the arrangement willingly.”
“I didn’t,” he replied. “I met Sir Willoughby one night when he had been gambling heavily at White’s, and he was depressed. He talked to me about his family and how concerned he was lest he should die and leave them to the care of no one in particular, the thought of which plainly perturbed him very much. So with no other intention than the wish to cheer him I said I would keep an eye on them myself if anything should happen to him. And the next thing I knew was that he had appointed me their guardian, and I didn’t know that until he was dead. The pleasing intelligence was conveyed to me through my solicitors, who seemed to think I had taken leave of my senses.”
“I see,” Harriet said thoughtfully. It occurred to her that she and this man who was to become her husband would never have met but for that night at White’s, and an anxious baronet’s very natural concern for his family.
The same thought obviously occurred to the Marquis.
“So far as I am concerned I couldn’t wish it otherwise,” he said. “But for Sir Willoughby I wouldn’t have met you, and if I hadn’t met you I wouldn’t be the happiest man in England today!”
She smiled up at him.
“With a ready-made family,” she reminded him. “But they’re such a very nice family, Richard, and Verbena already admires you tremendously. You will grow fond of her in time, won’t you?”
“I have no doubt of it,” he answered. “But I trust you will not blame me if I spare a little fondness for the members of my own family when they arrive!”
The entry of Lady Fanny prevented Harriet becoming involved in a rather personal form of argument, and it also spared her, as she was aware, a few blushes.