Follow the Heart (28 page)

He took his place with Kate between the family and the guests in the procession leading into the dining room. Since Lord Thynne escorted Edith, Christopher knew things had not been settled between Kate and the viscount. For when she was announced officially as his fiancée, she would take precedence over their cousins. Wouldn’t she? Or would that be only after they married and she became Lady Thynne? But it would be awkward if Lord Thynne could not escort his own fiancée into the dining room.

Shaking his head to clear it, he escorted Kate to her seat, then went around the table to sit between two of the Buchanans’ female guests. After two weeks away, he couldn’t remember their names—but he hoped it would cease to matter tomorrow.

He was called upon by Sir Anthony to provide them with the entertainment of descriptions of London and its preparations for the Great Exhibition. He told them of the structure and the soldiers, and he did his best imitation of Joseph Paxton’s brusque manner. It didn’t take him long to realize that Edith and her friends were doing their best to ignore him. They did not laugh along with Dorcas, Florie, Kate, and the men, and they would not look at him—nor at Kate.

Kate lingered in her seat until all the other women had gained their feet and headed for the door. She trailed behind them and then, shockingly, did not follow them down the hall toward the sitting room, but turned the opposite direction toward the back stairs.

Christopher lost track of what he was saying and had to be reminded by Lord Thynne of his story. Were Edith and the other women shunning Kate?

He glanced across the table. It probably had less to do with Kate than it did with Lord Thynne and the attention he’d been showing her, choosing her over Edith or any of the other guests who assumed themselves more worthy of becoming a viscountess than a penniless American.

When the cigar smoke grew too noxious for Christopher to take any longer, he stood. “If you will excuse me, Sir Anthony, Lord Thynne, I have much to do before I leave for Dorset tomorrow.”

“Of course. I had Dibsdall give the introduction letter to Matthew, so it should be in your room.” Sir Anthony stood and held out his right hand. “My sincerest best wishes in your endeavor, Christopher.”

He shook his uncle’s hand. “Thank you, Sir Anthony.” He turned and nodded toward the remainder of the men.

“Mr. Dearing, may I speak with you a moment?” Lord Thynne followed him to the door.

“Yes, my lord.” Christopher motioned the viscount to precede him into the entry hall, then followed the man all the way through the back of the house to the gallery.

Lord Thynne stopped in the center of the cavernous room, where he had led off the dancing at the ball with Kate. “Mr. Dearing, in the absence of your father, I wish to inform you of my intention to ask your sister Katharine to marry me.”

Not ask his permission, but to
inform
him of his intention. Must be nice to be a viscount and not have to ask permission to do something. While the proposal would be the answer to their family’s prayers, Christopher clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing. He needed to clear up a few things before he gave his consent.

“I have not known Miss Dearing above a month, but it was apparent to me from our first meeting that she and I would be compatible and go along quite well together. You saw for yourself how the other women are treating her. I believe it is incumbent upon me to propose marriage and announce it soon so that Katharine will have the social protection of an official betrothal.”

Christopher stopped, his back to the viscount. Compatible? Go along well together? Where was his declaration of undying love, his inability to live without her? All of the things that Christopher wanted to say to Nora’s father when he asked permission to marry her.

He paced back down the length of the room until he stood a few feet from Lord Thynne. “Are you aware of our family’s circumstances? That we would need financial support from anyone marrying in?”

“Yes. Miss Buchanan made Miss Dearing’s circumstances quite clear to me shortly after you went to London. My estates are such that I am in no need of a financial infusion from a wife’s dowry or inheritance. While Katharine is not of as high a social status as some would wish my future wife to be, no one can impugn her character or her social graces. She is, additionally, the granddaughter of a baronet, and if my understanding is correct, descended on your father’s side from an old and respected family in Philadelphia.”

Christopher wasn’t sure whom he’d heard that last bit from, but he wasn’t about to disabuse the viscount of that impression. “Do you love my sister, my lord?”

Lord Thynne looked distinctly uncomfortable at the question. “As I said, I knew from the first time I met her that she and I would be an excellent match.”

Christopher tapped his thumbs together behind his back. “That isn’t what I asked you. The question requires a simple answer. Do you love my sister?”

“I greatly admire and respect her.” Lord Thynne’s brows drew closer together.

“But you do not consider yourself to be in love with her.”

“Not at present. However, I believe love must have time to grow and develop. And a marriage based on respect and admiration has a better chance of being happy than one based on the emotions one often mistakes for love.”

Christopher crossed his arms, unwilling to accept Thynne’s roundabout answer. After all, Kate’s future happiness was at stake. “Why do you want to marry my sister? You barely know her, you aren’t in love with her, and with your title and money, you could have any woman you wanted. Why her?”

Even though Christopher stood more than six inches taller than the viscount, the stony expression in the man’s pale blue eyes and the hostile set of his face almost made Christopher back down from his insistence on an explanation.

After a long moment, Thynne sighed and his expression changed from merciless to resigned. “About a dozen years ago, when I was in my late twenties, my father decided it was time I marry. Since having completed my university studies a few years before, all I wanted to do was go to Argentina to oversee his properties there—to get away from England and all of the trappings and pretense of society and aristocracy. My father told me that as soon as I found a wife, he would let me go. So that season, I set out to find a woman to court. It did not take long. I had met Lady Henrietta two years before, during her debut season. She told me she had admired me from afar since.” He paused, rubbing his temples with his fingertips.

“
Lady
Henrietta?”

“One of the many daughters of the late Earl of Norton-Mossley. The young women had been left penniless by their father’s death and were dependent on their father’s nephew, the current earl, for their promised dowries. Everyone knew he had not the wherewithal to provide. But my father did not need me to marry an heiress, and after many weeks I fancied myself in love with Lady Henrietta.” A rough, disgusted sound escaped Thynne’s throat.

Christopher dropped his arms from across his chest and tucked his hands into his coat pockets. “I take it things did not end well.”

“For me, no. At the end of the season, I proposed to Lady Henrietta. She accepted. My parents invited her and her mother to Greymere for a visit so the wedding could be planned.” Lord Thynne paced a few yards down the gallery, swiveled, and returned to face Christopher. “Henni came to plan a wedding. However, her plans did not include me.”

Christopher frowned. “If not you, then . . . ?”

“Lady Henrietta and her mother came with their sights set on my elder brother, whose first wife died in childbirth not a year before. At first, I thought Henni was merely trying to ingratiate herself with my family.” He pressed his lips together, closed his eyes, and shook his head. “I ended up in fisticuffs with my younger brother when he suggested Henni was flirting with our brother and that I should send her away before Edward took notice—and advantage. I was blinded by love for her, willing to forgive all and make excuses for her behavior.”

After waiting several long moments, Christopher was afraid he wasn’t going to get the rest of the story. “So what happened?”

“I discovered Henni and Edward kissing in the garden during a ball. Henrietta assured me that she did not want Edward to kiss her and it meant nothing—that she loved me and still wished to marry me. Two weeks later, a month before we were to marry, I discovered Henni and Edward . . .
in flagrante delicto
in the gardeners’ tool shed.”

Having studied Latin for most of his life, Christopher easily translated the phrase to
in blazing offense
. And once translated, he had no problem understanding what the viscount meant by it.

“I do not know if Henni loved Edward or seduced him because she wanted the brother with the title instead of the brother who loved her, but either way she got what she wanted. And I, in a manner of speaking, got what I wanted. By the time Edward married her two weeks later, I was on a ship bound for Argentina.”

Christopher clasped his hands behind his back and resumed pacing. “So let me make sure I understand clearly. You wish to marry Kate because you
aren’t
in love with her. Is that correct?” He turned and pinned Thynne with a challenging gaze.

Thynne took a moment to think about his answer. “Yes, I believe that correctly characterizes the situation. I admire and respect your sister precisely because she has been honest with me about her family’s situation. She has made no attempt to deceive me. No attempt at insincere flirtation. She has comported herself with admirable aplomb despite the treatment she has received from the other women in this house. And because of that, because she has always shown herself to be a woman of high morals and unimpeachable character, I wish to marry her.”

Christopher stopped pacing. “Will you excuse me, Lord Thynne? I believe I need to speak with my sister.” He took the back stairs three at a time and within moments knocked on Kate’s door.

Thankfully, he’d guessed correctly that she’d returned to her room. She invited him to sit, but he did not want to keep Lord Thynne waiting long. “Kate, are you in love with Lord Thynne?”

“That is an odd question, I must say.” She stood and started fussing with the arrangement of books on the shelves beside the fireplace.

“So you aren’t in love with him?” He leaned over the small table. “Are you in love with someone else?”

Her hands stilled. “No.”

“So if Lord Thynne were to ask you to marry him, you would?”

Kate pressed her hands to her right side as if trying to hold something in. And though she still stood with her back to him, he knew she struggled to maintain a calm demeanor. “Yes. If Lord Thynne proposes marriage, I will accept him.”

“Even though you’re in love with Andrew Lawton?”

She whirled so fast, her skirts flared out and knocked over the fireplace tools. “Never say that again. It doesn’t matter if I’ve had feelings for someone else in the past. Lord Thynne can save our family. So if he offers, I will consent.” Her chest heaved with her uneven breaths. “He is a nice man, as pleasant a husband as I could have hoped for. We have many things to talk about. And he wants to visit Philadelphia, so I would be able to go home and see Father and Maud and our sisters. And when the girls are older, they can come over here and I can find them rich husbands. As a viscountess, I will have access to the highest levels of society to choose from.”

“Why are you willing to do this?” He straightened as Kate moved to stand in front of him, the hem of her skirts brushing the toes of his shoes.

“Because it means that you, Clara, Ada, and Ella will be able to marry for love, not for money. And that is all I have wanted for the four of you since this started.” She reached up and cupped his cheek with her palm, rubbing the side of his nose with her thumb. “It means you can court and marry Nora Woodriff, Christopher. You can be happy.”

“While you’re unhappy? Never.” He grabbed her wrist and pressed her hand to his chest, covering it with both of his. “How could I be happy knowing that you’ve sacrificed your happiness for me?”

She drummed her fingers against his cravat, and the smile she gave him held warmth and honesty. “I will be happier married to Stephen Brightwell than I would be as a spinster in Philadelphia knowing I could have easily saved my family—and had my own—simply by saying yes to him.”

“Are you certain?” His voice came out a whisper.

“I am certain.”

He kissed her cheek. “Then I will return to Lord Thynne and give him my blessing.” He crossed to the door.

“Christopher . . .”

Kate’s voice—in a pitch that reminded him forcibly of when they were small children—made him return to her instantly. “What is it? Have you changed your mind already?”

She shook her head, the curled wisps of hair beside her ears bouncing. “No. But . . . would you write to Father of this?”

“Why do you want me—” The expression on her face told him. “You’re still angry at him. Have you not written to him the entire time we’ve been here?”

Her throat worked as if she were having trouble swallowing. “Christopher, before we boarded the ship in New York, when I asked him again if there were any other way to help—even offering to find a position teaching and send him all of my earnings—he let me know exactly what he thinks of me. He told me that his decision to send me to England to marry money was no different than his father’s idea to raise and sell pigs to the army for food during the war.” Her cheeks blazed red, and tears pooled in her eyes. “I said that at least now I know that he sees me as no higher than a pig to be raised for the slaughter, and that I was sorry I hadn’t managed to fall on the blade and sacrifice myself long ago.”

Christopher blanched at the cruelty of the words. “Kate, I’m sure he didn’t mean—he loves you, of that I have no doubt. You know how he gets when he’s upset. He loses the ability to speak clearly, to put his thoughts into the appropriate words. And you . . . well, you tend to take perverse pleasure in twisting his words and holding them over his head until you feel he’s suffered sufficiently.”