First Comes Scandal (Rokesbys #4)(46)

They said their farewells—perhaps a little more stiffly than was warranted—and Nicholas remounted his horse.

“Wait!” Georgie called.

He turned his mount. “What is it?”

“How shall we tell them? Our families?”

“However you like.” Honestly, he had not thought about it.

“Yours already knows, I imagine.”

“Just my parents. And obviously they do not yet know you have accepted.”

She nodded, slowly, the way he’d come to realize she did when she was thinking something through. “Will you come with me?” she asked. “When I tell them?”

“If that is what you wish.”

“I do. They will have so many questions. I think it will be easier for me if you are there to share the burden.”

“The very definition of marriage,” he murmured.

She smiled at that.

“Shall I call upon you later this morning?”

“That would be most welcome.”

And that was that. There was nothing romantic about the moment, nothing to make his breath catch or heart leap or any of that nonsense.

Until she smiled.

His breath caught.

His heart leapt.

And he felt all the nonsense.

GEORGIE WAS EATING breakfast when Nicholas arrived. It was as they’d planned; she wanted to make sure that her parents were both available when he arrived, and as the Bridgerton family tended to keep to a regular morning schedule, it seemed the best time for him to find them all in attendance.

She had not anticipated, however, that he would arrive with his own parents in tow.

“You’re all here,” she said with faint surprise when he leaned down to greet her.

“Surely you did not think I would come on my own.” He quirked a brow, the expression oddly devilish on so serious a person. “If I am to share your familial burden, you must share mine.”

“Fair enough.”

He sat beside her. “Also, I couldn’t stop them.”

This made her grin, but for some foolish reason she hid this behind a sip of her tea.

The Rokesbys were regular visitors to Aubrey Hall, but it was somewhat unusual for them to make a call so early, and indeed Lady Bridgerton wore an expression of surprise as she rose to greet them. “Helen!” she exclaimed as she went to her friend’s side. “This is unexpected. What brings you to Aubrey Hall this morning?”

“Ah, well, you know …” Lady Manston mumbled a string of nothings. Georgie was impressed. She knew Nicholas’s mother quite well; she had to be bursting with the news.

“Is something amiss?” Lady Bridgerton asked.

“Not at all.” This, however, was said with enough vigor and emphasis to cause the whole room to look her way.

“Mother,” Nicholas said under his breath. He leaned out of his chair and took hold of her arm, gently tugging her away from Lady Bridgerton. He looked over at Georgie. “Where is Edmund?”

“He and Violet already left with the boys.”

“Probably a good thing,” he replied. “It’s going to be chaos enough in a moment.”

Lady Bridgerton looked from person to person. “Why do I feel as if there is a secret and everyone knows it but me?”

“I don’t know it,” Lord Bridgerton said genially, getting back to his breakfast. “If it makes you feel better.” He motioned for Lord Manston to take a seat beside him. “Coffee?”

“Or champagne,” Lord Manston murmured.

Nicholas’s head whipped around. “Father.” Georgie bit her tongue to keep from laughing at his frustration.

“You’re not helping,” he warned her.

Georgie decided there was nothing to do but make her announcement. “Mama, Papa, I have something important to tell you.”

Nicholas cleared his throat.

“That is to say, we have something important to tell you.”

Georgie had not intended to draw out the moment. But there was something fascinating and delightful in watching the parents react—Lady Manston’s giddy smile, Lord Manston’s smug happiness. Her own mother’s eyes widening as she realized what was happening. Her father, of course, remained clueless until Georgie announced, “Nicholas and I have decided to marry.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Lady Bridgerton exclaimed, and Georgie did not think it was an exaggeration to say that her mother leapt across the room to give her a hug.

“This is the best news,” Lady Bridgerton continued . “Oh, the very best. I could not have hoped for better. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it, except that Nicholas was not here, and it never occurred to me—”

“It does not matter how it came about,” Georgie interrupted gently, “just that it is happening.”

“Yes, of course,” her mother said. She looked over at her husband. “We’ll need a special license.”

“Done!” Lord Manston called out, and Georgie could not keep her mouth from falling open when he whipped the document out of his pocket.

“I have it right here,” he said. “We could get them married this afternoon.”

Georgie tried to intercede. “I don’t think—”

“Should we?” her mother said. “I mean, yes, of course, there is every reason to get it done and quickly, but would such haste be unseemly—”