Gentlemen Prefer Spinsters (Spinsters Club #1)(55)

Merry snapped her head up. “The vows! We took vows. We promised we would never marry.”

Bella shrugged. “Harcourt Easton is a good man and desperately in love with you. Anyone can see that.”

Sophia lifted a brow. “I didn’t realize he was in love with her.”

Bella made a dismissive noise. “Well you never were the most observant of people.”

Sophia opened her mouth then closed it. She looked to Arabella. “Did you realize he loved her?”

Arabella lifted a shoulder. “I knew he was fond of her.” She peered at Merry. “Does he love you?”

Merry exhaled slowly. “I think so. Well, he said he does. It’s so hard to tell with Harry.”

“If he has told you, why is it hard to tell?” Bella asked.

Merry paused. He had been upfront from the beginning. It had only been because of his history that she had doubted him. “I suppose I did not want to believe that he might truly love me.” She gestured to herself. “After all, I am a spinster in the making and he is the handsome Earl of Langley. Why should he want me?”

“For the same reason, we want to be friends with you, I am sure.” Arabella pushed a strand of hair from Merry’s face. “You have many excellent qualities. It was only a matter of time until a man saw that.”

“I am sorry for not sticking to our vows.” Merry twined her fingers together.

“Oh.” Bella grinned. “Did you kiss him? You did, did you not? Oh, Miss Merry, you really are the most scandalous.”

Sophia coughed. “Bella, you are really not helping right now.” She leaned in. “If you really love him, you know we would not stand in your way. The point of the Spinster Club was to protect each other from hurt, but it seems as though you are hurting now.”

Sophia’s sympathetic tone threatened to set Merry crying again. She had to draw in a breath and hold it before she could respond. “I think it is too late anyway. I have chased him away to Town. I am certain he shall forget me soon enough.” She pressed fingers to her forehead. “Who could blame him? All I did was push him away when he was simply trying to help.”

“Surely it is not too late?” Arabella asked.

“I think it is.” Merry lifted her chin. “Oh well, I guess I shall be a firm member of the Spinster’s Club after all.”





Chapter Twenty-Four





Harcourt’s mother squeezed his arm and motioned to the crowds of people gathered in the garden of Lulworth Castle. Sunlight cracked through the clouds, warming the lawns where people conversed, ate, drank and played croquet. Aside from the clouds, he knew his mother would consider this garden party a success, with plenty of what she called ‘excellent people’ in attendance.

“You are being unusually unsociable, Harry,” she scolded gently.

“I am here, I am drinking, I am eating, I am conversing,” he told her.

“That is not socializing!”

“If that is not socializing, I do not know what is.”

She scowled at him. “You have been out of sorts ever since you vanished off to London with Lord Thornford for a week. Not even the return of Daniel has perked you up.”

The return of Merry’s brother had been the only reason he had returned. Or perhaps it was not. Fool that he was, he needed to see Merry again. Running away with his tail between his legs was not his style, and he hated himself for fleeing in a sulk like a damned child. But Merry had him at a loss. She loved him—he knew it. He’d seen it when she’d told him about the Spinster’s Club. That had not changed, but how long could one flog oneself in the name of love?

He grimaced to himself. A lifetime, he imagined. Merry had been eating into his soul for years and now there was no way of ridding himself of her. The only cure for this was to persuade her to marry him, once and for all. He just was not sure if he even had the willpower to go through another battle with her.

“I am perfectly well, Mother,” he assured her, leaning in to give her a kiss. “A man needs a break from the country every now and then.”

She tutted. “We are hardly living in the most rustic of areas. Anyone would think we live in some heathen, barren land, the way you speak of escape.”

“Do not forget you like to spend most of your time in Bath, Mother.”

His mother rolled her eyes. “That is entirely different. I am allowed to wish to escape for a while. I spent many years dedicating my time to your Father’s estates and the local people.”

“Forgive me, Mother. I am suitably chastened.” He gave a wry smile. “I know you deserve to do whatever you wish.”

“I have no wish to chasten you, Harry. I am just concerned that is all. Many a woman would be thrilled her son is no longer playing the rogue but the lurking in corners and avoiding people is certainly not like you.”

“All is well I promise, and do not fear, I have little intention of playing the rogue any longer. I think I am a little past that now.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “So long as you do not become too tiresome, my dear. A woman likes a little rogue in her man.” She eyed the crowds of people in the gardens. “Everyone is missing Lord Thornford. I had so hoped to find him a match before he went back to London.”