The Wedding Game(31)

‘On that, perhaps,’ she said. ‘But my opinion of your marriage to my sister is the same as it ever was. You will not suit.’

He raised an eyebrow. Some of his original Almack’s hauteur was returning. ‘Lord Summoner approves of me and has sanctioned the match. You do not have a say in it.’

‘The fact that you do not value my opinion makes it no less valid,’ she said. ‘You will know soon enough that I am right. Then perhaps you will find the decency to withdraw your offer.’

‘Disabuse yourself of the notion, Miss Summoner,’ he said, finally showing his annoyance. ‘I gave my word that the wedding would go on, no matter what happens. Your father is happy with it, I am happy with it and your sister will be happy as well, because I promised that I would make her so.’

‘If you are happy, then why are you shouting?’ she asked triumphantly.

‘I am happy! And I am not...’ he lowered his voice and finished ‘...shouting.’ He took a deep breath and returned to the impassive man whom she’d found at the bottom of the stairs. ‘The only one not satisfied with the situation is you. But there is no pleasing a person who makes such a concerted effort to be contrary. Now, if you will excuse me? I have a marriage to arrange.’ With that, he turned and left her.

She waited only a moment before turning down the hall in the opposite direction and hurrying to her father’s office. She did not bother knocking or waiting for permission to enter, but barged into the room and threw herself into the chair in front of the desk.

‘Amelia?’ Her father looked up, not even trying to pretend that he was too busy to give her his full attention.

‘What have you done?’

‘If you are here, then you already know. I assume you spoke to Mr Lovell in the hall.’

‘He said you sanctioned the match.’

‘He is the perfect choice,’ her father said with a nod of satisfaction.

‘He is not the man for her. Guy Templeton...’

‘Is not the equal of Lovell,’ her father finished. ‘Lovell is known as the quickest wit in London, just as his father was. Cottsmoor was a genius.’

‘The Duke of Cottsmoor.’ When they had been alone in the cupboard, Lovell had denied a connection. But how could it be possible to embarrass a man by accusing him of legitimacy?

‘His ambitions mesh well with his intelligence. After they have married, I assured him there will be a place for him in government.’

‘You had to bribe him to marry Belle?’ It was all that Ben Lovell had wanted from the first. How had she allowed herself to forget it?

Her father gave her a surprisingly disarming smile. ‘It was not a bribe. It is perfectly natural that I would want to assure my daughter’s husband will be successful.’

‘And did you assure that Mr Lovell was aware of her difficulties before he agreed to wed her?’

‘Belle is a trifle foolish, but no more so than other young girls,’ her father argued.

‘And I suppose later, when he returns to you and argues he has been tricked, you will tell him to lower his opinion of the female gender to the abysmal level you set for it,’ Amy snapped.

‘On the contrary, I have nothing but respect for the fair sex,’ he argued. ‘But there is a reason that you are not allowed to make decisions for yourself, your children or your country. Women are far too emotional to be trusted with the future.’

‘So says a member of the gender that has got us into two wars while the factory workers riot in the North,’ she said.

‘We are not discussing the Luddites,’ he said, turning back to the papers on his desk. ‘We are discussing Arabella. If Lovell finds some reason to be dissatisfied by the match he has made, then he should have taken the time to know her before accepting my offer.’

‘Then you admit you tricked him.’

‘I admit nothing of the kind,’ he said, reaching for a pen and taking out his knife to sharpen the nib. ‘Only a fool thinks all the advantages will be on one side of a bargain. If Mr Lovell was na?ve in his expectations about the ease and tranquillity of marriage to Belle or anyone else, then he is no different than all other men his age. Now run along, Amelia. I have business to attend to.’

‘And I have needlework,’ she said, even more annoyed by the dismissive nod that proved her sarcasm was lost upon him.





Chapter Thirteen

‘Lovell!’

Ben quickened his step down Bond Street, in no mood to stop and chat with anyone. His mind was still in an uproar over the turns his life had taken in one short day. He needed peace, quiet and solitude before he could calculate his next step.

Or perhaps he simply needed time to accept the fact that his entire future had been organised by another and done so quickly that he could no longer separate his decisions from Summoner’s.

Such a thing had happened to him before, first with Cassandra, then with Cottsmoor. In the end, most things had worked out for the best. He told himself often that the gains outweighed the losses. But he had vowed that, from now on, his life would be his own to plan. And then he’d met Lord Geoffrey Summoner.

‘Lovell! Hallo, sir.’ Templeton was coming across the street towards him, impossible to avoid.

It took but a second to affix a confident expression that reflected what he should probably be feeling on such a momentous day. ‘Hello to you, Templeton. You must be the first to offer me congratulations.’