“Sophia!” The imperious voice of her grandmother sent a cold shudder down Sophia’s back. “What is the meaning of this disreputable display?”
Grandmamma stood inside the library doorway in a gown that glittered coldly in the scant light. Her sharp, gray eyes had narrowed, her thin lips were drawn into an even thinner line, and her brows furrowed into a monstrous frown.
The blood drained from Sophia’s face in a wave that left her giddy, the room spinning slowly around her. The world turned to shades of gray until Leo’s warm, comforting hand on her arm steadied her sensibilities and brought her back to the dim room. Struggling to breathe normally, Sophia swallowed and clasped Leo’s arm, the only safe haven at the moment.
“Good morning, Grandmamma.” She must devise a way to explain her and Leo’s behavior such that it would seem much less scandalous than it actually was. A boldness that would put her grandmother off balance and keep her there.
A glimmer of an idea dawned. She shot a look at Leo that she hoped said, “Follow my lead,” as she smiled brightly at Grandmamma and said, “I beg your pardon if we shocked you, but you came upon us just after Lord Ashurst proposed to me. Proposed and was accepted.” Straightening her shoulders, Sophia raised her chin. “Will you be the first to wish us happy?”
The look on Grandmamma’s face would’ve frozen water.
“Certainly not, Sophia, for you are not betrothed to Ashurst.” She turned to Leo who, to give him credit, didn’t flinch or move a muscle. “What nonsense is this chit spouting, Ashurst?”
“It is not nonsense, my lady.” Leo too held his head high and looked her grandmother in the eye. “I did ask Lady Sophia to marry me and she has indeed accepted me.”
“Has the world gone stark, staring mad here in Hampshire?” The Dowager dropped her large fur muff onto the sofa, as if removing an extraneous thing in preparation for battle, and faced them. “I have already chosen a gentleman for you to marry, Sophia, and I assure you he is not Lord Ashurst.”
“Why not, my lady?” Unmoving, Leo stared the older woman down.
“Why not what?”
“Why did you not choose me to be Lady Sophia’s husband? You have known me all my life, and you have never disapproved of me, to my knowledge. It was you who suggested I attend the house party to begin the search for another wife.” Warming to his task, Leo strutted around the room, scarcely looking at the Dowager. “I have never had a reputation for anything but gentlemanlike behavior, so why would you not choose me to be Lady Sophia’s husband?”
Knitting her brow, Lady Harcourt shook her head slightly. “Because I had already chosen the gentleman at the beginning of Sophia’s third Season. I believed, and was proven correct, that my granddaughter would not accept a gentleman of her own volition by the end of the Season, just as she had not for the two previous years. She is flighty, Ashurst. There’s no denying it.”
Turning to Sophia, Grandmamma raised her eyebrows, her countenance accusing. “I am sorry to say it, my dear, but it is true. You had seven opportunities to settle on a husband and threw them all away. And as I will not have you remain a spinster, and therefore a blot on the family reputation, I most prudently made discreet inquiries in May, and entered into negotiations in June.”
“Who is he?” Sophia frowned, and grasped Leo’s arm anew. “It makes no difference, of course, for I will not marry him.”
“But you gave your word, my dear.” Grandmamma seated herself, rather like a storm cloud settling over a previously sunny day. “You said if you didn’t—”
“I know what I said, and I frankly do not care, Grandmamma.” There was no way on earth she’d marry a stranger just because her grandmother told her to. “I will marry Leo and no one else. If, as you claim, the purpose of this promise was to make certain I married, then my marriage to Leo will serve that purpose better than anyone else you could propose.”
“That is a valid point, my lady.” Leo moved them to stand directly in front of the glaring countess. “I am as good a match for Sophia as any gentleman you may name. The best match, if truth be known, because we love one another. I would think your granddaughter’s happiness would supersede any sort of contract or promise between you.”
“Little do you know of such alliances then, Ashurst. Plans have been put in order. Assurances have been made. The legalities alone would boggle your imagination.” The Dowager Countess regarded them with thinly veiled contempt.
“I care not for the legalities of the match you made, my lady, nor any embarrassment you may suffer when it comes to the ton’s ears that the contract was broken.” Leo’s unscrupulous grin sent a thrill down her arm. He was fighting for her—for them. “All I care about is Lady Sophia’s happiness, which will not be complete unless we are allowed to marry.”
Grandmamma sniffed. “Sophia would see reason and do her duty if you would leave and remove your distracting presence.”
“I do see reason, Grandmamma.” Her fists were clamped so tightly her nails bit into the soft flesh of her palm. “I know what I wish to do and that is to marry Leo.”
“As I pointed out to Sophia earlier, in another month we can marry without anyone’s consent. And if you insist on forcing her to the altar before that time, any marriage to which she did not give her consent would not be legal.” Leo grinned. “Compliments of Lord Hardwicke, my lady.”
“Huh. Hardwicke was an old fool, so I’ve been told.” Grandmamma fixed Sophia with a stare that made her want to run and hide somewhere. Just like when she was growing up. “So you propose to flaunt good breeding and run off with a man who has not obtained my consent. And until you are twenty-one, you will do what your family tells you to do.”
“I will not!” If her breeding hadn’t forbidden it, she would’ve stamped her foot. “I will marry Leo and no one else. Who is this paragon you would tie me to for the rest of my life, sight unseen?”
For the first time since she appeared in the library, Grandmamma looked ill at ease. “A gentleman is all you need know, for the time being.”
“Oh, no.” Sophia marched toward her grandmother until she stood right in front of her. “I believe, as you plan to make me this man’s wife, I have a right to know who he is. Father, at least, told me the names of all the suitors I rejected.”
Grimacing as if she’d eaten something rotten, Grandmamma spat out the name, “Lord Bedlington.”
“From Northumberland?” Sophia shot a quizzical look at Leo. “But he’s betrothed to Lady Jane Marbury, isn’t he?”
“He is?” Leo’s eyes widened, and an astonished grin spread over his face.
“Mamma told me about a month ago.” What scheme had her grandmother concocted? To engage her to a man already betrothed? “It was supposed to be a deep, dark secret, although she apparently wheedled the news out of Lady Crosby. She didn’t know the reason for the concealment, although I assumed it had something to do with anticipating the wedding night.”
“Sophia!” The shocked look on Grandmamma’s face was almost comical. “What do you know about anticipating a wedding night?”
“Apparently enough to realize your choice for my husband must be changed.” She gripped Leo’s arm. “Or I may have to anticipate my wedding night as well.”
Grandmamma rose from the sofa like a phoenix from the ashes. “Since I obviously cannot forbid you such knowledge, I will prohibit such conversation.”
“When did you discover Lord Bedlington’s engagement, Lady Harcourt?” Leo broke in, looking much more at ease now than a few minutes before.
“This past weekend.” Her grandmother sniffed. “I will say Bedlington had been quite cowardly about the whole situation. Had he come to me as soon as he decided he must marry elsewhere, I could’ve found another gentleman to take his place. Instead, he acts as if the betrothal is still going forward. Then, when I wrote to him with the details of the house party, he wrote back, finally telling me the truth. And since he is still in Northumberland, I was left in the proverbial dark until Saturday when his letter arrived.” She turned her cold gaze on Sophia. “I suppose it is better we found out his grievous faults this way rather than after your wedding. But in any case, it should not take me long to find another suitor for you.”
“I have already done so, Grandmamma. Don’t you see?” Striding to her grandmother, Sophia took her arm and drew her back to Leo. “At long last I have found the gentleman I wish to marry. The only gentleman I will marry.” Her gaze lay on Leo, so kind and handsome and loving. Oh, yes. Without a doubt, the only man for her. “All you need do is go into the drawing room and announce that Lord Ashurst is your choice. I swear to you, I will not gainsay that choice in the least.”
“No one else would know, Lady Harcourt.” Leo spoke up eagerly. “Lord Harcourt already believes I am the suitor you chose. And though I denied it to several gentlemen here, I can merely tell them I was sworn to secrecy.”
“And you actually did make the match, Grandmamma.” Sophia hugged the woman’s arm. Grandmamma was making no protest so far. Did that mean they had won? “I would not have met Leo without your insistence on this party. And because you were delayed, we were able to court and discover our love for one another.”
“Piffle.” Grandmamma shook off Sophia’s arm, but she did so gently, and her voice had softened appreciably. “A good arranged marriage would’ve done you a world of good, mark my words.”
“It was arranged, Lady Harcourt,” Leo smiled at Sophia, and she grasped his hands, smiling back. “A match arranged in heaven.”
“And at Christmas,” Sophia added, “the best time of the year for celebrations.” Turning back to her grandmother, she raised her brows hopefully. “May we go announce our betrothal now?”
Glaring first at Sophia then at Leo, Grandmamma nodded impatiently. “Go find your father. He may do the honors as I have quite done with this whole business. If I can ever do Bedlington a bad turn, I shall do it.”
Leo squeezed her hands so tight she squealed.
“Please, Sophia. My nerves cannot take any more of this maddening affair. Go find your father before I change my mind and betroth you to Ormonde.”
“Right away, my lady. Thank you, ma’am.” Leo beamed first at her grandmother then at her.
“Yes, Grandmamma.” Sophia kissed the wrinkled cheek and tugged at her beloved’s hand. “Will you come with us for the announcement?”
Drawing herself up, neck arched regally, Grandmamma looked every inch the family matriarch. “How else am I to take my congratulations on a match well made this Christmastide? Lead on, Ashurst.”
They hurried through the library door, Sophia brimming with joy at her true match made at Christmas.
THE END