Sweet Rogue of Mine (The Survivors #9) - Shana Galen Page 0,114

You know if I sent you away, it would have been for your own good.”

“I know you would have believed that,” Nash said.

The two stood a long moment, side by side.

“The country has been good for you,” the earl said. “But your mother would like to see you soon. You will come for a visit, won’t you? Perhaps at Christmas.”

“Perhaps,” Nash said. He wasn’t quite sure he was ready for the noise and commotion of his siblings and their families all around him. But one day. He could see himself enjoying such a gathering one day. He could see himself with his own family one day. And there was only one woman he wanted to share that future with him.

“My lord?”

“Oh, no. You only speak to me so formally when you want something, and I already know what it is.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“You want my blessing to marry Miss Howard.”

Nash stiffened. “I—yes. I don’t know if she’ll have me, but I will do my best to persuade her.”

“She doesn’t strike me as a fool, and she would be a fool to turn down an offer from the son of an earl. She’s not likely to have any others. I had my man investigate her after I found you two in flagrante delicto.”

Nash blew out a breath. “Of course, you did.”

“She has no connections and no money. Her sister is quite poor and living in Chelsea. Her parents are reportedly missionaries gone to the Far East. We may never see them again. And there was some business in Cairo...”

“I know all about it.”

“And you still want her?”

“Yes.”

“Then marry her. Wentmore is unentailed. I’ll gift it to you as a wedding present.”

Nash started. “You will?”

“Why not? The place looks better than it has in years. You’ve done well here, son. Now, go enjoy the day.”

His father walked away, and Nash laughed to himself. He would enjoy the day, but first he had one more task to attend to.

Twenty-Four

“Mrs. Northgate!” Pru called as she ran after the woman. She walked remarkably quickly for a woman of advanced years. The dowager paused and looked back at her. As Pru approached, Mrs. Northgate nodded.

“That dress looks quite well on you, if I do say so myself.”

Pru looked down at her russet dress and brushed some leaves from the skirt. “Thank you. It wouldn’t look half so well if you hadn’t helped me with it.”

“I daresay it wouldn’t.”

Behind them the footmen shoved George Northgate toward the wagon he had driven to the festival. Mrs. Northgate seemed oblivious to the commotion. Pru moved to the side, partly hidden from Mr. Northgate’s view by some shrubbery. She didn’t want his gaze on her. Now that the immediate danger of Nash being taken away had passed, she’d started trembling again. She closed her eyes and tried to erase the feel of Northgate’s hand fisted in her hair and the smell of his sweat as he dragged her head closer and closer. If Nash had arrived only a few moments later...Pru did not want to think of it. She stepped back again, into the shadows, and Mrs. Northgate followed.

“I am sorry to have to depart early. I imagine my daughter-in-law and granddaughters will not be attending either. I also imagine no one will miss them.”

Pru reached out impulsively and grasped Mrs. Northgate’s hand. “You aren’t angry with me, are you? I feel as though this is all my fault.” Pru couldn’t say why she blamed herself. She just couldn’t stop thinking that if only she’d left the tent a few minutes later. If only she’d fought harder. If only she and Nash hadn’t made love in the field that day—no. She would not regret that.

“Your fault? This is not your fault. George is the one at fault, and if anyone is to blame it’s his fool of a mother who indulged him far too much and his fool of a father who took no interest at all. The boy has always had a mean streak, and he was never once punished for pulling his sisters’ hair or tripping the servants. I am only too happy to do what I have wanted to for years.”

“Send him to the Continent?”

She nodded. “It will do him good to have to stand on his own feet and make his own way for a few years. Perhaps when he returns, he will have gained some maturity.”

Pru nodded. Her own travels had certainly opened her eyes to the world beyond England’s shores. She could only