an end to my life’s sorrow.” She looked up at him, blinking.
“I was unable to ask you then, unable to approach you all these years. Say you will, at long last, dearest, be my wife!”
Her little mouth opened. She blinked. “Oh, all these long years, Hugo! After all these years!”
He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “Well, m’dear? Well? I know I am a clodpate and ungracious, but please, am I to be the happiest of men?”
Mrs. Arundell stared up at him with wide eyes. She smiled. “I thought you would never ask me, you big, wonderful oaf! Of course I will.”
His face lit with joy, and he took her slim figure into his meaty arms and drew her close. They kissed.
Sebastian said, “Happy day, indeed!” He put an arm about Frannie. “But I must disagree with my cousin about one thing; that bit about being the happiest of men. That blessing,” he said, moving a tendril of hair gently from her face, “belongs entirely to me.”
All this time Mrs. Fanshawe, clutching her reticule, had been squirming in her seat. She rose now and scuttled toward the door with her head down, daring not so much as a glance behind her. Sir Hugo tore his gaze from his future bride. “One moment, Mrs. Fanshawe! What did you mean by claiming you adopted my child?”
She stopped and turned to face the room. Swallowing, she looked with trepidation at Frannie. “We only did what ’er mother asked. We kept ’er secret!”
The baronet’s face reddened. “For keeping a devilish secret, do you consider I should thank you? When I might have been told—”
“And yer father would ha’ left ye with an estate entailed, and in debt! That’s why she done it! Fer yer own good. Said she wouldn’t be the cause of yer ruin. And without Mr. Fanshawe’s help, I daresay you’d be low in the pocket, and with not a farthing to spare!”
“Had we not overheard you speaking to Sir Hugo,” put in Sebastian with narrowed eyes and in a strong tone, “you and your husband would have ‘helped’ Miss Arundell out of her fortune, and worse, prevented her from knowing her father!”
She gave him a belligerent look, but it was laced with fear. In a second, without another word, she turned and slunk out of the room and made her way back to the great hall blubbering like a baby. She must gather her family and make a hasty exit. She had not only failed utterly to procure the slightest benefit for their daughter, but now feared that her bungled attempt at gain might lead to prosecution. That creature Miss Fanshawe might be of a mind to cause trouble for them seeing as how she, Mrs. Fanshawe, had misrepresented the case to the baronet.
She took her place by her husband but was forced to wait for Catherine who was among the horde of dancers. Gesturing frantically, she tried to get Catherine’s attention. “Mr. Fanshawe,” she said, “I desire we should leave this minute!” She looked at him searchingly a moment, assessing whether or not he’d enjoyed the baronet’s ale a little too well and might not be amenable to a hasty exit.
Understanding the reason for her scrutiny, he said, “I’m all of apiece, m’dear; the ale’s weak. Not at all the thing such as what we drink aboard ship.” He reflected ruefully that the pleasant sense of inebriation he’d enjoyed earlier had already ebbed away, leaving as quickly as it came.
“That’s a mercy, sir, for we must make haste!”
“What’s this? In a hurry, now? Did you speak to Sir Hugo?”
“’Tis no matter now,” she replied, turning back to the dance floor and resuming the gesticulations that she felt sure would gain Catherine’s attention.
“What is the hurry, Mrs. Fanshawe?”
She turned to her husband, her face scrunched in an effort not to wail. “We’re all done up! There’s naught in it for Catherine, and her betrothal is ru—ruined!” She produced a handkerchief from within her bodice and blew her nose heartily. “She’ll be an old maid, an ape leader!” She let out a shuddering sob.
He patted her hand, “There, there, m’love, cain’t be as bad as all that.”
“There’s more, Mr. Fanshawe!” she cried, staring at him in despair. “That other creature Miss Fanshawe is here! It’s all out, now. They know each other for father and daughter! There’s naught we can do for them. And I fear that creature will have the law on us!”
He looked thoughtful a moment. “Did