No Duke Will Do - Eva Devon Page 0,56
for garters.”
“You will not,” Mary ground out, giving her brother a warning glare. “Not if you love me. He helped us. He helped you. He even helped our father.”
A delicate clearing of a throat cut through their tense conversation, and her mother demanded, “Who is Richard Heath?”
Robert threw up his arms. “Only the man who runs the club where Father lost the vast majority of his funds.”
Her mother turned to Mary, her eyes wide. “It’s not possible, is it? Mary—”
“Mother,” Mary interrupted, furious her brother would leave out all that Heath had done for them. “He is a good and a strong man. He has clawed his way up from nothing. He is better than Father ever could have possibly hoped to be. We cannot understand him, not the life he’s had, but he has helped this family in more ways than you could possibly ever believe. In fact, we would be in utter ruin if it wasn’t for Richard Heath. Instead of condemning him right now, we should be thanking him.” She turned on her brother and leveled him with a hard stare. “Especially you.”
Robert had the good grace to blanch. “Yes. Well, I cannot argue that point. He saved us. It’s true, but he’s not the man for you, Mary.”
“It is too late,” she disagreed with a slight shrug. “I have chosen him. He has chosen me, and we are married.” Her heart beat wildly as she admitted, “We have been for months.”
“Months?” her brother echoed.
“Months,” Mary repeated. “There is no going back. No annulment, no divorce. I don’t wish either of those things either. I wish to be proud of him. You are going to be proud of him too. You like him, Robert.”
Robert closed his eyes for a long moment then said, “I do like him. He has helped me and my friends more than I can possibly say.” But then his dark eyes opened, and they were full of worry. “Mary, he comes from a rough world. Is that a world you’re ready to inhabit?”
She lifted her chin. “With every fiber of my being. If you love me, you will support me.”
Harriet took Robert’s hand and squeezed it. “You know what you need to say,” she said firmly.
Robert glanced down into his wife’s eyes and nodded.
“I will support you until he hurts you, Mary,” Robert promised, his voice deep and full of emotion. “But if he does, I will rip him limb from limb.”
Mary smiled. “That is your right as a brother. I applaud you for it, but he’s not going to do that.”
“Are you so very certain?” Robert demanded. “You seem terribly hurt at this particular moment.”
She shook her head, not surprised he was confused. “That’s because I was too afraid to tell you the truth. I was afraid of disappointing you and mother, but I am finished with living in fear. I thought I was done when Father died, but I was mistaken. I just chose a different fearful path. Now I must shed that. Just like you have done, Robert. You have thrown away your fear, and you’re happily married here to Harriet.”
Harriet lifted her teacup. “Indeed, we are. I applaud you, Mary, for your adventure.”
Robert arched a playful brow at his wife. “Are you taking her side?”
“I am aligning myself with my dear sister, as you should.”
Robert had the decency to look chastened. “Mary, you are a clever woman, and I will not argue with you on this, but you must understand we are concerned.”
She nodded. “I understand. Fear is a part of all of our lives, but we cannot let it rule us.”
Mary’s mother lifted her gaze to her very slowly. “I love you, my dear girl. It does frighten me to hear you say this, but you are far wiser than I was. You’ve had the choice of many men, and you have chosen him, and I trust your judgment. So he must be good if you say he is.”
Mary gaped at her mother, astonished. She’d thought her mother would be a pool of tears and horror at the announcement.
Instead, her mother was a pillar of strength.
“Thank you, Mama,” she whispered, her own eyes stinging.
Her mother smiled calmly, even if she did look a trifle stunned. “You will bring him as soon as possible, and I shall meet him. Then I shall be able to see him as you do. That is all I have to say about it.” Her mother began to embroider, calmly pulling her needle up.