Page 92 of The Unwanted Duchess

“I have been ready for an hour,” she laughed. “I was waiting for you to come and find me.”

“I could, and would, find you anywhere at any time. Say the word, and I shall be there.”

Oh, how she adored having a husband that loved her.

On the way, Samantha looked out of the window in thought. In spite of how excited she was, she couldn’t help but feel nervous. Penelope would be there, but Diana would not, and if Graham was having a discussion with his brothers, then she might be very lonely, indeed.

“Do you think it will go well today?” she asked.

“Overall, I believe it will. Will it be completely perfect? I highly doubt that, but we do not need perfection.”

She nodded, but she did not know how to feel about his answer. She knew not to expect perfection, especially when so many things could go wrong, but she wanted to hope for it at least. Instead, she was going to an event, knowing that something would inevitably go wrong.

Strangely, however, Miss Norton was not as awful as expected. Samantha and Graham had agreed that she would be even more insufferable now than before that she had a ring, but she greeted both of them politely, pulling Samantha to the side as Graham walked off with Nicholas.

“I ought to apologize,” she said softly. “It was incredibly unkind of me to assume the worst of you.”

Samantha did not respond, for she did not know what to say.

“What I mean is,” she continued, “that I had no right to say the things that I said to you. In truth, I must admit that I was afraid. You are a beautiful lady, and with Nicholas not wanting to propose yet, I felt uncertain about my position.”

“Oh, well, that was never going to be a concern. Nicholas is not the sort of man that I would have ever considered marrying.”

“A lot of ladies say that to me, but I never understand it. Perhaps they simply do not know him how I do. He is a good man, you know, and his work ethic is unlike anyone else’s. He has his brother to thank for that, I suppose.”

“His father,” Samantha corrected her. “He is the reason that all happened after all.”

“To be sure, but without someone to reach for that is above you, you can never be pulled upwards.”

“I had never thought of it that way.”

“Nicholas certainly did,” she smiled. “Not that he would ever admit it to anyone else.”

“Then you are right. You do know him in a different way to everyone else.”

Emma smiled at her, and Samantha wondered if she had, indeed, become prettier now that she smiled.

“It is funny, you know,” Emma said, “the evening that your engagement was announced was the same night that Nicholas had wanted to propose to me. I believe that is the reason he did not for the longest time. He wanted the two of you to have something of your own before we stepped in.”

“That was terribly kind of him. I do hope that you were not too angered by having to wait.”

“His intentions have always been clear to me,” she sighed. “What is a short wait when we shall have the rest of our lives together?”

But Samantha had thought of another thing entirely.

When Graham proposed to her, Nicholas was angry. Upon discovering that it had been her father doing the blackmailing, it had left the question as to why Nicholas was truly that angry. Now she knew exactly why; his brother had stolen his moment which for a younger brother desperate to have what his brother had must have been the last straw.

That is to say, she hardly blamed him for how he felt.

“I must go,” Emma said suddenly. “Nicholas is summoning me, but I believe Penelope is arriving now!”

Samantha turned to see that Emma was correct. Penelope was entering on Oliver’s arm which she promptly dropped upon seeing Samantha.

“Oh, my!” Penelope said excitedly, “How are you? How is married life treating you, now?”

“I never thought that I would say this, but it is bliss. I cannot believe that I never wanted to marry at all. I never would have known this feeling had I become a spinster.”

“I shall not take any offense to that.”

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