Page 91 of Surrender to the Earl
Robert’s voice rang with pleasure, and she wasn’t certain it was because of her, or because at last she’d come to see what she’d give up if she didn’t marry him.
Did he not realize his large household might be an impediment to a blind woman? Not that she planned to make any decisions because of a house, but she found herself uneasy. There were so many steps to the nearest drawing room, and she’d heard Robert tell his butler to use the Blue Drawing Room, as if there were so many rooms they had to separate them by color.
As they walked, Robert took her arm and said quietly, “I’m so glad you came.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“No, you’re a woman of your word. I just wanted you to know that I’m simply glad to see you here.”
She lowered her voice. “Here in this home you think I can be a part of.”
“Think? You would have this place in tip-top shape in no time. My butler is badly overtaxed, as is my housekeeper, sincethey only have me to consult—and didn’t even have me for so many years.”
Audrey said nothing, trying to imagine herself here, where the furnishings were probably so far apart she’d have trouble counting steps between. It was a little intimidating—and challenging. She’d begun to realize in the last few weeks that she liked a challenge.
“We’ve entered the drawing room,” he said in her ear. “Blackthorne and his wife are seated on the sofa facing us as we approach. Blackthorne is a soldier, one of those dark, brooding types who never planned to be anything but a soldier. No ambition in life.”
“I heard that,” said the man himself, his tone dry and amused.
“Then I shall be forced to introduce him,” Robert continued. “Viscount Blackthorne, may I present my fiancée, Mrs. Audrey Blake, and her sister, Miss Blythe Collins.”
“It is a pleasure to meet the woman who has tamed such a headstrong rogue,” Lord Blackthorne said.
“Tamed?” Audrey echoed. “I am not certain that is the correct term. I believe he has quite trampled all over my intentions.”
“I am not so headstrong as all that,” Robert said. “Audrey, Blythe, meet Lady Blackthorne, once Lady Cecilia Mallory, daughter of our late commander, the Earl of Appertan.”
“Ah,” Audrey said, “so you met each other through the military. It sounds very romantic.”
She heard Lord Blackthorne chuckle quietly, while his wife laughed aloud.
“Mrs. Blake,” Lady Blackthorne said, “there was nothing romantic about it. I quite believe I was desperate for a husband.”
Blythe spoke up. “And Audrey was desperate for a fiancé. You all have much in common.”
Audrey winced at her sister’s indelicacy. Perhaps Robert had wanted nothing mentioned about how they’d come to be together.
But Robert only laughed and said, “Let us sit down and exchange stories. There’s a tea tray we may share until luncheon is ready.”
A servant took their cloaks, and Audrey asked if she could serve the tea. Perhaps Robert would wish to show that she wasalmostjust like any other young lady.
When they were sipping tea, Blythe was the first one who returned to the topic of marriage. “Lady Blackthorne, do forgive my curiosity, but how can a military marriage not be romantic?”
The woman sighed, yet her voice was amused as she said, “Due to many reasons, I needed access to my inheritance, and the only way I could have that, was to marry. I had been corresponding with Michael for months after my father’s death, and thought he’d be able to help me.”
“Corresponding?” Audrey said. “He was still in India?”
“I attended the wedding,” Robert said. “In India. Without a bride.”
“You married by proxy,” Blythe breathed, sounding awed. “Surely you had met him before.”
“No, I hadn’t,” Lady Blackthorne answered. “I thought he was a man my father’s age.”
“She thought I’d keel over rather quickly,” Lord Blackthorne explained. “Imagine her surprise when I showed up at her door a month ago.”
Lady Blackthorne chuckled. “And he thought I was desperate to marry because I was a plain spinster.”
“They make a very handsome couple,” Blythe told Audrey. “And they seem very much in love.”
