Page 41 of A Murder, a Marquess, and Miss Mifford
He had found the woman he wished to marry, and if a pile of bricks in the Cotswolds was what it would take to make her his, then Freddie would not rest until he owned every brick he could lay his hands on.
Chapter Eleven
When Emily returned to Northcott House, she was acutely aware that she had just been kissed, and felt that everyone would know just by looking at her.
Surely they would note her bruised lips, which tingled with delicious warmth? Or her hair, tousled and in disarray after Freddie had run his hands through it?
Her very being hummed with excitement and she felt thoroughly different from the girl who had exited the house mere hours ago. It was impossible that anyone could fail to notice the change in her.
"Oh, you're back," Eudora looked up with disinterest from her book, as Emily stepped into the library.
Emily paused, waiting for her younger sister to note her seismic transformation.
"Are you going to stand there all day? You're letting a draught in," Eudora called, without lifting her head from the page.
Emily's shoulders slumped, perhaps her transformation had not been as great as she thought.
"Did you discover any of Ethel's secrets?" Eudora queried, as Emily sat herself down on one of the leather Chesterfields by the fire.
The library was Northcott's domain, and was furnished with heavy, leather furniture, and decorated in dark, masculine colours. It might, Emily thought idly, benefit from a potted plant or two--and the painting which hung above the fireplace could do with being changed from a gory battle scene, to something more palatable. A still life, perhaps.
"Oh, only that Ethel's secret lover is none other than Sir Cadogan," Emily answered, with deliberate lightness.
"What?"
Her words had done what her presence had not, and Eudora wrenched her attention from her book to her sister.
"I followed her from Berkley Square to St George's," Emily confirmed, glad to finally have an audience, "Where I saw the pair share a very amorous embrace."
"Yuck," Eudora made a face.
"Ethel wishes to get married, but Sir Cadogan wants to wait, for he fears it would look suspicious, given that Lord Chambers has already questioned him about the murder."
"And what did Lord Chambers have to say to that?" Eudora asked, before clapping a hand over her mouth in a futile bid to keep herself out of trouble.
"Did you tell him where I was?" Emily allowed herself a moment's outrage, "I told you not to tell anyone where I was going."
"No," Eudora answered, keen to defend herself, "You said not to tell Mama, Jane, or Mary. You said nothing about Lord Chambers."
"It wasimplied," Emily retorted, but without much conviction. If Eudora had not told Lord Chambers where she was, then they would not have shared such a magical moment.
Eudora, who had been expecting a firmer reprimand, frowned suddenly. She took off her spectacles--which she wore just for show--and eyed Emily curiously from top to toe.
Emily, who had thought herself in the clear, flushed under her sister's scrutiny.
"You kissed him!" Eudora gasped, leaping from the chair behind the desk with excitement, "Lud, Emily. Tell me everything. Was it divine? Are you going to be married at once? Oh, Mama was right--you will be a marchioness!"
"He has not asked me to marry him," Emily clarified, hastily.
"But you think he will?"
Emily nodded, as a gnawing anxiety filled her stomach. When she had left Plumpton, she had intended for her season to be nothing more than an exciting few weeks, which she might remember fondly over the course of the summer. She had not set out to find a husband, nor a new home, and she did not think she was prepared for such a big change. Plumpton was where her heart lay, not in Sussex, where Lord Chambers' marquessate lay. Yet now, at the thought of losing Lord Chambers, Emily found that her heart ached and she knew that whatever choice she made, some pain would accompany it.
If her father was there, he would tell her something wise. That change always brought some pain, but even more joy. That she would make a new home, and new memories with Lord Chambers. That there would always be a place for her in Primrose Cottage, no matter how far she strayed.
As it was, Eudora was the only one present to offer pearls of wisdom, and she wasn't very gifted in that field.
"Can I have your bedroom if you marry the marquess?"
