Page 16 of Crash Landing
“Not at this time. Lady Florence and I are in a bit of a hurry. She’ll need assistance to gather her belongings and those of her aunt. They shall be returning to Gull Hall with me. Where might we find her aunt?”
“Miss Newton is taking tea in the dining room, but…” The man appeared perplexed, no doubt because he feared she was about to cancel the balance of her reservation and then refuse to pay for those canceled days. Well, that could be straightened out later. He would never be so crass as to raise the matter in front of the duke, would he?
However, Trajan seemed aware of the man’s concerns. “Have the rooms for Lady Florence and Miss Newton been paid in full?”
“No, Your Grace. Only a deposit. I would not—”
“I know this sudden change in plans has inconvenienced you. Charge the balance to my account and submit the bill to my man of affairs.”
The innkeeper released a breath. “Thank you, Your Grace. That is most generous and appreciated.”
Florence eyed Trajan, not altogether pleased he had done this. “You really did not—”
He placed his hand over hers. “We are betrothed now, Florence. It is only right that I take responsibility for my future wife.”
She wanted to kick him.
Truly, she did.
The innkeeper was practically floating on air as he led them to the dining room, where her aunt was seated on her own, enjoying the view of Weymouth’s harbor and the boats sailing in and out. She had just chosen one of the miniature cakes set on the table before her, but put it aside and smiled as they approached.
“Miss Newton,” the innkeeper said excitedly when her aunt turned toward them, “your niece has been safely returned. And you shall never guess her news!”
Florence adored her Aunt Hermia, who resembled a little bird and twittered like one, especially whenever she got excited. She also happened to belong to the Lower Bramble Ladies’ Ornithological Society and was one of its founding members.
“Florence, thank goodness! I had grown so worried!” Aunt Hermia’s chirps of delight resounded through the dining hall, and now all the diners had their eyes trained on them.
Trajan gallantly bowed over her hand and introduced himself. “I hope our good news will not come as a complete surprise to you, foryour niece has had my heart since we first met last year…and now she has accepted to become my wife.”
Florence really needed to give this man a swift kick to his backside. Was it necessary for all of Weymouth to know they were engaged to be married?
This also meant everyone would be gossiping and condescending toward her when their betrothal was called off.
Her aunt, of course, regarded them both in utter confusion. “Florence, why did you never tell me about this charming gentleman?”
“Oh, you know I am quite shy about such things. Although I am certain I went on and on about him. I always hoped, but never dreamed, he had feelings for me.”
Trajan looked ready to burst into laughter.
She cast him an admonishing look before turning back to her aunt. “Surely you must recall our speaking of him a time or two.”
Or never.
Her aunt twittered and chirped again. “Oh, but of course you have. Please forgive my scattered brain, Your Grace. My dear Florence has spoken often of you with greatest affection. How kind and handsome you are, just as she described you. It is delightful to finally meet the man who has stolen her heart. But you must forgive me, for my mind has been like a sieve of late. What joy! What exquisite happiness you have given my niece. I can see how she looks upon you with the eyes of love. And now, you will give her parents endless delight when they learn you have proposed to her.”
Trajan cast her a gentle and patient smile as she twittered and cooed over him at length.
“I look forward to having you at Gull Hall as my guest,” he said, finally managing to get a word in when Hermia paused to take breath into her lungs. “Florence has been quite eager to have me meet her family. And rest assured, I look upon her with as much love as she looks upon me.”
He turned to Florence and cast her a wicked grin.
She smirked back at him.
“Yes, I think Florence and I knew our feelings from the start,” he continued. “But we dared not believe our good fortune, and did not wish to rush our courtship.”
“Florence has always been romantically inclined, even as a little girl. She was determined to make a love match for herself, refusing to accept anything less,” Hermia said. “And look at how sweetly she is smiling at you. You have her enraptured. How deeply she must love you!”
Gad, would this humiliation never end? Florence’s parents would be thrilled because of the advantageous connection they would have to the new Duke of Weymouth, not for any happiness he might give her. And Trajan was now grinning from ear to ear, impossibly smug because her aunt insisted she was gazing at him with the eyes of love.
