Page 80 of The Duke of Kisses
“Oh dear, what happened?”
“Father hit him.”
“And then he hit her,” David said before she could.
“Good Christ!” West exclaimed. “Tell me you thrashed him to within an inch of his life. Give or take an inch.”
“I would have, but her brothers pulled us apart.”
“If you decided we should try again, let me know,” West said, his gaze icy with fury. He took Ivy’s hand and held it on the settee between them.
Fanny noted that West had said “we” should try again. Their families might be at war, but at least they had Ivy and West.
Ivy lightly touched Fanny’s cheek. “It’s not nothing,” she said softly, her gaze full of concern. “What was their opposition to the union, just the fact that he’s an earl?” Her eyes turned sad, and Fanny’s heart pulled. “I’m so sorry I ruined things for you with my poor decision.”
Fanny shook her head. “It isn’t your fault. Their attitude has nothing to do with Bothwick.” Her lip curled as she said the name, and Fanny noticed West tense. He traced his thumb over the back of Ivy’s hand. “Well, maybe not nothing, but it’s not the sole or primary reason. Do you remember Great-uncle George?”
“I never met him. Did he show up after disappearing for so long?”
“No, he’s still gone or missing or whatever he is. He was a footman at Huntwell.” She sent a nervous glance toward David. Preferring to focus on their happiness, they’d decided not to discuss the past until they arrived home.
“What a bloody coincidence,” West said.
“Indeed,” was all David replied.
That left Fanny to finish the story. “Mother and Father insist that he ran off with David’s aunt because they were in love. However, David’s family believes she was kidnapped.”
Ivy’s eyes widened, and West blew out a whistle.
“That isn’t the worst of it,” David said, his voice a bit tight. “Snowden returned with my aunt a year after they disappeared—she’d delivered a stillborn babe and was dead.”
Lifting her hand to her mouth, Ivy gasped. “I’m so sorry, St. Ives.”
David inclined his head in appreciation. “Please, you must call me David since we’re to be family. If you give your permission, that is.”
“Yes, I give my permission. I’ve known that Fanny was in love with you for some time. I just wasn’t sure you’d find your way to each other, and now to hear this…I’m shocked. My parents always spoke of George’s disappearance with sorrow and anger.” She looked at Fanny with grave concern, her gaze clouded. “So not only is David titled, he’s from the family behind their hatred of titles.”
“Exactly so,” Fanny said with a nod. “It was all they could do not to marry me off to Duckworth while I was there. He did his best—which was beyond pathetic, really—to try to woo me.” When David had learned he was the man who’d attempted to comfort her after the fight in the churchyard, he’d regretted not hitting him too.
“I see,” Ivy said softly. “Unsurprising.”
The butler chose that moment to enter with a tray of refreshments. There was lemonade, cakes, and even two glasses of whisky.
Ivy immediately dove for a cake, then offered a weak smile. “I can’t seem to eat enough lately.”
West’s eyes twinkled. “My boy is rather demanding.”
Ivy rolled her eyes at him before nibbling her cake. She studied David while she chewed, then asked, “How will your family react to you marrying my sister?”
Fanny and David exchanged a quick glance. She’d told him she would never tell Ivy what his mother had threatened. Fanny didn’t want her sister even knowing that someone else knew the truth about her past. David had sworn to keep his mother quiet and completely understood Fanny’s need to protect her sister.
“They will not be thrilled,” he said with a mixture of sarcasm and concern. “But they will accept Fanny or find themselves looking for somewhere else to reside.” As it was, he wasn’t entirely sure what the living arrangements would be after they wed. He’d explained that his uncle currently lived in the dower house, but that his mother would move there now that he was betrothed. Where his uncle would live was currently unknown.
“In the meantime,” David continued, “I want to try to determine what happened with my aunt and your great-uncle thirty years ago. Your father said his uncle had written a letter to his father saying he and my aunt were in love. Unfortunately, that letter is lost.”
“I do hope they were in love and that her death was a tragic accident,” Ivy said. “I know how births can go wrong.”
She glanced over at West, who took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back. His eyes met hers, and the love between them was palpable. They hadn’t lost a child, but Ivy’s first daughter had come early and been stillborn at the workhouse. That West shared in her loss filled Fanny with awe. She looked over at David, certain she’d found someone who would do the same for her.
