Page 74 of How to Cross a Marquess (The Way to a Lord's Heart 3)

“Larraby?”

“A tenant of ours.” Fenella grimaced. “Of the new owner of Clough House, I should say. Which is no longer any concern of mine. That has been made very clear.”

“Do I hear bitterness?” asked her grandmother, eyes searching her face.

“A bit,” Fenella admitted. She told the story of Lightfoot’s sale, which made her grandmother frown, as the horse had been her gift.

“Upstarts,” said the old woman. “But I hope you didn’t think to pay back your family by eloping. Because that would not be a good reason for such a rash action.”

“No, not pay them back,” she answered. “Escape their control in one fell swoop, yes.” She set her jaw. “I’m going to buy Lightfoot back, too.”

“Fell swoop? Are we in the midst of a melodrama?”

“A bit,” Fenella said again, with a smile this time.

Her grandmother didn’t smile back, but her expression eased. She summoned a servant and gave orders about Mr. Larraby’s horse. When this was done, she turned back to Fenella. “I intend to take a hard look at this young man you’ve married, and if he is not worthy of you, I can end this hasty match. I have influential friends, and I could manage that for you.”

“I don’t want to do that, Grandmamma.”

The old lady’s eyes narrowed. “You came running to me five years ago because you wouldn’t marry this very man. Now you come running because youhavemarried him, in the most scrambling way. You do see the irony in that? Does it sound like sense?”

Fenella was rather tired of having their history thrown into her face. “That isn’t exactly how it was then. And I’m not running.”

“Whatareyou doing?” Her grandmother sounded genuinely curious.

“Staging a strategic pause,” said Fenella. “Negotiating an important…alliance.”

Finally her grandmother smiled. “With me?”

“My sisters’ husbands wouldn’t dare oppose you. Any more than Greta and Nora would.”

“But I don’t understand why the issue would arise.”

Fenella explained the terms of her father’s will, and the attitude of her brothers-in-law. “Roger has promised me that my inheritance will be under my control.”

“And you believe him?”

“Yes.” Fenella had no doubts in that regard.

Her grandmother accepted her opinion. “But this is the man you described as rude and insufferable and—what was it?—vile. Yes, I believe that was the word.”

Fenella laughed. “And so he was, five years ago. He has changed.”

“People don’t often do that.”

“I did.”

The old lady acknowledged this with a nod. She considered briefly. “There are those who will say you married for rank and fortune.”

“Gossips must always be saying something.”

“I can see you are determined on this marriage.” She sat back in her chair, looking dissatisfied. “It all seems very convoluted. It wasn’t like that when I met your grandfather.”

“You fell in love all at once. I remember you told me.” Fenella shrugged. “Not everyone has it so easy.”

“Easy? I don’t believe I’ve ever said it waseasy.”

“You were madly in love.”

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