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charming ladies.’

      Richard’s neck muscles relaxed. Crisis averted. He silently bid farewell to his plan of taking Sophie away to the Alps for their wedding trip straight away. A few days’ delay while his father remained in Newcastle. He could not risk having his parents meet and not being there to deal with the fallout. His father was unpredictable at the best of times, and his mother might give way to hysterics. It would be wrong to expect Hannah to cope on her own.

      He kicked himself for having given the promise to his mother to delay telling Sophie the full truth. But a promise was a promise, even if it was an unwise one. He could not break it without informing his mother first.

      ‘You must ride back in my carriage, Lord Hallington. The newlyweds need a bit of privacy. Now, you will advise me … What sort of clothes will dear Sophie need in her new position? I have not had time to sort out the trousseau. And a future marchioness needs to be a leader in fashion, rather than a follower. I am sure you understand, Lord Hallington, the necessity.’

      Mrs Ravel hustled his astonished father away, leaving him alone with a white-faced Sophie. Her hand clutched her nosegay as if she were drowning and it was the only thing which could save her. His father had badly shaken her. He struggled to control his anger at his father and recapture that feeling of pride and anticipation he had had when they finished their vows.

      ‘Shall we go to this wedding breakfast?’

Chapter Eleven

      Sophie bit back her questions about Richard’s past until they were in Richard’s carriage. Safely out of earshot of anyone else. The last thing she wanted was the humiliation of having to ask for explanations for things her new husband should have told her about before they married. She had her pride.

      When they had come out of the church, a light rain had started to fall, but a small crowd had gathered, waiting for them. She thought she’d seen Hannah Grayson hurrying away with a heavily veiled woman and somehow it made things worse.

      Yesterday, Miss Grayson had been so happy about her upcoming wedding and all the plans. It was sure to be a big society affair with lots of friends and relations, much as Robert and Henri’s had been.

      There could not be a greater contrast with her hurried hole-in-the-corner affair with barely anyone attending. She had never considered her wedding would be like this, particularly not with her bridegroom’s father demanding an explanation as to why Richard had married so quickly.

      There could be only one conclusion. Lord Hallington had intended to stop this marriage, just as he had stopped another marriage. If he had arrived sooner, would Richard have even married her? Would she even have been in that carriage with him?

      A small knot of misery formed in the pit of her stomach. Moments before she’d been so happy and excited to be married to Richard. Now she realised that she knew very little about him. She knew small things like how passionate he was about cricket and what a brilliant dancer he was, that he took his tea black, but she didn’t know any of the truly big things, particularly how he’d conducted his previous relationships. She’d waited and waited for him to talk about the scandals in his past, or indeed anything significant about his childhood, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t even given her a subtle opportunity. And now they were married. Rather than marrying a friend, she’d married a stranger.

      ‘When were you going to tell me about your father’s imminent arrival in Newcastle? Before or after the wedding trip?’ she asked in a deadly calm voice, the sort she only used when she was very upset. The taste of unshed tears slid down the back of her throat. She looked up at the roof and blinked rapidly. She absolutely refused to cry on her wedding day. Her wedding day! She was supposed to be happy, not feel as though she had been kicked in the stomach by a horse.

      ‘My father sent a note saying he intended to travel to Newcastle. He failed to give a date or time, merely that I should expect him.’ He put an arm about her shoulders, but she shrugged it off. ‘I am a grown man. I refuse to wait attendance on him.’

      ‘People don’t travel like that, not these days,’ Sophie protested as her mind reeled. What was it that Richard wasn’t telling her? She had always hated it when her father was alive and he had kept things from her. She’d always vowed it would not happen to her again. She didn’t need protecting from anything, particularly not his family. ‘There are timetables and schedules. People send letters. The post takes a matter of hours.’

      ‘My father is remarkably old-fashioned about such things, as you will discover. This is possibly the first time he has ever taken a train.’ He covered her hand with his, but she withdrew it. ‘In the past he called trains the devil’s creation and stoutly refused to consider boarding one.’

      The back of Sophie’s neck prickled. Old-fashioned. Was he also old-fashioned about the sort of woman he wanted his son to marry? She wanted to be a credit to Richard, not drive a wedge between him and his father. ‘You know your father best.’

      ‘You must believe me, Sophie.’ He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. His face bore a pleading expression. ‘I truly didn’t expect him to arrive today. There have been times in my life that he has promised to arrive, but some crisis with his pigs has prevented him. I have given up expecting him to do things because I want him to be there. And I did want to marry you as soon as possible, rather than waiting for my father who might not appear. My aunts always came to Montem Day at Eton with a picnic for my cousins, but my father never managed, despite saying he would. Do you know how hard it is to wait for someone to appear and then for them not to show up because their prized sow has given birth to piglets?’

      Sophie’s heart bled for the younger Richard who had wanted his father and had been overlooked for a load of pigs. Her father might have been busy, but he’d always been there when she had needed him. She couldn’t imagine the pain and humiliation Richard must have felt.

      ‘I didn’t know. My father always made time for me … after my mother died.’

      ‘My father has said on numerous occasions that he will never go to Newcastle. You heard my aunt at your stepmother’s At Home. I refused to wait any longer for you in my bed and in my life.’ He raised her hand to his lips. ‘I refused to give you an opportunity for delay and you wanted this marriage to happen quickly as well. You agreed to it.’

      ‘I suppose.’

      ‘I’m selfish, Sophie.’ He put his hand to his heart. ‘One of my worst faults. I admit it, but can you blame me? You are too great a prize to risk.’

      Sophie gripped her flowers tighter. She had spent her entire life trying to be genteel and refined, and Richard’s family didn’t think she was. Any more than Sebastian had or indeed some of the truly refined girls at school. ‘But you were going to tell me about your aunt’s verdict.’

      ‘Any report my aunt made to my father matters not a jot to me. I told her so at the At Home.’ He gave a heart-melting smile which sent a shot of warmth coursing through her. Sophie struggled to ignore it.

      His aunt’s verdict might not have mattered to him then, back when the engagement was false, but would it matter one day? His aunt’s report had mattered to his father.

      ‘I have the wedding trip all planned,’ Richard said, seemingly oblivious to her concerns. ‘We are going to Hamburg and then we will travel to the Alps. For you and your dreams, I will travel on the sea. You would not believe how efficient shipping agents can be when you explain it is for a wedding trip and are willing to pay. It is where you said you always wanted to go. I shall pose for you in an Alpine meadow. You can paint and then we shall see where it leads.’

      Sophie’s heart did a little leap. He did remember the dream she had abandoned after the Sebastian incident. It was more than the painting. She bit her lip, torn between her desire to see the Alps and the knowledge that her father-in-law had indeed travelled all the way up from Hampshire to Newcastle. And if Richard was to be believed,

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