Hawksworth had been refilling everyone’s glasses with champagne—no one had been interested in tea—and set the bottle down. “Tomorrow, you and I, representing Talia, shall work out a settlement agreement. Berwick has a plan to trick Somerset into signing it, but even if he does not, I will dower Thalia, as I did for Euphrosyne.”
Kendal’s jaw tightened. “I don’t care about her dowry.”
“But I do.” Thalia squeezed his hand. “I care.”
“Very well.” Catching her eyes, he gazed at her, and despite all the scheming to get them together, he did not want to even think about how much luck had played into their meeting and falling in love. “I will hazard a guess that she is not of age.” She shook her head. “How and where are we going to marry?”
Berwick grinned. “Do you remember Whiteadder Hall?”
“Yes.” Kendal had loved playing there as a child and hearing the stories surrounding the old house. “That is perfect.”
The rest of the group leaned forward in their seats, but Thalia asked the question. “Where is it?”
“It’s west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, on the border with Scotland.”
“If Somerset does not agree to the wedding, would we travel across the border to marry?”
“I’d planned to do that with Euphrosyne.” Markville frowned. “He abducted her before we could depart.”
“We need not leave the property at all.” Kendal smiled smugly. “The estate’s chapel is in Scotland.”
“Excellent.” Thalia’s smile could not have been wider or more adoring. “That will solve everything.”
Kendal only prayed she was right.
THAT EVENING, everyone was in good spirits as they left the house for town. Kendal had been to midsummer revelries before, and vowed he would keep Thalia at his side. Thankfully, she must have had the same thoughts, as she turned down every request to dance and remained with him throughout the evening. It was his right to be the only one to stand up with her. They were betrothed. Or as betrothed as they could be. Everyone in her family agreed with the marriage except the duke, and that would have to do.
They skipped and twirled in the country dances, which at times left them almost breathless. Her aunt had had the forethought to bring lemonade, as the only thing available locally was ale.
He had two glasses, and offered a taste to Thalia, who wrinkled her nose adorably. “I am not fond of ale, no matter how good it is.”
At one point, he danced her behind a large chestnut tree and kissed her, teasing her lips open and sweeping his tongue into her mouth, tasting the sweetness of the lemonade. She tentatively touched her tongue to his, and his knees almost buckled as his cock hardened. The one thing he had not asked was how long it would be before they could marry. After the story about her sister’s abduction, he would not make Thalia his until he had a ring on her finger.
But her soft body pressed against his, and her hands slipped over his shoulders. Kendal pulled Thalia against him, skating his hands down her back and over her bottom. God how he wanted her. Her breasts pressed into his chest, and he had to touch them, and press his knee between her legs. He could feel the heat at the apex of her thighs. She moaned, and he had the urge to throw her into a coach and flee for the border, now. When she shattered in his arms, it was all he could do to keep from spilling. If only he could make love to her.
Then another couple, who were much more overtly amorous than they were, which at the moment was saying something, decided the tree was a good place to indulge in their lust. When the woman lifted her skirts, Kendal led Thalia away.
Hell and damnation! He’d better marry her as soon as he could. He calculated how long it would take to travel to Whiteadder Hall, just a few miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed, and realized the journey could not be done in less than three days with all of her family and the children accompanying them. More likely five days. If that was the case, how soon could they depart for Whiteadder? Thalia had said she was fixed here until June. But did she have to be? Could he convince her family to move to Whiteadder much sooner?
Thalia kissed his jaw. “You are being very quiet.”
He gazed down into her eyes and knew he’d never tire of them.
“What are you thinking?”
“How quickly we could wed.”
Mirth replaced the solemn look and warmed the blue. “As far as I am concerned, the sooner the better.”
“I feel as if I have known you all my life.” It almost scared him how much he loved Thalia, when a day ago he had not even known she existed. What would have happened if he had ignored Berwick or if Kendal had escorted one of the ladies at Hull to the fair today? So many things could have gone awry, and he never would have met her.
“I feel as if I have been waiting for you.” She gifted him with another of her smiles. “Did I tell you that when Meg found out Somerset”—Kendal noticed that duke’s children rarely referred to the man as “father”—“had betrothed Laia to the old duke of Bolton, she invited Guy to her house and suggested he marry her instead?”
