“I have always so wanted a love match for you,” his mother said. “Oh, Mary would be so very happy to hear it.”
He glanced at his mother to find her swiping desperately at her eyes, trying not to let him see her cry. “Mother, you are not remiss in showing emotion; you do not need to hide your tears on my account.”
“But this is a happy day!” Fanny said. “My dear boy, I do not want to sully the occasion with talk of grief, and Mary would not want that either.”
“It is not so happy as I would hope,” he said. “For, of course, I had to fall for the woman when a near insurmountable obstacle stands between us.”
“And what obstacle could that be?” Fanny said. “When you are in love, there is no mountain too great to climb.”
“This one might be,” Graham said with a rueful smile. He met his mother’s gaze. “She is to be married to another man.”
Fanny frowned. “I did not raise a rake,” she tutted. “So you must not have developed these feelings without reason.”
“Not without reason at all,” Graham said swiftly and with conviction. “There is something between us—something beyond words, even.”
“And she feels the same way for you?”
“She has not said as much, but I can see it in the way she looks at me.”
She sighed and clasped her hands in front of her, her brow furrowing before she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Do I know this young lady?”
Graham groaned. “Have you not already guessed?”
A smile came over his mother’s face. “There are only so many young ladies in Hertfordshire, dear, and only one who has ever carried such a torch for you.”
So, she knew it was Bridget, then. Graham raked a hand through his hair, closing his eyes as he considered his options. “What do you know of her betrothed?”
“I did not even know shewasbetrothed,” she said. “She and Mary were always off riding their…” She swallowed hard, her chin trembling, but she persevered. “…riding their horses. There was no announcement that I’m aware of, but news from the Sedgwick house has been quite slow as of late.”
Graham frowned. “It has? I was just there visiting with Bridget and Lady Sedgwick the day before yesterday.”
“Sarah and I had a falling out of sorts after her husband left for the Continent,” his mother explained. “I am still not sure what exactly caused it. She has been quiet, though, and Bridget has not spoken of her family or any marriage prospects.”
“But you must have seen her recently?”
“Only when she came to tell me about… about Mary,” the dowager said. “And you must understand that I was quite inconsolable at the time. After that, I fell into my grief, and I…”
Graham reached across the table to clasp his mother’s hand, squeezing it gently. “It’s all right, Mother,” he said. “You needn’t speak of it.”
She nodded, unable to look at him until she was once again composed. “Who is she engaged to, though? I must admit, I am intrigued.”
Graham exhaled heavily. “A Lord Bragg. But I shouldn’t say too much, for decency’s sake. If anyone is to tell you, it should be Bridget. She will want to deliver the news to you herself, I’m sure, since you two have always been close.”
The dowager blinked once, then again. Graham watched her with curiosity, wondering what had provoked such a reaction.
“What is it, Mother?”
“It is just that, well, I did not even know that Bridget was to be married. I presumed she would have told me, as she was often here at Foxglove Hall. What do you know of the man?”
Graham chewed on his lip. “I fear I’ll sound quite jealous, or rude.”
“Is that so?” his mother said. “You do not like him?”
He shook his head. “I believe he is a scoundrel.”
Fanny’s brows rose. “Strong words for a man you have only just met,” she said. “What makes you think so?”
Graham hummed to himself, thinking about ways to describe Lord Bragg without revealing what Bridget had every right to share herself, if she wished. “He happened to stop by the Sedgwick house while I was visiting with Bridget and her mother,” he said, “and he behaved quite horribly. I must say, I did not care for his behavior one bit.”