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The sycophantic note inside nearly made him throw up, but she had been doing enough of that lately for both of them, and he did not wish to join her in that. Poor thing.

The note very clearly stated,

Your Grace,

It would be an honor, of course, for my sister to marry you, and though you and I have had our disagreements in the past, the alignment of our two great families is the sort of thing that our parents, no doubt, would have celebrated.

The importance of such a thing in the annals of English history should be celebrated and be awarded with great fanfare. Though it sounds as if you wish to have a quiet wedding, given the rather exciting happenings of the last year, I give you my hearty blessing and look forward to your continued missives and information regarding the delights of marriage to my sister.

She’s a capable woman and, no doubt, will make you a remarkable duchess. The women of our line have always produced sons. So you may be assured on that matter! And of course, her large dowry shall be released to you after the ceremony.

Though she and I are no longer particularly close, she has a sort of duty and familial obligation which you will find most impressive. Though she has little, no doubt, positive to say regarding me given the events of the last months, I am certain that you shall be pleased with her. She has been trained well, and I expect that you shall wish to keep me away in Venice, busy.

Do contact my solicitor. He has the address necessary if you would like to make certain that my stay in Venice and other cities in Europe is comfortable enough that I should not return home to greet any new offspring which will soon arise to grace the ducal cradle.

Yours,

Turnbridge

The note was clear: pay me so I’ll stay away.

It was rather shocking, given the fact that Turnbridge was a landed gentleman with a great fortune. But as many landed gentlemen, he was no doubt spending it apace. Garret knew men who gambled twenty thousand pounds a night.

It was shocking and disgusting, and it would not strike him as surprising if Turnbridge was such a fellow. He did receive some reports on him, but he had not had detailed ones brought up. The man who followed Turnbridge merely followed him to make certain that he caused no trouble for Garret’s friend, Tom Courtney, and his wife.

Now, Garret realized that he was going to have to have more than one man following him and another man totting up accounts, making certain that the fellow did not get himself into scrapes so unfortunate that it would poorly reflect on Garret or Catherine.

The truth was that many aristocrats went abroad and got up to great scandals. Such things did not usually have much effect on those at home in England. This would likely be the case with Turnbridge, and Garret would indeed supply the man’s coffers to make certain that he stayed away.

It was a small price to pay for Catherine’s happiness and his own ease of mind. Of course, if the fellow became too difficult, there were numerous canals in that city to which gentlemen did fall after imbibing alcohol.

It was perhaps something worthy of his friend Tom Courtney, a gentleman from the East End but sometimes needs must, even for a duke.

And Argyle had already volunteered for such a job, despite his preference to stay at home.

Garret thought of Tom and wondered if his friend was happy abroad. He found himself wishing that Tom and his wife might return from their adventure soon.

Still, he did not need anyone to see the difficulties that he was in at present. He would survive them. He had to.

He’d swung his gaze to the window, walked over to it, and gazed down at his wife dressed in a bright yellow silk gown that billowed in the Yorkshire wind.

She stood speaking with her sister Lily, who, like that name, seemed to be very lovely. The girl not fifteen years of age wore an ivory muslin gown, her straw bonnet perched atop her blonde head, and she was laughing.

It was a sight to behold, the happiness of two sisters walking through his gardens. He had not thought to see such a thing here.

As a matter of fact, he had not been back to his ducal estate in years. Many of the servants had never seen him. Some knew him, of course, because they had been down to London, but many did not. They merely kept the house that was meant for his heir, and they kept it well.

It was as perfect now as it ever was.

He wondered what would happen when he passed the chatelaine keys to her. It would, in many ways, become her house. It was a strange realization that she would be his wife.

Well,soon-to-be wife.

They would have to marry immediately.

Now that they had permission from the brother. The banns would have to be read for three weeks if they did things traditionally, but he would go immediately to the bishop and he would make certain a special license was obtained. He did not wish his son or daughter to be born too many months early. A few was quite common. Many babes were born strong at seven months, though they were likely, in truth, full term.

Garret did not care about such things, but he didn’t particularly wish his child to be gossiped about in such a way. The gossips could be cruel, and he never wanted his child to be exposed to such cruel things. He wouldn’t be able to protect them from everything, but he would do his best.


Tags: Eva Devon Historical