Courting Constance (Fountain of Love) (6 page)

“He didn’t!” Lily sounded truly scandalized.  “He hit Kit, repeatedly, when I got pregnant before marriage, and he thinks it’s perfectly fine to have a mistress?  Especially a mistress he cares so much about?  What is wrong with that man?”

Constance blushed.  “Please don’t say anything to him.  He won’t marry me, because everyone would be scandalized.  It’s fine.  I understand.”

“He lives in the country.  No one will be scandalized.  It would be harder if he were part of the London social scene, but he’s not.  He never has been.  He prefers his quiet time in the country, so he could marry you and no one would say a word.”  Lily shook her head.  “You were raised country gentry, weren’t you?”

Constance nodded.  “I was, but my family wasn’t wealthy.  If I were an heiress it would be one thing, but I’m not.  I’m just from a poor country family with no title.”

Lily shrugged.  “That doesn’t matter to me.  I’d be willing to bet it doesn’t matter to our brother, James.  What difference does all that make?”

“It makes a difference to most people.” 

Lily shook her head.  “Charles has always been extremely open-minded.  My father wouldn’t let me marry Kit because he was a third son.  Charles would have told me to marry for love.”

“He’s told me we can’t marry.  That he’d be happy to have me for his mistress, but not his wife.  He wants me to live in his house with him.”

Lily sighed heavily.  “You are going to be my sister-in-law.  Just wait.”  She stood with the baby in her arms.  “For now, though, you’re going to be my savior.  Let’s get these bab
ies upstairs to bed, and then I’ll show you your room.”

Constance stood, holding the baby carefully against her.  She hadn’t spent a great deal of time around young children being an only child, but she had always enjoyed them.  She followed Lily upstairs and to the nursery.  Both babies were put into their beds and they quietly tiptoed out of the room.

Once they were in the hall, Lily put her hand through Constance’s arm.  “My best friend is my maid, Bernice.”  She whispered the words as if she were sharing a huge secret with Constance.

Constance laughed.  “So you like the idea of your brother marrying your nurse.”

“It doesn’t bother me at all.  I was raised in the country, just like my brother was.  Class distinctions just aren’t as important here.”  She opened a door that was next to the nursery.  “This is your room.”  

Constance looked around the room.  It was simply furnished with a small bed and a dresser with a mirror over it.  There was a wardrobe off to one side to hang her clothes in.  It was nicer than any room she’d had since her parents had died.  “It’s perfect.  Thank you!”

Lily smiled.  “If you want to make any changes, do so.  We’ll have dinner in about thirty minutes, so go ahead and get dressed if you want to change.  You’re fine the way you are, though.”

Constance looked at the other woman in surprise.  “You want me to have dinner with the family?”  She knew things weren’t done that way.

Lily shrugged.  “We don’t stand on ceremony here.  Besides, I’m not going to tell my future sister-in-law she has to eat with the servants.”  She closed the door behind her as she left the room, obviously pleased with her parting remark.

Constance sat on the edge of the bed for a moment thinking about what Lily had said.  She really thought Charles would marry her?  He certainly didn’t seem to think it was a good idea.

*****

Instead of leaving right away, Charles sought out Kit.  He liked the other man despite having to protect his sister’s honor with his fists when he’d first discovered he was the man to have
ruined Lily.

He knocked on the other man’s study, standing outside the door waiting.  “Enter!”

Charles opened the door and walked inside.  “Do you have a few minutes?”

Kit looked at him warily.  “That depends.  Are you going to hit me or talk to me?”

Charles smiled.  “I’m done hitting you.  I did what I had to do for my sister.”

“Oh, I know that, but I still see you and want to rub my eye.”  He waved to the seat across from his huge oak desk.  “What can I do for you?”

Charles wasn’t sure how to say what he needed to say, so he just blurted it right out.  “I’m in love with your nurse.”

Kit frowned.  “My nurse?  Oh!  Constance.  Is she here now?”  He started to stand to go and see if Lily was pleased.

“Yes, I’m in love with Constance.  Aren’t you shocked?”

Kit looked at his brother-in-law and realized that right at that moment, he needed him more than Lily did.  “No, I’m not shocked.  I saw how you were looking at her at dinner the other night.”

Charles sighed.  “I didn’t realize I was so obvious.”

Kit laughed softly.  “No man has ever been more obvious.  Well, except me with Lily maybe.”

“I can’t marry her!  She’s a servant.”

“She was raised country gentry.  It’s not a match that London matrons would approve of certainly, but you live in the country.  Your whole life is here except for when you’re in town for parliament.  You can leave her at home then or take her with you.  No one will mind either way.”
  Kit shrugged.  “That obstacle is only in your mind.”

Charles leaned back in his chair.  “And my father’s.”

“Your father was a judgmental ass.”  Kit shook his head.  “If it had been up to him, Lily would never have married me.  She’d have been forced to marry the man with the highest title who offered for her, and her feelings would have been ignored.”

“It’s the way of Society.”

“It may be, but I can tell you, marrying for love is so much better than pleasing others.  I can’t imagine my life with anyone but your sister.  She’s the only woman I’ve ever cared for this way.”  Kit shrugged.  “I guess you need to decide if love is more important to you than how Society will see things.  I think it is.”

Charles struggled with the thought for a moment.  “You and Lily wouldn’t stop seeing us if I married her?”

Kit laughed.  “Why would we do that?  We’ve been in your position.  She was too far above me to marry, at least your father thought so.”  He paused, staring at the wall behind Charles for a moment.  “To me, being with the only woman in the world God meant for just me is so much more important than anything else.  Don’t give up on your love for her.”

Charles nodded briskly.  “I’ll try not to.  Lily invited me for tea tomorrow.  I’m so glad that she’s willing to treat Constance as a member of the family and have tea with her.”

Kit laughed.  “She’ll be having dinner with us every night as well.  Lily told me that her future sister-in-law will not be eating with the servants.”

Charles stared at Kit.  “Are you serious?  She said that?”

“I couldn’t make that up.”

“No, you couldn’t.  Lily invited me to dinner, but I said ‘no,’ because I assumed she’d be eating with the servants.  Invite me?”

Kit grinned.  “We’d be happy to have you join us for dinner, Charles.”

“I’d be delighted, Kit.  With both of you asking me, it’s just forced me into accepting.”  Charles smiled, happy to consider the idea of marrying Constance.  If his sister and brother-in-law approved so heartily, did the rest of the world matter? 
He was an earl, for God’s sake.  If he couldn’t break some rules, what was the point?

*****

Constance rushed into the parlor before dinner, expecting to see just Kit and Lily.  She felt a little bit uncomfortable eating with them, but she was thrilled to be asked.  She stopped short when she saw Charles standing before the fireplace, watching her.  She gave a quick curtsey.  “Lord Charles.”

He shook his head, nodding to the sofa where Kit and Lily were sitting talking in low tones.  “They both expect us to marry.  Call me Charles.”

She shook her head.  “You don’t want to marry me.”

“Oh, you’re wrong about that, Constance.  There’s nothing I want as much as I want to marry you.  I’ve just seen it as…impossible.  I still need to do some thinking on it, but I believe I may have been incorrect.”

She took a step closer to him, close enough that she could speak in soft tones that wouldn’t be heard from the sofa.  “Are you serious?  You’re reconsidering?”  Her heart jumped.  It wasn’t that she wanted to be married to an earl.  That meant nothing to her.  Being married to Charles, however, meant the world too her.

He nodded once.  “I’ve been assured that it doesn’t matter who I marry, because we live in the country and aren’t active in the London social scene.”  He reached out and stroked her cheek with
the back of his hand.  “I don’t want to live my life without you.”

Constance smiled brightly.  “Let me know when you’ve made a decision.”  She winked at him.  “I’ll try to still be available then.”  He laughed and caught her arm pulling her toward him.  She pulled back nodding toward the sofa.  “Not in front of my employers.”

“Just think of them as future in-laws.  That’s how they think of you.”

She frowned.  “Not until you think of me as your future wife.” 

The butler arrived then to let them know dinner was ready.  Kit and Lily led the way, Lily holding her husband’s arm and speaking to him in low tones.  Charles held his arm out for Constance, and she took it, worried that she was making a big mistake by allowing him to act as if he was courting her, before any real decision had been made.

He held her chair and she sat beside him.  Lily was across from her and Lord Kit was to her right at the head of the table.  “Will you walk with me after dinner?” Charles asked, his lips against her ear.

Constance looked to see if anyone had heard his question and finally nodded.  “Yes, I’d like that.”  She would be certain that nothing happened between them, but she would love to walk with him.

Not another word of private conversation was exchanged between them until after the meal.  When they were finished eating, he got to his feet.  “I’m going to borrow your nurse for a walk, Lily.”

Lily nodded with a smile.  Constance held back.  “Do you need me for anything before I go?”

“The babies should sleep for another hour or two before they stay up all night.”  Lily yawned.  “I’m going to go catch a bit of sleep before the all night feeding and pacing ritual begins.”

Constance smiled.  “We’re in for a long night, are we?”

Lily nodded.  “I have to be the one to feed them, of course, but I’ll need your help with the pacing.  You’ll have some time to sleep tomorrow, and we’ll catch catnaps when we can.”

“You should have contacted me sooner!” Constance protested. 

Lily smiled.  “I wanted a bit of time alone with my new daughters.  I had to tell them about the evilness of shoes and the pure joy involved in tree-climbing.”

Constance smiled while the two men laughed.  “I hope they listened well, because every nice day, those babies will be taking nice long walks in their pram.”

“Yes, they will!”  Lily smiled.  “You can’t keep a child indoors.  It ruins their spirit.”

Constance left with Charles, and as soon as they were outside, he caught her hand in his, holding it as he walked away from the house.  “I hope you understand that nothing can happen between us while we walk,” Constance began.

Charles shook his head.  “Nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen.  We can just talk or find a place where I can kiss you senseless.”

She laughed.  “Why am I always the one who ends up senseless when we kiss?  How about I kiss
you
senseless?”

“That sounds like a very worthy goal.”  He grinned down at her, walking toward the lake.  “I love to walk around the lake at night.  Do you mind?”  He wondered about the fountain he’d seen just a week before down by the lake.  Would it still be there?  He’d only ever seen it the one time.  Why would someone take a fountain there?

Sure enough, they walked straight to it.  Constance smiled when she saw it.  “I love this fountain.  It’s beautiful.”

“You’ve seen it before?” he asked with surprise.

“Yes, of course.  It was here the day I walked into town to start my new position at the seamstress shop.”

He looked down at it with surprise.  “I saw it for the first time just a week ago.  I was out here at night, just wandering around, missing you.”  He grinned down at her.  “Do you want to hear something funny?”

She looked at him.  “Of course.  I love to laugh as much as the next girl.”

“I made a wish on the fountain.”

She smiled.  She didn’t mention she’d done the same.  “You did?  What did you wish for?”

“A way to marry you.”

“I hope you’ve found it.”  She could think of nothing she wanted more than marriage to him.  If she found out that he decided he couldn’t marry her because of her lack of lineage, she’d be sorely disappointed at this point.

He caught her waist and pulled her into his arms.  “Now would be a good time to try to kiss me senseless.”

She giggled softly.  “I don’t know about that.  Maybe I can kiss you senseless to seal our engagement.”

“You could at least start practicing now,” he told her.  He lowered his head and caught her lips with his, his tongue stroking inside her mouth to tangle with hers.