Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“ H e really left?” Barbara asked, unable to hide the surprise in her voice the next morning.

As promised, Barbara and her friends had gathered at the breakfast table at ten the next morning, and she had been shocked by the news that Lydia and Helena had been anxiously waiting to tell her and Alice.

“This morning,” Lydia confirmed, clutching Helena’s hand.

“He asked for a meeting with Lydia and me first thing this morning to see if we would be comfortable with the arrangement, and I could not say yes quickly enough! Can you believe it! I am finally going to live a life unsupervised!”

Lydia clucked her tongue at her excited younger friend and shook her head. “Ah, ah, not entirely true,” she sang. “You know that I will be keeping a very close eye on you, and you and I both agreed to allow guards to travel with us.”

“Yes, yes,” Helena sighed. “But now I am no longer under my brother’s thumb! Without his threatening presence, perhaps now I can finally meet a suitable gentleman!”

“Oh, Lydia can be quite threatening too, trust me,” Alice joked, and all of them but Barbara laughed.

“So, he went where?” Barbara asked, going back to the original topic. “What was so important that the man who swore to never leave you unsupervised is suddenly leaving you with Lydia?”

She could tell by the looks on her friends’ faces that she should have worded her question better, and she did her best to recover.

“What I mean is, it must have been very important if it pulled him away from his dutiful watch over you,” she explained in a much gentler tone.

“All he told me was that he was needed in Larsen until next week’s end,” Helena replied, giving her an odd look.

“And he did not insist you go with him?” Barbara asked.

Helena huffed. “My brother may be capable of many things, but the thing he knows he cannot do is keep me away from my friends when they need me. You are to be married! And then you’ll probably move. I would not leave with him right now, not if his life depended on it. I want to be here. For you.”

Though it was not in Barbara’s nature, she flew out of her chair to throw her arms around Helena and hug her tightly.

Helena only laughed, not understanding how much that meant to Barbara, and hugged her tightly back. “Come now,” she urged, once they’d parted. “Let us stop this talk of my brother. It bores me. Your future husband could be returning as soon as tomorrow. Let us focus on your upcoming nuptials. Perhaps I shall meet someone there!”

Barbara doubted it, but she smiled at her friend all the same and let her steer the conversation toward her impending wedding. Inside, though, a cold had gripped her chest, making it feel painful and tight. Ambrose really was gone.

The Next Morning

“Papa,” Barbara said, her voice different as she took in her father. “I cannot believe it.”

Memories of her night before with Ambrose plagued her mind, but she pushed them back. The sight before was much more monumental than her sordid tryst with Ambrose. Standing before her, albeit by her uncle’s side, was her father.

How long had it been since he had left the house?

“Well, when a young man comes to one’s house, declaring his intentions for one’s daughter, it inspires a man to do some investigating,” Josiah replied, his voice only slightly slurred as he took a clumsy step toward her.

Barbara went to her father immediately and hugged him, the motion saving him from falling face-first to the carpet. She took on his massive weight as usual and helped him onto a nearby sofa.

Reuben and Kenneth stood nearby, and Alice, Lydia, and Helena stood behind Barbara. Duncan, too, was in the room, his masked gaze watching them silently from the far corner.

To her relief, they all looked politely away as she helped her father to his seat.

“This young man tells me that he is smitten with you, Barbara,” Josiah replied, sighing as he took his seat. “And though you and your uncle have told me you were searching for a husband, I was still taken aback by Lord Gerville’s insistence.”

“You will have to forgive me,” Kenneth interjected earnestly, his smile wide.

“Do you love him, Barbara?” Josiah asked, ignoring Kenneth’s comment.

Barbara blushed at the blunt question and felt the eyes of everyone in the room on her. Love him? No. She did not love Kenneth. Yet, the image of another man flashed before her eyes as she considered the question.

“I am most excited to start my life with him, Papa,” she replied, pushing the image of Ambrose’s face out of her mind. “Ke—Lord Gerville is most kind, and I look forward to being his viscountess.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room, and though there were enough bodies to make the space feel crowded, she noted a particular absence clearly.

“And you, Lord Gerville?” Josiah asked, turning toward the viscount. “You are excited to start the rest of your life with my daughter? You are ready to care for her? Tend to her needs? Provide for her?”

“Whatever she requires, I will happily give, as I already promised you,” Kenneth replied quickly with a bow of his head. “Once our marriage is official, your daughter will never have to worry about a thing ever again. And you, my lord—as I said—as my father-in-law, you would never have to worry about another financial matter again.”

Barbara perked up at this, her eyes darting to her father, then her uncle. They both gave her a quieting glance that immediately angered her. They had secured his willingness to give them the funds? That was their worry?

Hostility and distrust rose within her, but she grappled for her resolve and raised her chin. Her eyes found her friends’, and a sense of gratitude filled her as she watched them stare at her family icily.

“You are sure this what you want, Barbara?” Josiah asked, turning to her again with an indecisive look. “You… you so talked about the joy of being unmarried. This truly is the last thing I expected of you.”

Then you should not have gambled away our fortune!

Her temper flared instantly.

“It is fate, Papa,” she forced herself to say, smiling at her father and Kenneth. “Please, allow us to be happy.”

“That is all I want,” Josiah stated, his voice resigned as he gave a single nod. He then turned toward the viscount, using the armrest to push himself to his feet, and held out his hand. “Very well, young man, you have my permission to marry my daughter.”

Laughter and applause rang out around the room as Barbara numbly let Kenneth take her hands and kiss her cheeks. Everything seemed surreal as one person after another stepped toward her to shower her with hugs and congratulations.

When she got back to her father, Josiah pulled her in and in a weak voice, he asked again, “Barbara, are you sure?”

Tears of anger stung her eyes. Now? He has decided to care now?

“I am,” she insisted, then kissed him on the cheek and moved back toward Kenneth before he could ask her anything else.

Kenneth bowed to her dramatically as she approached him, and immediately began to ask her what she wanted for the wedding ceremony.

“Your father’s will has no requirements, my lord?” she asked, a little surprised.

“Only that I marry legally and in the eyes of God,” Kenneth replied with exuberance. “What would you prefer? Your family church? And what about a reception? Shall we organize a big one? And it does not have to be next Friday. We can wait longer if you wish.”

Barbara panicked at the thought of all of that pomp and flash such an event would bring, then she panicked at the thought of delaying what needed to be done.

“If it is truly about what I prefer, I would rather have a private ceremony in my father’s home next Friday, with just you, my father and my friends, and whatever family members you would like to invite,” Barbara replied, chancing her honesty.

To her relief, Kenneth’s eyes glowed at this. “That sounds delightful,” he replied earnestly, grinning. “And my family is busy and lives very far from here. We do not need to worry about them. I have no siblings, so I needn’t wait for their arrival.”

“Oh,” Barbara said softly, surprised at how simple that had been. “Well, I do not have siblings either, so that shall make this ceremony very easy.”

Kenneth smiled at her fondly, and though she returned his smile, she felt relieved when her uncle ambled over to take over the conversation.

As the two talked mostly about the positive consequences of the union, Barbara tuned out the conversation, and looked once more around the room. The missing person—the person she so desperately wanted to see—was not there.