Chapter 22

Callum wandered down the hallway. His fingers were numb after his visit to the stable and his walk in the icy garden, but it was not that which made him feel so restless. He needed good counsel.

“Harriet?” he called, as he walked up towards the drawing room. Some guests had gathered there for morning tea, but a brief glance showed him that Harriet was not among them. He frowned, then drifted down the stairs, thinking that perhaps she had retired to the library to read. As he walked past the entrance to the dining room, he paused. The door that led through into the conservatory was open.

He walked lightly through the dining room, nodding to the housekeeper, who was supervising the setting of the table for luncheon. The conservatory—part of the terrace that wrapped round the house from the ballroom—was long and narrow, the glass walls and roof letting in sunlight and keeping out the cold.

“Harriet,” he called. She was bent over one of the tables that ran around the room, gently repotting an orchid. She turned when she heard him and her face lit with a smile.

“Brother, look! This little plant has grown so well.”

“It has, indeed,” Callum commented, pausing to admire the small plant, which had, indeed, burgeoned over the summer. She carefully set it into its new pot filled with tree bark, then placed the pot caringly back where it had stood. She paused to wipe her fingers on a rag, then turned to him.

“Is aught amiss?” she asked, a delicate brow lowering in a frown.

Callum shook his head, smiling at her. “No, dear sister! All is well,” he assured her. “Most well.” The memory of Rosalyn’s smile made his own lips tug upwards at the corners with a grin.

“Good, brother,” Harriet said gently. “Were you looking for me for something?” she asked, lifting a metal watering can and pouring water into some plant pots.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Callum replied, deciding to throw aside caution. “Do you think that it is possible to fall in love in a month?”

Harriet blinked at him. “These things cannot be measured by time, brother,” she said with a gentle smile. “Just like a plant does not grow in a day, or a minute, or a year. It does so continuously. Sometimes slowly, sometimes fast.”

Callum grinned. “That is well said,” he replied, his heart soaring.

“Have you fallen in love, brother?” she asked him, her blue gaze level where it held his own.

Callum nodded. “I believe so, sister,” he told her, warmth glowing in his voice. “I believe I have.”

“Miss Rothwell?” she asked, her own eyes lighting with joy.

“Yes. Yes!” Callum nodded, joy filling him as he expressed his love. Keeping the truth to himself had been hard. Being able to share it, to enjoy it, to speak of it, felt wonderful. “She is...like no other I have ever met.” His throat tightened with feeling.

Harriet smiled. “She seems like a good person,” she replied gently.

“She is. A good person. Bright, clever, and good-hearted.” He grinned, aware of how obvious it must be to anyone listening that he had fallen for her.

“I am so happy for you, brother,” Harriet said warmly. “Truly, I am.”

Callum grinned. “I think that you have a great deal of experience with falling in love,” he replied, eyes widening as he thought of her wise words on the topic. He had never realised how many hidden depths his sister possessed.

“Mayhap,” she said with a smile, turning to hide her blush. Her eyes sparkled.

“Mr Rothwell?” he guessed.

“It could be,” his sister replied, and the bright grin that blossomed on her face made it clear to him that he had guessed rightly.

“They are a remarkable family,” he teased. The sound of Harriet’s giggle kindled his heart.

Before she could reply anything, footsteps at the doorway made Callum turn. He tensed instantly as he spotted his mother standing there.

“Son! Harriet. Grand. I am pleased to see you both here. I have to speak to you, Callum.” She gazed firmly at him.

“Mother, if it is anything of an uncomfortable nature, might we not do it somewhere else?” he looked at Harriet. Loud voices and distressing topics upset her.

“I see no reason why, son,” his mother said firmly. “Should Harriet wish to exit, there is nobody saying that she has to stay and listen.”

“No,” Callum agreed, trying to be reasonable. “But...”

“Allow me to say first of all,” she began, interrupting him without embarrassment. “I have always been appalled by your choice of the next duchess. That woman has no social graces and no idea of what is appropriate. One only had to see her on our outing to the village to know that she acts without discernment or consideration.”

“Mother!” Callum exploded. His face heated with anger. “How can you say that? She acted with the utmost sensitivity and consideration. How else could you explain her actions?” He glared at her.f

“She showed no decorum. It is not for her to decide which gifts are given to whom,” she said thinly.

“Oh! So, it is because she flouted your decisions. Not, I presume, because giving charity to destitute children is a crime now?” He made a wry face.

“She handed out our oranges to a flock of grubby ruffians,” his mother said tightly. “That is not how a guest should act.”

“She is not a guest,” Callum hissed. “She is the future lady of the manor. I think we can allow that she has more right here than a mere acquaintance.” He winced as he glanced sideways at Harriet, hearing the venom in his own voice and knowing it would distress her.

Harriet was standing with her back against the wall of the conservatory, watching them with round, scared eyes. Her hands hung at her sides, her posture tense.

“That is what I am talking about!” his mother shouted.

“Please, Mother. At least we should have the decency to shut the door,” Callum interrupted, striding toward it.

“Do not change the subject. I shall not stand for this. You must reconsider. You are a fool if you do this to the manor. You will be bankrupt before long. No one shall want investments from a man who has the dull-wittedness to choose someone with no sense of social standing or proper etiquette.”

Callum looked at his mother in disbelief. His throat tightened and he fought the urge to shout at her. After a moment, he managed to speak. “What, exactly, are you requiring me to do?”

“I am requiring you to become betrothed to someone else instead.”

Callum gaped at her, unable to comprehend her words. She could not be serious.

He repeated the words slowly.

“Become betrothed to someone else?”

He could not find words to explain to her how he felt. After a long, long pause of staring at each other, he cleared his throat.

“Are you out of your wits?” he demanded softly. “Do you truly believe I could turn my back on that woman, and walk towards a socialite who, although undeniably pretty, has the shallowest of characters and no apparent values?”

“Lady Millicent is the sort of stuff that duchesses are made of!” his mother said angrily.

“I do not want a duchess like her,” Callum said roughly, and as he spoke, he found words coming to his mind that he knew were absolutely true. “I want a duchess who is compassionate, caring, one who understands my vision for the manor and has aspirations of her own. A woman who is gentle, loving, and who loves me in return, as I love her. I know who I want. I have chosen her already. I love her with all my heart. And I will not change my mind, no matter what threats you concoct. I love her.”

His mother looked at him. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped and for a long moment, she said nothing. Then she shrugged.

“Well, what can I do?” she asked, and her voice was tight and small, a mix of hurt and disbelief in her words. “If you have made your decision, then you have made it. But do not expect me to celebrate with you.” She turned around and went out through the door.

Callum leaned back and shut his eyes. He felt impossibly weary, drained of all his strength. He heard someone drop something onto the table and he opened his eyes again.

“Harriet?” he asked with concern. “Are you quite well?”

“Brother,” Harriet said quietly. She was crying, tears running down her cheeks. He went to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. She sobbed silently, then leaned back and looked up at him.

“Shh,” Callum said gently, as he had when she was a little child, and she was crying in distress. He stroked her hair back from her brow. “It is all well. It will be well.”

“You won’t let Mama chase the Rothwell family away?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Callum shook his head. “No, my dear. I will not. Your heart, and mine, matter. She will come round to the idea.”

“She will?” Harriet sounded unsure as she gazed up at him.

“Mm.” Callum nodded. “You know her. She may not like it now, but she shall come around. Remember how she was when I bought the barouche?” he teased.

“She was silent for a whole day,” Harriet remembered.

“She was. But eventually, she looked at it and said that if I wanted that lump of metal and wood, I was welcome to it.” He chuckled at the recollection.

“You are right,” she said softly. “Mayhap she will come to accept our choices soon.”

“She will,” Callum assured her softly. “It will all be well, Harriet.”

“Good,” Harriet said in a small voice.

Callum squeezed her fingers reassuringly. “Thank you, sister, for talking to me,” he said sincerely when she was a little calmer. “I value it a great deal.”

“Thank you for talking to me, brother,” she said with a grin. Callum smiled to see her happiness returning. He was angry with his mother for making Harriet witness their argument. She knew how distressing Harriet found such things.

“I am certain that she shall be talking again by dinnertime,” Callum said with a grin.

Harriet giggled. “Mayhap she shall,” she agreed.

“Now, I need to go and choose a tailcoat. I have not yet decided what to wear.”

Harriet laughed. Callum’s heart lifted to hear her happy giggle, and he exited the room, hurrying upstairs to go and find something to wear to dinner that evening. He wanted to look his best, and he also did not want to offend their mother—he had offended her enough as it was, and he hoped that she would forgive him soon. He hoped that he was right in what he had said and that she would accept him and his decision.