Mutual Consent by Gayle Buck Read Free Book Online Page B

she had taken the girl’s hand in hers before she spoke, carefully marshaling her thoughts as she did so. “I know that this marriage is not precisely what you might have wished for. Oh, every young girl dreams of a dashing gentleman and tender romance. You cannot tell me differently, for I seem to recall something of the sort myself.’’ That brought a gurgle of laughter from her niece, which she was glad of. It augered well that Babs retained her sense of humor. “However, from what you have just told me of the Earl of Chatworth, the match may work very well. He is apparently not one to bow to your father’s bullying ways.”
    “No, I do not think he is,” Babs said quietly. “In fact, I made sure of it before I agreed to accept the marriage. I took your advice, Aunt Azaela. I went to his lordship’s town house to meet him and—”
    “Babs! I never advised such a course,’’ said Lady Azaela, horrified.
    Babs laughed in genuine amusement. She shook her head. “Indeed, I know you did not. But it seemed the only course open to me. Pray do not look like that, Aunt. The earl was all that was gentlemanly, once he understood why I had come, and indeed, we were able to come to a very satisfactory agreement.”
    Lady Azaela regarded her niece with fascinated interest. “What sort of agreement, my dear?”
    Babs told her aunt in a few well-chosen sentences the sum of her conversation with the earl. “And that is how it stands. Together we shall fight my father and hope to win free in the end.”
    “I see.” Lady Azaela was silent for a moment, reflecting upon what she had heard. She looked up and squeezed her niece’s hand. “You have done well, Babs. It is much better than I could have hoped to come out of your father’s intolerable connivings. Perhaps the match will be one that can make you happy, which is, as you know, my dearest wish in life for you.”
    Babs leaned forward to give her aunt a swift hug. “Yes, I know. And I promise you that I shall be as happy as I possibly can.” She straightened and smiled at her aunt. “I am so glad that you have come. You can have no notion how anxious I was that you would not arrive in time to attend the wedding.”
    “Your father will be very angry,” Lady Azaela said quietly. She saw the stiffening of her niece’s frame, and her own fingers tightened on the chair arm, relaxing only with an exertion of her will.
    “Yes, I know.”
    That was all that her niece said, but Lady Azaela thought she was familiar enough with the subtle intonations of the girl’s voice to know that Babs was badly frightened by the thought of Mr. Cribbage’s inevitable fury. He would not take well to all of his plans being usurped by the earl’s quick action. Lady Azaela made up her mind. She had not yet completely discharged her duty to her dead sister, she thought. “I shall remain here instead of opening my own house. Your father shall have no choice in the matter, as I shall say that my house needs to be thoroughly aired before I can possibly move into it.”
    Babs gave her aunt a speaking glance. “Thank you, ma’am.”
    As Lady Azaela bethought herself of something farther that she wished to say in regards to the bargain Babs had struck with the Earl of Chatworth, the maid returned with the tea tray. “We shall speak more on the subject of his lordship,” Lady Azaela said firmly, even as she nodded to the maid.
    Babs agreed, though she wondered what Lady Azaela could possibly want to hear. She had told her aunt all that had transpired. However, as the maid went on with the packing and the ladies enjoyed their tea, the conversation shifted pleasantly to other things and Babs forgot her aunt’s odd seriousness of tone when she had spoken of the Earl of Chatworth.
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Chapter 6
    Babs was under tremendous anxiety during the wedding ceremony.
    At the eleventh hour she had had second thoughts about the wisdom of marrying the Earl of Chatworth. His lordship was a complete