The Heiress - Lynsay Sands [44]
“His family is an old and respected one. He was the only child. His father was a second son, but Woodrow’s uncle died about a year ago without issue and Daniel inherited the Woodrow estates and earldom.”
“Oh Suzy, he’s an earl!” Lisa squealed with excitement.
Suzette merely frowned, wondering why he hadn’t mentioned as much, and what that might mean for her. Noting the way Robert was now glancing from her to Lisa curiously, she grimaced and gestured for him to continue.
Robert shrugged. “What else do you want to know?”
“What do you think of him?” she asked at once. Langley was usually a very good judge of character, though he’d rather fallen short on Dicky. But then his father had been ill at the time, and had in fact died shortly after Christiana and Dicky’s wedding. Attending to his father, Robert hadn’t spent much time at Madison when Dicky was courting Christiana, and when he had been there he’d been distracted and anxious over his father’s health. Suzette suspected his father’s death was the reason he had suddenly taken himself off to London. It seemed likely he’d been avoiding the family home full of such sad memories.
“What do I think of him,” Robert murmured thoughtfully, his eyes slipping toward the ceiling briefly, before he glanced back and said with a small shrug, “I always liked him. He was smart, with a good sense of humor. He tended to stand up for the downtrodden, defending anyone some of the nastier fellows picked on. We do not move in the same crowds now, but I’ve never heard a bad word against him since that time either. He seems a fine fellow.” He paused and raised his eyebrows. “Now why do you ask?”
“Because Suzette is going to marry him,” Lisa announced with a grin.
Robert sat up straight, amazement on his face and Suzette scowled at Lisa and corrected, “We may marry. He will give me his answer today.”
“He will give his answer?” Robert asked with amazement. “You asked him?”
Christiana definitely had not explained the predicament they were in then, Suzette thought and supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. They had kept what their father had done quiet the first time as well. Robert was like family, and as such she didn’t doubt he probably would have offered to help, but none of them would have felt comfortable with that. It would have changed the balance of their relationship, making them beholden to him, and none of them desired that. Besides, it was just plain humiliating to admit to such a horrible flaw in their father. And she had no intention of confessing it now, so said, “Why shouldn’t a lady ask the man if she likes him?”
Robert appeared nonplussed by the question.
Not giving him a chance to recover, she asked, “Are his parents still alive?”
Robert hesitated, but then said, “His mother is, but his father died some years ago. That’s why the title and estate went to Daniel rather than his father.” He paused briefly to frown, and then added slowly, “I think I heard his mother was ill earlier this year, but I’m sure she recovered.”
“Does he drink?” Suzette asked.
Robert seemed surprised, but thought briefly before saying, “I don’t recall him drinking overly much when we were younger and I haven’t heard that he has taken to drink since.”
“What about gambling?” Suzette asked and noted the way Christiana and Lisa both stiffened and leaned forward a little. It was an important question considering what their father’s gambling had got them into.
Robert shook his head with certainty. “I’m sure he doesn’t. He always eschewed pastimes like that when we were younger. He said he thought anyone who threw money away on games was an idiot.”
“Mistresses?” Suzette asked. It wasn’t unusual for men to keep mistresses, either before or after marriage, but she found she didn’t like the idea of sharing him with another woman.
“I am sure he has had them,” Robert said with solemn honesty. “However, if he has, then he’s been very discreet about it.”
Suzette was about to ask another question when the sound of throat clearing made her pause and glance toward the parlor door. Haversham, the Fairgrave butler