George could understand that from all the man had been through. It had been a struggle for all of them to get over Lord Ridlington’s betrayal, let alone their own daughter’s deceit. “I hold nothing against you, Lord Chaplin. I would be protective of my daughter if I were in your position.”
“I think it best to get the ladies in here and let us sit down to talk. If this matter can be settled quickly then it will be to the benefit of my family.”
George waited while the man rang the bell for the butler. He sat anxiously in the leather seat across from Lord Chaplin, who sipped his brandy as if he too needed the liquid for his nerves. When the ladies finally arrived, they both looked surprised at the summons. “Please take a seat, Priscilla,” Lord Chaplin said. “My dear,” he said to his wife, “Doctor Rowley has come to me to ask something, that I think he should say himself to you and also to Priscilla.”
Lady Chaplin turned towards George as she stood next to her husband’s seated form. “What is it that you need to ask, Doctor Rowley?”
George looked over at Priscilla, who eyed him with something akin to fear. George gave her an encouraging smile before he looked back at Lady and Lord Chaplin. “I asked your husband earlier for your daughter's hand in marriage.”
Lady Chaplin looked at him for a long moment before she looked at her husband for confirmation. “Priscilla, do you know anything about this?”
Priscilla nodded slowly. “Or at least I had hoped that Doctor Rowley might ask.”
“So you are amendable to this?” Lady Chaplin looked at her daughter closely.
Priscilla looked over at George. “I am, Mother. I have grown very fond of Doctor Rowley. He is a kind man.”
Lady Chaplin put her hand over her heart. “Doctor Rowley, I must say that I am very surprised by all of this. I do not want to seem ungrateful for the work you have done to help our daughter.”
“I do not think you are being ungrateful,” George assured her. “I think you are being practical. However, you know I am from a noble family. I have assets of my own, a career of my own. I will take care of your daughter.”
“About that career,” Lord Chaplin’s voice rang out. “You will have to show me that you can balance your work and my daughter’s happiness.”
George had been thinking of this. He drew in a deep breath. “I plan on actually cutting my practice back. I have spoken to several doctors who wish to form a clinic for those less fortunate, and my brother, along with several of his merchant allies, have agreed to fund the venture. So, that should keep my patients here in London in good health.”
“That might be a venture we too would like to help fund,” Lady Chaplin suggested.
Lord Chaplin nodded. “I have been looking for a way to put back into the community.”
“Your funds would go to good use. They are good doctors, and I myself would oversee the project in the beginning as part of an advisory board.” George was growing more hopeful.
Priscilla turned to him. “I thought you loved your practice?”
“I do, but there are many ways to help people. I told you that if I were to find a wife that I would change… my life would have to. I want you in my life, Priscilla, and I am willing to adjust for that to happen.” George gave her a smile. “That is if you will have me.”
Priscilla smiled at him. He saw her hand go to her eye as she wiped away a tear. “Of course I want to marry you,” she whispered.
Lady Chaplin sniffled and George saw the woman dab at her own eye with a handkerchief. Lord Chaplin gave his wife’s hand a squeeze. “I think my wife and I can see that our worries were unfounded. It looks like our daughter found a perfect match all on her own.” He smiled at George. “I accept your offer of marriage. How does it feel to be betrothed?”
George could not stop the smile. He nodded. “It feels like it is not quite a reality yet.”
“Wait until all the decisions for the wedding start,” Lady Chaplin told him. “It will feel real then.”
George drew in a deep breath. “I am glad my brother is marrying first then. It will give me someone’s brain to pick about things.”
Lord Chaplin chuckled. “I guess I have even more reason to go to your country estate now, Doctor Rowley. If our families are to be linked by marriage, I should like to get to know my in-laws.”
George smiled at Lord Chaplin. “I am sure my father will be delighted to meet you as well. My mother died years ago and he will welcome the influx of new life into our family.”
“I remember what it was like losing my own mother,” Lady Chaplin told George with a sympathetic smile. “My father had such a hard time with it, but being surrounded by family helped him.”
George nodded. He did not really want to feel the guilt over how little he had been around after his mother’s death. Maybe it would be better in time. Right now, he just wanted to make it through one thing at a time.
Lord Chaplin tapped his desk. “Well, I shall get the official business out of way, and then we can work out all the little details.”
George knew that this was all part of it. Lady Chaplin and Priscilla were already rising to take their leave. Lady Chaplin gave her husband a smile as she led Priscilla from the room. George drew in a breath and turned back towards Lord Chaplin who had a pencil raised above a sheet of paper. “Shall we?”
No time like the present. “Of course,” George agreed with a smile. He was relieved of old worries, but new anxieties pressed at him. How would he get everything done? He pushed the thoughts away. He could do anything to ensure that he married Priscilla. She was worth that.
***
Priscilla did not know quite what to feel. She looked at herself in the mirror. Gwen gave her an appraising look. “Ya look like a princess,” Gwen said with pride.
Priscilla laughed. “I do not know about that, but you have done an excellent job.”
There was a knock at the door. Gwen rolled her eyes and went to answer the door. “Why, Doctor Rowley, you know you should not be up here.”
Priscilla giggled and turned in her chair. She saw George peering over Gwen’s head. “Hello, George.”
Gwen stepped back with a smile. “Don’t tarry,” Gwen whispered as she slipped from the room.
When Gwen was gone, George came over and Priscilla went into his arms willingly. She leaned into his embrace and sighed in contentment. “Ah, if only there were no courtship. We could just go straight to having our own household.”
George agreed with a chuckle, “But there is so much to do that the courtship allows us time to get things settled.”
“Speaking of settled,” Priscilla said with a smile. “Have you thought about what to do with your house? You were very troubled about giving it up.”
George shrugged. “I actually decided to keep it and rent it as quarters for the rotating staff of doctors for the clinic we are establishing. It is near to the areas the clinic would serve and to the location of the clinic itself.”
“That is a good idea; now what about yourself?” Priscilla eyed her betrothed with amusement. She had been enjoying thinking of George as her fiancé. It was a vast difference from her betrothal to Philip. Perhaps that was because the one with Philip had never been a real one.
George stepped away from her much to her disappointment, but he gave her a wink at the noise of loss she made. “My father is still hopeful that I will return to my country village and become a country doctor.”
“That sounds very leisurely,” Priscilla said with a smile. “Are you prepared for such peace and quiet?”
George chuckled and shook his finger at her. “Perhaps, but I will also be here in London for at least half of my time, so I do not think peace and quiet are in my future just yet.”
Priscilla followed him to the door and gave him a kiss on the chin. “There are different kinds of peace and quiet. Perhaps yours just happens to involve work and family?”
George nodded and gave her a smile. “Perhaps so. I had better go and wait downstairs.
After all, we are announcing our engagement and I should act accordingly.”
Priscilla bit her lip. She nodded. “You probably should act responsibly.”
“I find that you do not bring that side out of me,” George teased.
He opened the door but lingered in the doorway. Priscilla leaned against the doorframe. “I love you, George Rowley.”
He smiled at her and looked around the hallway before he leaned over and brushed a kiss against her lips. “I love you too, Priscilla Morton.”
George stepped away and gave her a bow. She managed to give him a curtsey before he turned and hurried off back downstairs. Gwen came down the hallway a moment later. “Are you ready to go downstairs and be introduced with your fiancé?”
Priscilla drew herself up. “I have never been more ready for anything in my life.”
Epilogue
Priscilla ran her finger along her wedding dress. She had sent a letter out to her sister weeks ago inviting her and Philip to the wedding to be held at George’s family estate on during the Christmas holiday.
“Are you still looking at your dress?” Gwen gave Priscilla a smile as she entered the room that was set aside for Priscilla at the Rowley estate.
Priscilla smiled at her friend. “I was just thinking. The wedding is soon and I have not heard from Bridgitte.”
“I do not know why you chose to invite her anyway,” Gwen said with a frown. “You do not owe her anything.”
Priscilla nodded. “I know that, but it does not stop me from wishing that things were different.”
There was a noise from downstairs. Priscilla and Gwen shared a look as they eased to the door. There were various guests at the estate to celebrate the wedding and holiday and it was more than likely just another arrival.
Priscilla made it to the landing that overlooked the entrance hall in time to see a flash of blond hair. “Bridgitte?”
Priscilla rushed down the stairs and embraced her sister. Bridgitte gasped and hugged Priscilla back. “Oh, Priscilla, I am sorry that I could not respond to your letter. We were traveling back from a far-flung property when we got word of your wedding.”
“I do not care about that,” Priscilla assured her. “I just care that you are here now.”
Her eyes went to the tall man behind Bridgitte. Philip had the good graces to look away sheepishly. Priscilla smiled. “It is good to see you too, Philip.”
He gave her a grateful look for her kind words. “We were happy to have the invitation. It has weighed on us heavily about how things were left.”
Bridgitte stepped back beside her husband. “Yes, it was awful. But I was happy to hear when Mother and Father announced your engagement to Doctor Rowley.”
Lord Rowley had arrived to greet the newcomers and stopped with a look of confusion. Priscilla interceded. “Lord Rowley, this is my sister Bridgitte and her husband Philip Ridlington.” She told Bridgitte and Philip, “This is my soon to be brother-in-law, Lord Rowley.”
Lord Rowley recovered quickly from the introduction and put on a warm smile. “Welcome. I was not sure if you two would make it, but my brother had told me about your invitation. There is a room available to you.”
“You wish us to stay here?” Bridgitte looked at Priscilla. “Truly? We can stay at the Inn if it will cause trouble.”
Priscilla shook her head. “You are family. I am sure that Mother and Father would like to see you, despite how you may have spoken last. Mother is worried about you.”
Bridgitte softened. She looked at Philip who nodded. “Then we would be delighted,” Bridgitte said.
Lord Rowley stepped back and waved his hand up to the stairs. “Follow me and I shall take you to your room personally.”
“Thank you,” Philip said with more grace than Priscilla could remember hearing from the man before. Perhaps their exile had been good for the man.
She waved goodbye to her sister as Lord Rowley escorted the couple upstairs. Gwen whispered, “Look like you got your wish. Hope it is what you want truly.”
“It does not matter if we solve all our problems. I just want some chance to be a family, like the Rowleys are.” Priscilla could not ask for more than that.
She turned and went toward the kitchens. She pushed open the kitchen door and found George’s father sitting at the table with a cup of tea. “Oh, I did not expect to see you here. The house is so busy that I thought everyone would be mingling.”
The older man chuckled and patted the seat next to him. “My wife was a social butterfly. I like the quiet.”
“I know how you feel,” Priscilla sat down. “My sister was always the one that liked this sort of thing.” She tried out the name that the man had insisted that she call him, “Sir Randall, George told me much of your wife and why he became a doctor.”
Sir Randall nodded. “George was a very purposeful young man. I swear he was never just some child. He always had a goal in mind.” He smiled and then took another sip of tea. Everything he did he did with a slow deliberation, which made Priscilla feel as if there was no rush. It was comforting.
The man reminded her much of George. “I see a lot of you in George,” she told him.
Sir Randall chuckled. “That is probably true. The poor child got the worst of the lot. Nathaniel he had his mother’s head for social ladders. George understands people, a little too well.”
“I think it is what makes him such a good doctor,” Priscilla said.
Sir Randall nodded. “Do you want some tea? I forget all the social rules.”
Priscilla waved off his words. “My own father does not serve me often when we are in private. It is such a burden on the males at times.” She stood up and got herself some tea and lemon. “I actually just came for some of the cook’s ginger cookies. She gave me leave to eat all I wanted.”
He laughed and patted the table. “I daresay she likes having more people to cook for. Debra likes cooking, and serving just me and my sons all these years probably got boring for her.”
“I think she is having fun with the wedding,” Priscilla commented with a smile.
“It was good of you to agree to allow her cater it instead of bringing in others from the outside,” Sir Randall agreed with a smile.
Priscilla scoffed. “With how George speaks of her cooking, I would have been a fool to turn down such an offer.”
“Ah, there’s my other daughter,” Sir Randall said as the swinging doors to the kitchen came open.
Priscilla turned to see Medea enter the kitchen with a smile on her lips. “Ah, so this is where everyone sneaks off to.” Medea’s teasing tone made Priscilla laugh.
Priscilla agreed with a nod. “I came to eat ginger cookies.”
“That is a good plan, sister,” Medea grinned as she snatched a cookie off the platter as well.
Priscilla warmed at the nickname. Medea was easy to be around and Priscilla had already formed a strong bond with the girl. “Well, Father,” Medea said with a smile. “Why are you hiding?”
“Your husbands gave me a headache with their bickering.” Sir Randall raised his teacup with a pointed stare at the girls.
Priscilla laughed. “Now, now, I am not yet married to George.”
“Too late to back out,” Medea teased as she bumped Priscilla’s arm with a wink.
Priscilla shook her head. “Just as well. I am happy with my decision. Still, I shall go tell him at once to not trouble his father so.” Priscilla pushed herself up with purpose.
The Awakening 0f A Forbidden Passion (Historical Regency Romance) Page 29