Anna giggled and hugged him. “I’m so happy, husband.”
“So am I, dear one,” he murmured.
When William began looking toward the door a few minutes later, Tessa turned around, too.
Robin returned, striding into the room, clearly still irritated.
Behind him, however, was only empty space. George Leven did not return to the room—but they all heard the front door bang shut. Everyone turned to look in that direction. When no one appeared in the doorway, chatter resumed slowly.
Tessa gulped as she realized whatever Robin and Mr. Leven had spoken about had been very serious, and not to George Leven’s liking. Or Robin’s. Although she tried to catch Robin’s eye, he kept his attention on his other guests.
“Ah,” William murmured. “Perhaps we won’t see you as soon as I was led to believe.”
“Oh, dear.” Anna winced, casting an apologetic smile toward Tessa. “I had hoped Robin had changed his mind about the dowry.”
Tessa blushed fiercely. “I never expected him to.”
William sighed. “We’ll have to discuss this. There isn’t time today. Are you ready to come home with me, Anna?”
Anna looked at her new husband, shyly, for a change. “Yes, I just need my reticule and shawl.”
“I’ll get them,” Tessa quickly offered.
Tessa rushed from the room but saw no sign of George Leven as she made her way upstairs to Anna’s room. The bedchamber was terribly bare now, and the sight made her heart ache. She closed the door upon leaving…but paused at the top of the stairs when she heard Robin and his mother bickering.
“Who told George Leven that Miss Abbott possessed a dowry of any size?”
“Not I. I know you never had any real intention of helping her find a husband,” his mother exclaimed.
“Mother, don’t ever presume to know my intentions,” Robin bit out.
Tessa closed her eyes and then squared her shoulders. She descended the staircase, holding on to her tattered pride. “Here they are.”
William was more than happy to place the shawl around his bride’s shoulder, and then Tessa passed over the reticule. It was time to part ways. Who knew when they would see each other again?
She hugged Anna. “I love you,” she whispered as she choked up with emotion.
“I love you, too,” Anna replied, holding her so tight it was almost painful.
Tessa reluctantly let Anna go as Robin stepped in to separate them.
“I knew this would end in tears,” he said aloud to everyone with a laugh.
Tessa stood shaking, wiping at her eyes as everyone laughed along with him. “I’m sorry.”
Robin suddenly put his arm around her, supporting her as the bride and groom turned for the door and started saying their farewells. “You can have a good weep and a cup of tea after this is all over,” he whispered. “I promise not to tease you later.”
Tessa choked on a sob. “Yes, indeed, I will most likely cry my heart out later.”
Chapter Four
“They are on their way at last,” Robin Cooper murmured with utter satisfaction as his younger sister and her new husband drove away from Robin’s home. He waved one last time and then faced the woman he hoped to marry one day soon.
Tessa was teary as she wrapped her arms around her chest. “Indeed they are, and very much in love. I do hate goodbyes, though.”
Some goodbyes were worth the wait.
The presumptive George Leven had taken himself off as soon as he realized he wouldn’t get a penny from Robin to take Tessa off his hands. The man couldn’t have loved Tessa even a little to have said that to anyone, especially to Robin. George Leven had only asked for Tessa’s hand to secure the dowry he’d been led to believe Tessa would bring to her marriage. He had assumed it must equal Anna’s generous marriage settlement.
When Robin had confided that there never had been any funds set aside by her long-dead parents, nor was he about to settle any on her either, George had stormed out in quite a temper, vowing never to call on Tessa again.
It had been worth the lie to divine the strength of George Leven’s attachment to Tessa. If he had shown one shred of yearning for Tessa alone, without the dowry, Robin would have eventually revealed the size of the dowry he’d always intended to provide her with.
Since George Leven had stormed out, he felt vindicated that he was right to have been distrustful of the man’s pursuit.
“Goodbyes are always the start of a new adventure,” Mother exclaimed as she fluttered her handkerchief in the air, shooing away the departing carriage.
Robin said goodbye to any lingering wedding breakfast guests with considerable relief and waited for Tessa to do the same.
“Anna always longed to be married and have a home of her own,” he told Tessa. “She always had a soft spot for poor William, too. He never stood a chance once she started fluttering her lashes at him.”
“The poor fellow, to have fallen so low as to want to actually marry anyone,” Tessa murmured, craning her neck to see the carriage. “I couldn’t be happier for her, or for him.”
Love matches were always preferable, in Robin’s opinion. Robin was sure of William Leven’s affection for his sister Anna. He had deliberately withheld revealing the size of Anna’s dowry until he was satisfied that William would have wed Anna without a penny.
“Everything is almost perfect,” Mother announced suddenly. “But there is still so much to be done. Come. Come.”
She hitched up her skirts to climb the front steps with unusual haste.
He exchanged a rueful glance with Tessa. Like him, the young woman knew better than to get in his mother’s way when a mood like this struck, and he was glad that she hesitated to follow after Mother immediately, just as he always did.
Expecting the worst sort of scheme to be launched upon them, Robin snagged Tessa’s arm and followed his mother inside at a slower pace. “Let’s get this over with,” he whispered. “I do wonder what else Mother could have in store for us today. I was really hoping for a bit of peace, at least until morning. The fuss that’s been made over Anna’s wedding has been quite ridiculous.”
“I’m sure you’ll have peace soon,” Tessa said with a decisive nod.
“Now, Bates,” Mother was saying as Robin closed the front door behind him and Tessa. “I want the trunks brought down immediately. Hurry, man. Time is getting away.”
His mother smacked her hands together, scowling as if the butler wasn’t already moving faster than a sprightly pace for a man of his advanced years.
“Mother,” Robin growled, a sense of dread building in the air as he took off his hat and gloves and set them aside. “What are you about now? What trunks need to be brought down at this late hour? My sister has already gone and taken everything she could possibly have wanted to her new home.”
Tessa’s warmth slipped from his arm, and he missed her touch immediately.
“I should go and help,” she whispered, then rushed up the staircase in the butler’s wake without looking back.
There was always something separating them—usually Mother. But soon, nothing ever would, if he had his way. He turned to his mother. “What is going on?”