Bound by Duty

Lorene leaped to Edmund’s defence. ‘Edmund has no knowledge of that fact, Genna, and you are never to tell him. He would be sick about it if he knew. Besides, Papa intended to recoup the funds for our dowries. He assured me his latest investment would yield all we would need.’

Of course, it would most likely go the way all his too-good-to-be-true investments went. If it paid off now, which was unlikely, the money would go to the estate’s heir. Their father’s will provided only for their now non-existent dowries.

But Lorene would say nothing bad about their father. Or about anyone. She believed the best of everyone. Even their mother. Lorene would insist that abandoning her daughters had been the right thing for their mother, because she’d run off with a man she truly loved.

What of the love a mother should have for her children? Tess wondered.

Now Lorene was making the same mistake as their parents—engaging in a loveless marriage.

She glared at Lorene. ‘You cannot possibly love Lord Tinmore.’

‘No, I do not love him,’ Lorene admitted. ‘But that is beside the point.’

‘Beside what point?’ Tess shot back. ‘Did you learn nothing from our parents? You will be miserable. You will make him miserable.’

‘I will not.’ Lorene straightened her spine. ‘I promised I would devote my life to making him happy and I intend to keep my promise.’

‘But what of you?’ Tess asked.

Lorene averted her gaze. ‘I could not think of what else to do. What would become of you and Genna if I did nothing?’ Her question required no answer. They all knew what fate had been in store for them.

‘Well, you did not have to fall on your sword for us,’ Genna said.

‘I thought about it a great deal,’ Lorene went on, seemingly ignoring Genna’s comment. ‘It made sense. If I had done nothing, we all would have faced dismal lives. By marrying Lord Tinmore, you and Edmund have hope. With good dowries you can marry as you wish. You will not be desperate.’

What Lorene meant was that she, Genna and even Edmund could now marry for love. They could avoid the unhappiness of their parents and still have security. They had a chance for a happy life and all it had cost Lorene was her own chance for happiness.

A chance for love.

God help her, Tess felt a tiny spark of hope. If she had a dowry, Mr Welton could court her.

She turned her face away. How awful of her! To be glad for Lorene’s sacrifice.

She composed herself again. ‘How did you accomplish it, Lorene? How did you even meet him?’

‘I went to him. I asked him to marry me and he agreed.’

Without telling her sister, the person closest to her? ‘Without a courtship?’

Lorene gave Tess an exasperated look. ‘What need was there for a courtship? We settled matters in a few meetings and Lord Tinmore arranged for a special licence. When his man of business procured the licence for him, the vicar of his church married us in his parlour.’

‘You could have invited us,’ Genna chided.

Genna was hurt, as well, obviously.

Lorene swung around to her. ‘You would have tried to stop me.’

‘Yes. I would have done that.’ Genna spoke firmly.

The wind gusted and the windowpanes banged. Would Tess have tried to stop Lorene? She did not know.

The clouds that cast a pall on them parted and light peeked through.

They were saved. Lorene had saved them.

By sacrificing herself.

* * *

A mere two weeks later Tess Summerfield lounged on the bed in one of the many bedchambers of Tinmore Hall. This room had been given to Genna who stood behind an easel, facing the window. Lorene again paced nervously back and forth, which seemed to be her new habit.

‘It is a lovely house party, is it not?’ Lorene asked, looking hopefully at each of them.

‘Lovely!’ Tess agreed eagerly.

So much had changed so very quickly. Two days after Lorene announced her marriage, they moved out of the only home they’d ever known, taking with them no more than a trunk of belongings each. Now Lord Tinmore had invited several guests in a hastily arranged house party to introduce his new bride to his closest society friends. In another month or so they would travel to London for a whirlwind of dress fittings and hat shopping in order to show them off to best advantage when the Season began. Lorene’s marriage was still a shock, but Tess could not help but be excited about what lay ahead.

She was also deeply, deeply grateful to Lorene—as well as feeling guilty.

Genna was not grateful, however. She remained as surly as the day Lorene had told them her secret.

‘It is lovely, isn’t it, Genna?’ Tess, too, reeled from the loss of their home, but she was determined to show Lorene her support.

Genna threw her paintbrush into its jug of water and spun around. ‘I hate the house party. I hate everything about it.’

‘Genna!’ Tess scolded.

Lorene made a placating gesture. ‘It is all right. Let her speak her mind.’

Genna’s face flushed. ‘I cannot bear that you married that man—that old man—for money. His guests call you a fortune hunter and they are correct.’

‘That is enough, Genna!’ Tess cried. ‘Especially because Lorene did it for us.’

‘I did not ask for it.’ Genna turned to Lorene. ‘I would never have asked it of you. Ever.’

‘No one asked me.’ Lorene went to her and placed her hand on Genna’s arm. ‘Besides, the earl is a good man. Look what he has done for us already.’

He’d given them a new home at Tinmore Hall. He’d had them fitted for new dresses by the village seamstress. He was in the process of arranging dowries for her and for Genna and an allowance for Edmund whose regiment was somewhere on the Continent.

Tess sat up. ‘It was a brave sacrifice. Don’t you see that, Genna? We have a chance now. Lord Tinmore will provide us with respectable dowries. We’re going to have a London Season where we can meet many eligible young men.’

Mr Welton would be in London. He’d said he would be there for the Season. Tess wanted so much to tell him of her changed circumstances.

Lorene squeezed Genna’s arm. ‘You will be able to have a choice of young men. You won’t have to marry merely for a roof over your head and food in your mouth. You will be able to wait for a man you are able to truly esteem.’

‘You can make a love match.’ It was what Tess desired more than anything. That and to always be close to her sisters.

Lorene’s tone turned earnest. ‘I want you to have a love match, to have that sort of happiness.’