Read Mutual Consent for Free Online Page B

waiting hackney cab.
    Lord Chatworth detained her for an instant to raise her fingers to his lips in the briefest of salutes. “Until our next meeting,” he said quietly. He let go of her hand and shut the carriage door. He stepped back onto the curb as the cab jerked forward into the London traffic.
    Babs leaned back against the worn leather of the seat squab. She drew a long breath, feeling oddly shaken now that her visit to the Earl of Chatworth was all over. The die was truly cast, she thought. There would be no turning back.
----

Chapter 5
    The announcement was duly posted in the London Gazette of the banns between Marcus Aurelius Alexander Chatworth, Earl of Chatworth, Viscount Alster, and Miss Barbara Cribbage, heiress. The news caught polite society by surprise.
    Lord Chatworth had been a prime catch since reaching his majority, of course, but not even the most wishful of mamas had seriously advised her daughters to dangle after the wild earl. Lord Chatworth was but six-and-twenty and had early on established a reputation for riotous living. It had been assumed that he would not contemplate the advantages of the matrimonial state for some years yet.
    Of Miss Cribbage, there were some vague recollections of a brief social debut a few years before, but no one could claim recent knowledge about her.
    The unexpected announcement was the on-dit of the Season, and the curious speculated on all the possible reasons for the abrupt marriage. There appeared no ready reason for the earl’s hasty marriage, other than that Miss Cribbage was said to be extremely well-endowed. The earl obviously was marrying the heiress for her money, since she had few pretentions to society, but no one could say for certain whether the earl was in dire financial straits.
    For some years, due to her fragile health, the Countess of Chatworth had preferred to live quietly secluded at the family ancestral estate rather than entertain in town. The cynical had openly wondered whether the countess did not also prefer to be left ignorant of the gossip concerning many other son’s wilder excesses, which she certainly would not have been if she had been living in London. Speculations ran rife. Perhaps the Countess of Chatworth was in a poorer state than had been believed and had requested to see her only son safely wed before her death, though none could put forth why a veritable nobody had been chosen to succeed her ladyship.
    The only other possible reason for the earl’s abrupt decision to wed was that there was a child in the offing. That would certainly explain the odd marriage, if the earl was concerned about giving legitimacy to an heir. However, the consensus was that he should have chosen a bride of lineage as worthy as his own to get a legitimate heir. He need not go to the finality of marrying the Cribbage girl, even if she was his mistress and carried his child. He could simply make proper provision for the child, once born, and pension off the mother. So society discussed and judged and speculated.
    Invitations to the ceremony were eagerly awaited, as everyone wished to satisfy some of their curiosity concerning the improbable match. But most were doomed to disappointment. The Earl of Chatworth’s marriage was not to be a grand social function.
    The wedding was a private affair held in a small London chapel with only a few family and friends in attendance. From his vantage point in his pew, Mr. Cribbage thought it a paltry affair. He had envisioned an elaborate gala at St. George’s Cathedral, preceded by gilt-edged engraved invitations to every member of the ton, all to trumpet his success to the world. But his plans had been effectively undermined by the earl’s swift maneuvering.
    Mr. Cribbage resentfully eyed the broad back of the gentleman who was at that moment repeating the sacred vows that would bind him to his daughter. His lordship had taken him completely by surprise. Lord Chatworth had cheated him of his moment of triumph.