‘Look, I don’t want you both to have to cope with that sort of thing. That’s exactly why I am suggesting it would be best if I made my home elsewhere.’ Alexander shrugged. ‘That’s if Rose and I get together, of course, which is by no means certain.’

Arabella smiled sadly. ‘Darling boy, you have never known your own worth. Of course she will accept you and not for the reasons your father spoke of. I can understand she is full of misgivings too, it would be a huge change of life for her if she became your wife, but from the little you have told us about her it would seem she is a woman who carves her own destiny in this male-dominated world.’

Alexander stared at his mother. In all the many times he had thought about what the reaction of his parents would be if he told them about his love for Rose, it was his mother he had been most worried about. Her social life, her background, her connections had all served to make her the person she was, and he had imagined she would be shocked and furiously angry at his choice. And of course she was shocked, and he didn’t fool himself that she wished things were different, but she had come through for him in a way that he had never envisaged. His father on the other hand was looking as though he could strangle him.

And it was his father who now said, ‘This trip to Scotland to see Lawrence and Estelle? It’s tantamount to declaring your intentions to the world. You do realize that?’

‘Hardly, Father. They live in relative seclusion these days but even if that were so it suits me.’

‘And how do you intend to get there?’

It was said aggressively and Alexander responded in like tone when he said, ‘By train, of course, and then taxi to the estate.’

‘So like I said, declaring your intentions to the world.’

‘And like I said, I don’t care about what people think or what conclusions they might draw.’

William made a sound in his throat that could have meant anything but he said no more. This whole affair was absurd and he didn’t understand Arabella humouring the boy. He certainly didn’t intend to. But there were ways and means to deal with this. Even if this woman was the love of his life Alexander would ruin them all if he tried to introduce her into polite society and he didn’t intend to let that happen. But for now he would bide his time and put his thinking cap on; there were more ways to kill a cat than drowning it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

‘She wants to meet you before we leave for Scotland. It’s only natural, Rose. I haven’t taken a young lady to Lawrence’s before.’