Page 35 of Miss Hawthorne’s Unlikely Husband (The Troublemakers Trilogy #3)

There it was. He hadn’t gotten through to her so his new plan was to get around her. Through him. So it was to be a negotiation. If there was one thing Richard knew how to do, it was negotiate. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I am asking you, gentleman to gentleman.”

How interesting. Richard imagined Melbroke thought he should be flattered by being held to his standard. “By your estimation, I am not in fact a gentleman, Lord Melbroke. I am a lowly merchant.”

“Well,” Melbroke shifted in his chair. Was he embarrassed? “You must agree that she is far above your reach.”

“I do not agree. With respect to suitability, we are very well matched as far as education, sensibility, temperament and intelligence go.”

“And what about your utter lack of connection?”

“I am not so lacking in connection anymore, my lord. I have both friends and family in the nobility.” Enough to draw attention anyway.

“That is very good for them but you, as you are, are not. You cannot protect her from them.”

It was a fair point. “So your solution is to marry her to the very people she would need protecting from?”

“Of course not. But one of them, one like your Mr. Thrompson, yes.”

“Even if I were to take your point, which I don’t, I do not believe you should be the one to make it, my lord. A saying is coming to mind about living in glass houses.”

“Meaning?”

“I mean her late mother—”

“—you mean my late wife?”

Richard tilted his head in consideration. The man had been quick to correct him, complete with flashing eyes, which was good. If he was going to stay in Elodia’s life, Richard wanted to know he was worth the trouble. “Ah, so she was your wife.”

“Yes, of course she was my wife,” Melbroke replied, growing impatient.

“There is no ‘of course’ about it, my lord. Men like you are not known for marrying former slaves.”

Melbroke frowned. “You mean members of the nobility?”

“I mean white men in general,” Richard replied evenly. “And white members of the nobility in particular. A fact of which you could not have been ignorant.”

“You didn’t think Elodia was legitimate?” Melbroke asked.

“No. But I didn’t care. I never cared.”

“You say that, but I’ll bet you still wish for me to make it public.”

“Yes, I do. Because the idea that you were a dishonorable man who allowed not only her but her mother to be spoken of with disrespect at will was devastating to her. Her social status may not matter much to me, my lord, but I hold her dignity no less dearly than my own.”

Melbroke looked away from him again, silently ceding him the point. “I have already taken steps to amend that misunderstanding,” he replied. “I hardly need you to tell me.”

“I am glad to hear it. However, your late wife was not considered a suitable match for you either. In certain circles, she was barely considered human when you married her, but you married her nonetheless. I believe you would disagree with the idea that she was a regrettable choice of spouse for you.”

Melbroke’s head was shaking in rejection before Richard finished his sentence. “That is not the same thing.”

Was the man willfully ignorant or simply blinded by paternal love? “That is your opinion.”

“My opinion is the one that counts.”

There was no point in debating it any further.

As Aunt Theo had guessed, Melbroke was not in the frame of mind to consider or even accept an alternate perspective.

Richard didn’t like it, but it was clear that he and Elodia would have to move forward without her father’s blessing for the time being.

“No, in point of fact. Elodia’s is. She chose me and I will not undermine her agency or our shared feelings by giving her up.

She is everything I didn’t know I needed. She is everything to me.”

Melbroke’s eyes flashed with visible temper. “That is very romantic, but she is my daughter.”

His daughter. As if she couldn’t have a goal, thought or wish of her own without his permission. “Do you know, the way you say ‘daughter’ is beginning to sound like something else.”

The older man bristled, nostrils flaring, his hands tightening on the arms of the chair. “You would dare—”

“I am merely making an observation,” Richard said, before the man could lose his temper.

“I could ruin you over this.”

“You could indeed, but I don’t believe you will.”

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

“No, but you wouldn’t be able to do it fast enough to stop me from marrying her. And all you would be doing is hurting her by extension which I do not believe is your wish.”

Richard rose to his feet, regarding the older gentleman with some sympathy. He knew everything he needed to know about the viscount at this point, so all that was left was to make his position clear.

“As a supposed gentleman, I will offer you two pieces of advice. Firstly, reconsider your position, my lord. Elodia knows her own mind, and she is of age. She is bold and willful but she had not made this choice lightly.”

“Don’t tell me about my own child.”

“She is your child, but she is not a child. She is three and twenty. She does not strictly speaking need your permission, and as to her dowry, I do not need your money.”

“Your point being?”

“You do not have to like me, but you do not have to lose your daughter. I agree that the closer you hold to her, the safer she will be. She is precious to both of us and we can both protect her. Leave her heart and wellbeing to me, and we will leave the ton to you.” He gave him a shallow bow and headed for the door.

“And the second?” Melbroke called.

Richard paused and turned to see the man watching him, still seated in his chair.

One thing Richard would say for him is that, for all he resembled his daughter, he was a very controlled man.

Richard could admire a man who had mastered himself.

He nodded towards the teapot. “Don’t drink that tea. It’s unpotable at this point.”

He turned and left the room without a backwards glance. He couldn’t relax until he was back in his carriage and on his way home with a good deal to think about.