Page 19 of The Spinster’s Stolen Heart (Willenshires #5)

Nathan blinked up at the butler as if he might have misheard.

“Lord Davenport ? We haven’t a meeting scheduled.”

The butler stared helplessly back. “Indeed, your lordship, but he is here and insists upon seeing you. He says it’s an emergency.”

Nathan bit his lip, leaning back in his desk seat. He had a veritable pile of work to get done before William and Lavinia’s soiree that night. It would be the first event they’d thrown as a married couple and was therefore quite noteworthy in Society. Nathan couldn’t miss it. However, if he entertained whatever emergency had brought Lord Davenport to his door, he might not get his work finished.

He bit back a sigh. I can hardly send the man away.

“Where is he?”

“In the parlour, your lordship,” the butler responded. “If her ladyship were here, she would doubtless attend to him, but at the moment he is alone.”

“Well, we can’t have that. Send in tea, and I’ll meet him presently.”

The butler bowed and slipped out, leaving Nathan alone in his study. He paused, tapping the end of his quill pen against the desk.

Something is wrong here.

I suppose there’s only one way to find out what it is.

Nathan arrived at the parlour door shortly afterwards. He paused; fingers looped around the doorknob. He could hear the rhythmic thud-thud of a person pacing up and down inside, the sure sign of an agitated mind.

Or of anger.

Nothing to be done. Nathan opened the door and stepped inside.

Lord Davenport was indeed pacing up and down in front of the mantelpiece, but he stopped short when he saw Nathan.

“Where have you been, boy?” he demanded irritably. “I have been here for a full ten minutes, which I marked on that clock. What do you mean, keeping me waiting for so long?

Nathan swallowed his annoyance.

“I beg your pardon, Lord Davenport, I was in the middle of some very important work. I believe tea was brought to you?”

The older man gave a disdainful huff. He glared at Nathan, tension in every line of his body, and it was clear at once that this was more than a simple social visit. Whatever the emergency was, it was serious.

“You mentioned an emergency?” Nathan said, dispensing with small talk and pleasantries. “I was quite concerned. Pray, sit down.”

Lord Davenport did so, albeit reluctantly.

“I’m here to discuss your marriage,” he said at last, watching Nathan closely.

Nathan cleared his throat. “Marriage? I don’t understand. I am not married, or planning to be so.”

“Indeed, that’s exactly it. I’ve had quite enough of your procrastination, young man. If your father was alive, he would be appalled,” Lord Davenport drew in a deep breath, giving a short nod. “I intend to put a notice of your engagement to my daughter, Amanda, in the Gazette .”

There was a brief silence. Nathan found that his mouth was dry. He swallowed hard, trying to work some moisture between his tongue and the roof of his mouth, which seemed to be somehow sealed together.

“I… I have not offered marriage to your daughter, Lord Davenport,” Nathan said, choosing his words with great care. Had he misheard? He must have misheard.

Lord Davenport snarled. “Don’t play games with me, boy. That’s exactly the trouble. I thought we had an understanding, you and I. I thought we’d agreed that you and Amanda would be a perfect fit. I took a step back because I assumed you wanted to court her in your own way. And now the end of the Season is looming, and there’s no proposal on the horizon. Amanda and my wife inform me that you avoid her, and never call on her. What am I supposed to think?”

You are supposed to think that I do not want to marry your daughter, Lord Davenport, Nathan thought, with a flare of anger. He kept his mouth shut, however. Probably for the best.

“And so, I am taking matters into my own hands,” Lord Davenport finished, with a decisive nod. “If you agree, I shall put the notice in the Gazette and go home to inform Amanda of her betrothal. It’s not a particularly manly way to woo a woman, and it’s most disappointing. However, I am willing to meet you halfway on this.”

He sat back, looking rather satisfied with himself.

Nathan took a moment to collect himself.

“You presume to direct my marriage, then?” he found himself saying, not exactly sure at what point he’d chosen the words. “You’d strong-arm me into a marriage that I do not want, with your own daughter, no less? Do you hate her so very much?”

Lord Davenport went white with fury. His mouth opened, but Nathan did not give him the chance to speak.

“I’d hoped to avoid this conversation,” he continued, “and I hoped that you, and your daughter, would understand what I was trying to convey to you without words. I do not want to marry Amanda, Lord Davenport. She is a well enough girl in her way, but she is not what I want in a wife. And I am more than sure that I am not what she wants in a husband. Frankly, we would make each other unhappy. It is not a worthy match, and I realised this almost at once. However, you kept pushing the issue, and I did not want to offend you, out of respect for our acquaintance and your friendship with my father. It is clear to me now that I have to be blunt and should have been so early on in these discussions.”

There was a long, taut silence after Nathan had finished speaking. He was out of breath, just a little, and more than a little proud of himself.

It was too harsh, he thought, but then, I had to be understood. I left nothing out.

Lord Davenport stared at him, eyes bulging ever so slightly out of his head.

“Well,” he said at last. “ Well . I see how things are.”

“Yes,” Nathan agreed, lacing his hands together. “I’m sorry I had to be so straightforward.”

Lord Davenport hauled himself to his feet, shaking a finger in Nathan’s face.

“There’ll be consequences to this, you know.”

Nathan met his eye. “Oh? What consequences? Do you intend to pull all of your money our of your investments? You would lose a great deal if you did that, and I would not suffer financially at all. Can’t we act like gentlemen over this, Lord Davenport? I don’t mean to insult Amanda. If anything, I would like to see her marry a man she truly cares for. Even you cannot pretend that Amanda cares for me .”

Lord Davenport pressed his lips together.

“If you’re thinking of that Randall girl,” he choked out, “you can forget it. It’s commonly known that she’s about to be betrothed to Lord Barwick.”

Nathan clenched his jaw. “Yes, I heard about that.”

Lord Davenport spluttered out a few half-finished curses, then stamped over to the door without a word of farewell, leaving the tea untouched on a low coffee table. He left the door swinging open, and Nathan heard him march down the hallway, bellowing at the footman. The front door slammed, and silence settled over the house.

Tentative footsteps approached, and then Rose peered in through the doorway. It was plain that she had just come home, as she was still in her walking-clothes, one glove on, one glove off.

“Dear me,” she whispered. “What on earth happened?”

“Lord Davenport wanted me to declare an engagement to Amanda,” Nathan murmured. “I told him I would not. He didn’t take it well.”

Rose heaved a sigh. “Oh, darling, I am sorry. I would have liked to have seen you marry Amanda.”

“I would not have been happy, Mother.”

“Well, you must be the best judge of your own happiness. Now, let’s not let this tea go to waste.”

Rose bustled into the parlour, pulling off her other glove, and sat down in the seat opposite. Nathan felt drained, his strength entirely gone all of a sudden. He couldn’t even consider the work that waited for him in his study. How on earth would he manage the soiree tonight?

Because Pippa Randall will be there.

He closed his eyes, chest aching. The girl hadn’t been far from his mind all day. And for all the previous day, and the previous one, and the previous one, and so on. Where would it end?

He heard the reassuring slosh of tea being pouring into a delicate porcelain cup and opened his eyes to find his mother offering him a cup and saucer.

“Drink up,” she said, smiling. “It’ll do you good.”

She was right. He did feel a little better after a few sips.

“I think our friendship with the Davenports is coming to an end,” Nathan remarked, at last.

Rose sighed. “That is a pity. But I must say, I don’t like how they have behaved this Season. They’ve pushed Amanda far too hard, poor girl. She is dreadfully spoiled, and it’s not a surprise she wasn’t able to charm anyone this Season. They should have raised her better. And trying to force you into marrying her – well, that’s just not what friends do.”

Nathan nodded, taking another sip. Rose eyed him over the rim of the teacup.

“I take it, then, you won’t be finding a wife this Season at all?” she asked, casually.

Nathan stared into the depths of his tea.

“I think I’m in love with Pippa Randall,” he burst out.

There was a short silence.

I can’t believe I just said that. What was I thinking?

He glanced up, and found his mother staring at him, eyes round with shock.

“Well,” Rose managed. “I knew you were fond of her, but I never thought… heavens, Nathan, you are in love ?”

“I’ve never been in love before,” he mumbled, “but I think this is what it feels like. I… I can’t stop thinking about her. She’s intelligent, and amusing, and so very sincere that I only ever want to be entirely honest and frank with her. I long for her company. I replay our conversations over and over in my head, and I… I can’t bear the thought of her marrying Lord Barwick. Of course, I can’t bear the thought of any hapless young woman marrying Lord Barwick.”

Rose winced. “Indeed, that is quite a predicament. What you have described bears a striking resemblance to love, my dear. It makes sense that you cannot love Amanda, not when your heart is otherwise engaged. What do you intend to do, then?”

“Do?”

She smiled faintly. “Yes, dear. Do. Are you going to let your feelings eat you up from the inside, or do you plan to do something about it?”

He breathed in deeply. “Her engagement with Lord Barwick is not official.”

“No betrothal is official until it appears in the Gazette . And no marriage begins until one’s vows are exchanged at the altar,” Rose remarked wisely, shooting him a glance.

Nathan swallowed thickly. “I do plan to speak to her. Tonight, if I can.”

She frowned. “Tonight? At a soiree, in full view of everyone? How on earth will you find the opportunity?”

He deflated a little. “I…I don’t know.”

“Really, you ought to speak to her mother first.”

Nathan let out a ragged sigh. “Lady Randall does not like me. I’d go so far as to say she despises me. She tries to keep her daughter away from me, as urgently as if I have the plague.”

Rose pursed her lips. “I think she has rather overestimated her daughter’s value on the marriage mart. Not to be impolite to Miss Randall, of course. She is pretty, and most charming, but those qualities matter little when compared to birth and wealth. Well, I shall not dissuade you from speaking to the girl yourself but do be careful. And don’t lose your nerve!”

Nathan gave a short laugh. Now that he’d decided what to do, he felt relieved, almost light-headed.

“Lose my nerve? Why, I won’t do that, Mother.”

She gave him a knowing look. “You think so? Braver men than you have said the same and been disappointed.”

“Well, I won’t,” Nathan insisted, although he was conscious of a stinging worry at his own confidence.

The least she can do is say no, he told himself. I’ll only tell her how I feel. And who knows where it might go?