Lucinda walked through the door of Rothwell House. “Is the duchess at home?”
“Yes, my lady.” Fredricks bowed. “She is in her parlor.”
“And my brother?” She almost crossed her fingers, hoping he was gone.
“Out, my lady.” Perfect. She would be able to have a conversation without Rothwell’s interference.
“Thank you, Fredricks.” She went to her room, giving her spencer, hat, gloves, and reticule to her maid.
“Her grace, your mother asked where you were,” Greene said. “I told her with Lord Quorndon and Miss Marlow, just like you asked me to, my lady.”
“Thank you. I would not have wanted her to worry.” It wouldn’t do to tell anyone, other than Louisa, that Lord Elliott had accompanied them.
“Yes, my lady.” Greene removed Lucinda’s gown and shook it out, then slipped a day dress over her head, fastened the gown, and draped a shawl over her shoulders.
“I will be with my sister-in-law.”
“Yes, my lady.” Her maid turned toward the dressing room.
A few moments later, Lucinda scratched on Louisa’s door. “It is Lucinda.”
“Come, but do not speak. I must finish this column.”
She entered the parlor to find her sister-in-law’s head bent over a journal. Sinking into a wide, cane-backed chair, she waited, taking the time to look at the new wall coverings and curtains in pale yellows and creams. The new chair fabrics were various patterns consisting of flowers, vines, and birds.
After several moments, Louisa pushed the ledger aside and looked at Lucinda. “Thank you for being patient. Now, what can I do for you?”
Lucinda clasped her hands together to keep from fidgeting with her gown. “I would like to know what you can tell me about Lord Elliott.”
“Earl Elliott?” Lucinda nodded. Her sister-in-law picked up a pencil and tapped it on her blotter.
“Rothwell considers him a good enough friend to trust him with you. That alone tells me that he has no serious vices.”
Shrugging, Lucinda shook her head.
“He does not engage in excessive gambling, or erratic behavior. He is a good dancer. I do not recall that he courted anyone last year.”
That was surprising. “But he must wish to wed.”
She caught herself leaning forward in the chair and resumed her previous position. She had done exactly what she had not wanted to do and given away the depth of her interest.
“I imagine he will.” Louisa tapped her pencil again, then pulled a sheet of paper toward her. “I understand that you do not want Quorndon. Frankly, although you must not say a word to your mother, I cannot see the two of you together. Yet the Season has just begun. Do you not wish to meet more gentlemen before you form an attachment?”
Lucinda hid her grimace. “I suppose I should tell you that I have seen Lord Elliott in the Park during my morning rides, and he joined my outing with Lord Quorndon, Miss Marlow, her aunt, and cousin at Montague House.” When Louisa’s lips began to flatten, Lucinda rushed on. “They were not clandestine meetings. Indeed, as far as he was concerned, the meetings in the Park were accidental, and I needed him to be at the museum so that Lord Quorndon and Miss Marlow could come to know each other. That is all.” Louisa raised her brows. How was it that she seemed so much more mature than Lucinda? “I asked him to help me be approved to waltz. Rothwell said he planned to ask Lord Elliott, or another of his friends.”
“That is true,” her sister-in-law commented as she tapped her pencil again.
This was not going well. “We have so much in common, and he does not treat me as if I do not have a brain.” Lucinda gave up not fidgeting and wrapped her necklace around one finger. “But I think he only considers me as his friend’s sister.”
“Let us assume that he does begin to court you.” Louisa began to write. “Your mother is not going to like it at all.”
“No. Although, if Lord Quorndon proposes to Miss Marlow, it might be easier to talk her round.”
“You have a point.” Louisa drew her brows together. “She does want you to marry. If only so that she may return to the country.”
If Lucinda knew her brother better she would approach him, but she did not. Or rather she knew him as a big brother who had played with her and fixed her toys when she was little and he was home from school. He probably still thought of her as a child. “Will you talk to Rothwell?”
“I must,” her sister-in-law said firmly. “We do not keep secrets. That will also give me the opportunity to discover how he feels about a possible match. I do think you would benefit from meeting other gentlemen.”
“Did you?” Lucinda knew that it was not until late in the Season that Rothwell had met his wife.
Louisa sat for a few long moments in silence before answering, “Truthfully, I cannot say that I did. I would have had the same reaction to him if I had met him the first day of the Season.” She set aside her pencil and smiled. “I do like your idea about finding a match for Quorndon.”
“I thought you might.” Lucinda grinned. “When you see them together you will understand why I thought they would be perfect for each other. And neither of them likes to ride horses.”
“Whereas you and Elliott do.” Her sister-in-law pulled a face. “Horses are not everything, you know.”
“No, they are not.” She kept her excitement to herself. Louisa was coming around, and she could convince Rothwell. “Yet if one person does like them and the other person does not, it could become a large problem.”
“They will have to have more in common than that,” she prodded.
Really, people need to have more faith in me . “I believe they do have a great deal in common. At the museum they agreed on which sites they liked best. In any event, she has a great deal more in common with Lord Quorndon than I will ever have, which is to say absolutely nothing at all.”
Louisa’s lips pressed together as one side of her mouth quirked up. “That was fairly obvious to me.”
“Mama will have to come around.” Lucinda’s tone sounded more convinced than she felt.
“Promise me one thing.” Louisa waited for Lucinda to nod. “You will not elope. It would harm both your reputations.”
She stared at her sister-in-law, shocked that she would think Lucinda would be so reckless. Still, considering her mother, it was a fair request. “I would never do anything so scandalous.”
“Thank you.” Louisa rose from her chair. “I’m going to the nursery. I shall see you at tea.”
Not more than two minutes after she left the room, a cry sounded from the nursery above.
“I wish I knew how she did that.” Then again, with luck, by this time next year Lucinda might find out for herself. What would it be like to have a child with Elliott’s curls and blue eyes?
Gerald handed his hat and cane to his butler. “Her ladyship is expecting me. Is she in the back parlor or the drawing room?”
“The back parlor, my lord, but—” The butler quickly shoved his hat and cane into a nearby footman’s hands.
“Collins.” Gerald used his I-am-the-master tone. “You will not announce me in my own house.”
“Yes, my lord. May I say that we shall be happy to see you in residence?”
“Soon, Collins. Soon. With any luck at all, I shall wed this Season.” At least, that was the plan.
His butler bowed. “Her ladyship will be pleased as well.”
“So she says.” He glanced around the hall and into the parlor reserved for people who would not be asked to drink tea. That room was not used very often. Still, everything had his mother’s mark. The blue floral print fabrics she liked were particularly abhorrent. “She won’t like leaving this house.”
“As you say, my lord.”
Gerald could not tell whether his butler agreed or not. But the truth was he would most likely have a devil of a time getting his mother out of it. It would behoove him to start looking for a town house for her before he married. He’d have to have Rouse look into suitable properties for her.
The door to the back parlor was partially open, giving him a view of his mother with her companion, Cousin Anne.
He knocked lightly before entering. “Good afternoon, Mother, Cousin Anne.”
“Ah, Elliott. Here you are. Anne and I were just discussing the importance of ensuring that the family of your future bride has no history of mental disorders.”
“Yes, indeed.” Anne nodded vigorously, picking up the cue. “One would not wish to be concerned that one’s spouse or children would suffer any future disabilities.”
What the devil were they getting at? Gerald bowed before strolling into the room. “You mean such as the one from which our king suffers?”
His mother frowned. “Well, naturally, but one cannot wish the children of our king to be unmarriageable. The line must continue.”
“Of course.” He gestured toward the chair at the end of the table between two sofas. “May I sit?”
“Oh, yes.” Mother smiled. “We were so involved in our conversation I quite forgot you were standing.”
He lowered himself into the chair, still wondering where this discussion was going and what it had to do with him. He had not heard that any of the young ladies making their come out this Season had madness in their family lines.
Before his mother could continue, Collins and one of the footmen entered, carrying two trays: one with the tea, and the other bearing biscuits, cake, and the sandwiches Mother knew Gerald liked.
She handed him a cup of tea and a plate of sandwiches and seed cake. “As we were saying, you must be careful which lady you choose to wed.”
He picked up a lemon biscuit and took a bite, waiting for her to get to the point.
“Even very prominent families can suffer from mad family members,” Anne added, shooting a look at his mother. They were definitely up to something.
His mother nodded. “Very true. For example, poor Lady Lucinda’s father—”
“Suffered from dementia.” He cut her off. This is what the look she’d given him in the Park was about. “Which is very common in older people.” He took a sip of tea. “I seem to remember that your own grandmother forgot who just about everyone was.”
Mother’s face fell, but she recovered quickly. “Indeed she did, but we were able to stop her from the outrageous behavior exhibited by the previous duke.”
“Only because she was an old woman. Had it been my great-grandfather, the solution would not have been as easy.” He drained his cup and set it down. “I am assisting Rothwell in watching after his sister. That is all.”
“It is?” She refilled his cup. “Are you sure?”
“Mother. I will not have this conversation. You will welcome whichever lady I choose to marry.” Her eyes widened for the beat of a heart. Not surprising, considering he rarely took a firm tone with her. “Now, I have something I would like to discuss.”
“Of course, dear. Have some sandwiches.” She offered him another plate.
Ever since he had moved into his own rooms, she’d decided he did not get enough to eat. “Thank you.”
She changed the subject, to the balls and other events taking place over the next several days, until he’d finished off the food. “As I will wed before the Season is out, you should consider where you will live while in Town. If you would like, I can have Rouse assist you in searching for a house.”
“There is no need for that.” She waved her hand. “I have a lovely town house on Half Moon Street I shall move into once your betrothal in announced.”
Of course she did. She was his mother. She never did anything he expected her to do. “Very well, then. I shall inform you as soon as I have become affianced. Thank you for tea.”
He rose, bowed, and left the parlor as quickly as he could. Gerald damn sure did not want to listen to any more nonsense about Lucinda’s father. Whatever made Mother think he was going to court Lucinda, he couldn’t guess. Not that he would, but if he decided to turn his attentions to her, it was none of his mother’s business. He was an adult, a peer, and he would make his own decisions as to whom he’d marry.
Lucinda was beautiful, intelligent, graceful—and his best friend’s little sister. Which reminded him. He really should see Rothwell about dancing with Lucinda at Almack’s. The sooner Gerald spoke with her friend, the sooner he could mark it off his list of errands.
Gerald turned left on Carlos Place, and a minute or so later saw the man he was looking for headed in his direction. “Rothwell, well met.”
“Elliott, I wanted to speak with you. I was going to go to Brooks, but if you’ll agree to help me, or, rather, my sister, I can return home.”
He didn’t know what helping his sister had to do with Brooks, but…“I wished to speak with you as well. You first.”
“Well, you see, my wife explained how agonizing it was not knowing if a gentleman would be introduced to her for the waltz the first time she attended Almack’s, and I thought you would be amenable to finding a way to be recommended to Lucinda.”
That was easier than Gerald had thought it would be. “Of course. I’ll speak with Lady Jersey. I believe she’ll agree.” He still didn’t understand why Rothwell was headed to Brooks, unless he was going to ask someone else. For some reason Gerald couldn’t put his finger on, he didn’t like that idea. “Why Brooks?”
“If I didn’t find you, I thought I’d find Kit Featherton there. He is always willing to help a lady.”
Like hell Featherton would. Gerald had to stop himself from clenching his jaw. “Well, you found me, and I shall be happy to dance with Lady Lucinda.”
“Thank you.” Rothwell took Gerald’s hand and shook it as if he was relieved. “I want to make sure she has a good Season. But this is a lot more work than I thought it would be. To be honest, I would’ve been happy to have remained in the country until the baby was older.”
“I take it you’re not letting the nurse tend to her?” One of his own sisters insisted on spending a great deal of time with her children.
“She does, as do the nursemaids, all three of them, but Louisa insists on nursing Alexandria herself, and it’s interrupting our sleep. Not that she is alone in her decision. Her sister and Lady Merton nurse their children as well. It has become fairly common, from what I’ve been led to understand.”
“I believe that is correct.” Gerald wondered if the lady he chose for his wife would wish to eschew a wet nurse. If so, they’d definitely remain in the country. “I look forward to tomorrow evening.”
“I as well. Thank God there’s nothing tonight other than dinner at Worthington House. It’s good to be able to talk to men going through the same thing.”
He’d almost forgotten that not only had Lady Merton and Lady Kenilworth given birth not long ago, but Lady Worthington and Lady Wolverton, the mother of Worthington’s sisters, had as well. What would it be like to be part of a large family? “Have a good evening.”
“Thank you, you as well.” Rothwell headed home, and Gerald turned toward Brooks.