Chapter Twenty-Four
Brad waited until the next day to finally talk to Stephen. After explaining the upcoming marriage he had arranged between Stephen and Lady Eloise, Lord Manning agreed to let him go up to the guest bedchamber.
“Knock on the door when you’re ready to leave,” Lord Manning told Brad as he unlocked the door. “I’ll be out here waiting.” He opened the door, and at once, Stephen ran over to Brad. “It took you long enough to come here.”
“You’re not in the position to be rude.” Brad closed the door behind him so they could have their privacy. Even though Lord Manning knew what he was going to tell Stephen, Brad still wanted to talk to his brother alone.
“Rude?” Stephen asked as if he’d just been insulted. “I’ve been here for two whole days. You want to talk about rude? Your leaving me to rot here is rude.”
“Actually, I was here the same day Lord Manning brought you to this place. I just didn’t want to speak to you until now.” Brad went over to a chair, turned it so that it was facing his brother, and sat down. He crossed his arms and his legs. “Lord Manning wants ten shillings for your release. I suppose you could offer to work as his servant and earn your release.”
Stephen blanched. “That’s absurd. I’m not going to take the position of a servant.”
“I figured you wouldn’t want to do that. Don’t worry. You won’t have to. I’ve already taken care of everything.” He noted the relief on his brother’s face and waited for a long moment before he added, “Unfortunately, I’m not going to be the one to pay Lord Manning the ten shillings in order to get you out of here. The Duke of Silverton will be doing that.”
“Why would he do something like that?”
“Because you’ll be marrying his daughter. The ten shillings is her dowry. That dowry will go to Lord Manning in order to free you so that you can marry her.”
Stephen’s jaw dropped. “You arranged a marriage for me?”
Enjoying the shock on his brother’s face, Brad nodded. “You’ll be marrying her in two weeks. At that time, you can put all of that knowledge you learned from your mistress to good use. Aren’t you glad you were with her the other night? When I spoke to her, she made it clear that you desperately needed her lessons. Maybe now you won’t be a failure in bed with your wife.”
Stephen glowered at him. “You’re doing this out of spite. You’re getting revenge on me for all the times I taunted you.”
Brad shrugged. “I won’t deny that you deserve this. It’s been a long time in coming. But Stephen, this is your own doing. If you’d been responsible, you wouldn’t be in this predicament right now.”
Stephen stared at him for a long moment as if trying to decide whether or not he was bluffing.
“I’m telling you the truth. You will be married in exactly fourteen days.” Then he smiled. “You know how much I like even numbers. And I’m particularly fond of the numbers ten and four. This will mean good luck for me, though I’m not sure I can say the same for you. Lady Eloise will make the perfect match for you.”
Stephen gasped. “Lady Eloise? She’s the Duke of Silverton’s daughter?”
Brad nodded.
“But she’s horrid. No one in their right mind would marry her.”
Brad rose to his feet. “I agree. That’s why you two make the perfect match. I’m done with you, Stephen. From this point forward, you are going to be her annoyance to deal with.”
Ignoring Stephen’s protests, Brad went over to the door and knocked on it. Lord Manning opened it up, and Brad stepped out of the room. “Thank you for letting me talk to him,” Brad said.
Lord Manning smiled as he locked the door. “Was it worth it to see the expression on his face when you told him the news?”
Brad returned his smile. “It was.” Then he said goodbye to Lord Manning and left the townhouse.
***
When Brad returned to his townhouse, he was surprised to see Lord Devonhurst in the drawing room with Ava and another lady. He didn’t think the gentleman would venture anywhere near him again, let alone show up in his townhouse.
Ava and the other lady watched closely as Lord Devonhurst performed a card trick. Brad remembered him doing such tricks when he was a child. Lord Devonhurst would visit his father, and if Brad, Loretta, or Stephen were in the room, he would entertain them with a few tricks. He said he had picked up the tricks from a visit he took to Italy. And though Brad had begged him to show him how he did the tricks, he would say, “A magician never reveals his secrets.”
Apparently, Lord Devonhurst hadn’t changed because when Ava asked him how he did the trick, he said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you. It would ruin the trick.”
Though Ava seemed disappointed, she admitted, “I suppose it would.”
Her friend chuckled. “It’s more fun this way. I’d rather believe he did it by magic.”
“Don’t feel bad, Ava.” Brad spoke up as he walked over to them. “He’s been withholding that information from me since I was five.”
Lord Devonhurst rose to his feet, and Ava and her friend followed suit. Lord Devonhurst slipped his cards into his pocket and offered Brad a smile that let him know everything was going to be all right between them.
Brad offered a smile in return before he offered a greeting to Ava and her friend.
“This is my dear friend, Opal. Her husband is Lord Farewell,” Ava told Brad.
Brad tried to think of who Lord Farewell was, but the gentleman didn’t come to mind.
“My husband likes to keep to himself,” Opal said, as if she could read his mind. “He’s slowly overcoming his shyness, but he’s not ready to go to a stranger’s residence. He has a lisp, and he’d rather spend time with close friends and family.”
Oh! Brad knew who the gentleman was now. He’d heard about him when the scandal erupted at Lord Steinbeck’s townhouse during one of his balls. At least with that scandal, everyone’s clothes had been on. Though that scandal had made the Tittletattle, he didn’t think it was nearly as embarrassing as what he’d gone through.
However, Brad had to admit he was surprised that no one seemed to believe Stephen’s version of events. No one had even mentioned it at White’s or at any other time he’d been out in London. Maybe the people in London knew Brad would never have a lady in his bed without being married to her. In that case, the article hadn’t done the damage he’d expected.
“I should go,” Opal said. She turned to Ava. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ava nodded. “I’ll be at your townhouse around one.”
After Opal left, Lord Devonhurst turned his gaze to Brad. “You have a wonderful wife. She’s charming and delightful.”
Smiling at Ava, Brad said, “I know. She’s the better part of me.”
Ava blushed. “I could say the same about you.” She looked between the two gentlemen. “I’ll let you two have your privacy.”
“Are we still going to the market today with your family?” Brad asked her before she could leave.
“My family is expecting us in an hour.” Ava glanced at Lord Devonhurst but asked Brad, “Should I send word that we’ll be late?”
“Don’t change your plans on my account,” Lord Devonhurst said. “What I have to say won’t take long.” He took Ava’s hand in his and kissed it. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you, too, my lord. I enjoyed those cards tricks very much.”
Brad waited until she was out of the room before he said, “If I didn’t know you were an honorable gentleman, I’d worry you were trying to steal her from me.”
Lord Devonhurst chuckled. “She is devoted to you. I saw the way she looked at you when you came into the room. Never has a lady been more in love with her husband than she is with you.”
Pleased that Ava held him in such high esteem, Brad gestured for Lord Devonhurst to sit. Taking his own seat, he said, “I want you to know I have arranged for my brother to marry the Duke of Silverton’s daughter. The announcement hasn’t been made public yet, but it will be soon.”
“I didn’t come here to talk to you about your brother. I came over because I learned that your wife had an unusual confrontation with the Duke of Silverton’s daughter.”
Brad’s eyebrows furrowed. “You know what happened between my wife and Lady Eloise?”
“I think everyone in London knows about it. I have nothing but respect and admiration for your wife. Even though other ladies witnessed Lady Eloise’s atrocious behavior, your wife was the only one who was willing to defend Lady Aston. Lord Aston explained the whole thing to me. He’s a good friend of my brother’s. Your wife told Lady Eloise that there was nothing more important than family. I can’t tell you how refreshing that is to hear. I, myself, feel the same way, and I know you do, too. You are blessed to have someone like Ava. She’ll make an excellent mother for your children.”
“She will. I know I’m fortunate to have her.”
“I know. I just wanted you to know I’m very pleased to hear you openly supported your wife. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to do that.”
“Actually, it was. I’m proud of Ava. I’ve hated Lady Eloise for a long time because of the way she treated my sister. It was nice to know Ava wasn’t going to flatter Lady Eloise like everyone else does.”
Lord Devonhurst laughed. “You’re a lot like your father. He would be proud of Ava, too. He would also be proud of you.” He paused then added, “Hopefully, someday, Stephen will be more like you two.”
Brad shrugged. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen to him. All I know is that I can’t make things better for him. He’s going to have to do that for himself.”
“Yes, he will, and I’m sure it will require some hardship for that to happen.”
Brad wasn’t sure what kind of hardship Stephen would have to face in order to finally take responsibility for his life, and quite frankly, he didn’t care to dwell on it. Stephen was an adult. He was going to have to be on his own from now on. Brad was done with him. All he wanted to do was move on with his life and enjoy what he had with Ava.
“I won’t keep you any longer than I already have,” Lord Devonhurst said as he stood up. “I hope you and your wife will come to my next dinner party.”
Brad rose to his feet. “We’d be delighted.”
“Good. I have a couple more tricks I’d like to show her with my cards.” He gave Brad a friendly pat on the shoulder. “I’ll let you know when the dinner party will be.”
Brad nodded and saw him to the front door. That had gone much better than he expected. What Stephen had done through his reckless behavior, Ava had amended. She really was an asset in his life.
Eager to be with her, Brad headed up the steps and went to her bedchamber. When he entered the room, she was at her armoire, two caps in her hands.
She turned to him. “Do you think I should wear the one with the lace or the one with the flowers?”
Surprised by the question, he shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“I want to look pretty.”
“You’ll look pretty in either one of them.”
She chuckled. “I like that answer. You should say that every time I ask you what will make me more attractive.”
He glanced over at the armoire, which barely had anything in it. Taking her and her family out to buy some clothes was a good move on his part. Though he had told her they should buy some clothes, neither she nor her family had done so yet. He suspected it was difficult for them to spend money. While it was true he liked to save as much as possible, he realized there was a time when he should spent it.
Hoping to encourage her to buy enough gowns to fill the armoire, he said, “I’m excited to find out how much you’ll save today when you ask for those discounts.”
She set the cap with the flowers into the armoire then put the one with the lace on her head. “You are?”
“I haven’t seen your negotiating skills yet. I think it’ll be fun to watch.”
“Well, I think the more clothes I buy, the better the discount should be.”
“It’s that kind of thing I’m looking forward to watching today. I can already picture you saying that to one of the shop owners.”
She shook her head in amusement as she shut the armoire. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were only interested in me because of how I buy things.”
He closed the distance between them and kissed her. “That’s just one of many things I love about you.”
“I know.” She returned his kiss then slipped her arm through his. “Are you ready to be entertained?”
“I am. Maybe I’ll learn something that I can use when I have to negotiate prices on future investments.”
“You never know. You just might if you pay close attention.” She gave him a wink.
Laughing, he escorted her out of the bedchamber.