Chapter Eight
The dinner went better than Brad had hoped. Everyone seemed to be getting along. He wasn’t too surprised to learn that Loretta didn’t recognize Ava since Ava was younger than her. It seemed to him that ladies who were in different Seasons didn’t get a chance to know each other very well. But the two appeared to be getting along, and that helped to set his mind at ease.
Despite Loretta’s friendship with Celia, whom Loretta had assured him was not the same person she used to be, Loretta seemed to have a good feel for people. If she was getting along with Ava, then it stood to reason that he just might be fortunate enough to get along with her, too. And really, Ava did seem like a very sweet person. He had thought she was sweet when he talked to her during their dance. It had just been the embarrassment of falling in front of everybody that had persuaded him not to pursue her.
Thankfully, it was looking as if Ava wasn’t clumsy by nature after all. She managed quite well during the dinner. She didn’t spill her drink, drop any food, and she didn’t fall out of her chair when the meal was over. She had conducted herself perfectly. And that relaxed him further. Now he wouldn’t have to worry that she might do something to embarrass him at any future dinner party or social engagement.
He regretted that he had been so hard on Ava. It really hadn’t been her fault that she tripped at the ball. Anyone could’ve done it. Another lady had stepped in her way as she was turning to leave the dance floor. It was funny that he could recall that now that he wasn’t letting his fears get in the way of common sense.
Usually when the meal was over, the gentlemen and ladies would separate, but since the whole point of this evening was for everyone to get acquainted with each other, they all returned to the drawing room.
“Do you know Lady Steinbeck?” Loretta asked Ava as she rocked her daughter in her arms.
“I see her from time to time,” Ava replied. “But I’m not friends with her. I’m friends with her sister-in-law, Lady Farewell. Do you know who she is?”
“I’m afraid I don’t,” Loretta said. “I’m more acquainted with Lady Steinbeck.”
“That’s not surprising, given the difference in your ages,” Brad said.
“I wouldn’t say the difference is all that much,” Loretta replied, shooting him a pointed look. “I’m not that old.”
“I never said you were old,” Brad assured her. “It’s just that you two entered your first Season at different times. I think something like that would make a difference in who you get to be friends with.”
Loretta relaxed. “It seems that most people think ladies are old when they get to be in their mid-to-late twenties. If you’re not already with a husband, you’re considered a miserable old spinster, and people feel sorry for you. However, you can be a gentleman in your thirties and forties, and people still think you’re young.”
“I always thought that was silly,” Ava spoke up. “There’s so much pressure on the lady to marry in her first Season.”
“It’s unfair pressure,” Loretta agreed. “I didn’t marry during my first Season. I married during my second, and that was only because I had Brad help me make a deal with Tad.” She offered Tad a smile. “I don’t regret it for anything in the world. But I still think it’s unfair that I had all this pressure to get married in the second Season so that I didn’t end up pathetic when I entered the third.”
“There’s no denying that the rules for gentlemen and ladies are different,” Ava’s aunt inserted. “Maybe it has something to do with children. A lady can only have children for a short time in her life, but a gentleman can be well past his prime and still sire them.”
“I don’t think ladies would want to have children when they’re past their prime,” Brad said. “Isn’t carrying a child and giving birth hard on a lady’s body?” He looked at his sister since she recently had experience in that area.
“It’s not as difficult as gentlemen think it is,” Loretta replied. “We’re not fragile little creatures who can’t handle much. The truth is, we can handle as much as gentlemen can.”
“I beg to differ,” Tad said. “I was there through the pregnancy and the birth. I honestly don’t think any gentleman can handle either of those. If you ask me, ladies are much stronger.”
Loretta’s smile widened. “Is it any wonder why I love you so much?”
“Which brings me back to my point,” Brad said. “If you need your strength for bearing children, then doesn’t it stand to reason that you’d want to be young?”
“That wasn’t the point of this discussion,” Loretta replied. “The point was that it’s not fair for ladies to be considered old and useless by the time they’re reaching thirty.”
“Who said anything about being useless?” Brad asked.
Dinah turned to Ava’s aunt and asked, “Will I be old when I’m thirty?”
“That depends on your definition of old,” her aunt replied. “Some will see you that way. Ava’s right. She did have a lot of pressure to find a husband in her first Season.”
“Did you feel that pressure before you married our uncle?” Dinah asked her.
“I did. I think all ladies do.”
“Then why don’t all ladies marry?”
“Not all ladies want to marry.”
Ava nodded. “Aunt Grace is right. My friend, Lady Farewell, is friends with Miss Tumilson, a lady who just turned thirty. She has no desire to get married.”
“Some people are better off staying single,” Tad said. “That includes ladies and gentlemen. I used to think that I was meant to be single. Fate, however, had other ideas, and I’m very happy for it.”
Brad watched the silent exchange between Tad and Loretta. He didn’t think it was possible, but Tad seemed to fall in love with Loretta more and more each day.
Loretta went over to Brad, cradling her sleeping child in her arms. “Why don’t you hold your niece for a while? It’ll be good practice for when you have your own child.”
Brad hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t like holding Rosamond. He actually enjoyed that. But the last time he’d held her, she’d spit up all over his clothes. He really didn’t want the same thing to happen again, especially in front of people he barely knew.
“Come now, Brad,” Loretta encouraged. “I did the hard part by carrying her and then giving birth to her. The easy part is holding her.”
Since everyone was watching him, Brad took his niece in his arms.
“You two look nice together,” Loretta said. “Just wait until you have one of your own.”
Brad was sure his face was red from her comment. The conversation of having children was much too private for his liking. While he was sure her comment was innocent, it still embarrassed him all the same.
“Who would like to play charades?” Brad asked, eager to turn the conversation to something else.
Fortunately, everyone liked this idea so much that they forgot what they were talking about and started playing the game.
***
“I can’t believe you don’t want me at the wedding,” Stephen said as Brad had the valet help Brad get dressed for the ceremony. “It’s because of me you’re getting married today.”
“Don’t remind me,” Brad replied.
The shameful article in the Tittletattle still bothered him. It would probably always bother him. Imagine someone like him, someone who had tried so hard to keep a pristine reputation, ending up with the reputation of a rake.
Stephen rolled his eyes. “You take everything way too seriously. You do know you take everything way too seriously, don’t you?”
“Someone has to be serious in this family. Otherwise, who would make up for your reckless behavior?”
“I don’t do things any different than most gentleman do.”
Brad shook his head in aggravation, an action which hindered his valet from adequately combing his hair. Brad offered an apology then turned his attention back to his brother. “I don’t care what the rest of the gentleman in London are doing. They aren’t my concern. You are.”
“I don’t want to be your concern. I’m nineteen. I’m no longer a child.”
“You act like one.” He immediately regretted the comment. It wasn’t a fair one to make because he’d come across children who had more sense than Stephen did.
“You must think most of the gentleman in London act like children then,” Stephen replied, crossing his arms.
The truth of the matter was that Brad did think most gentlemen acted irresponsibly, so he chose not to respond. Instead, he turned his attention to his reflection in the full-length mirror beside his armoire. Thankfully, one thing was going in his favor this morning. His valet had done an excellent job of making sure his attire was clean and neatly pressed. He’d also made sure that there hadn’t been a single nick on his face when he had shaved him, and he was currently making sure every strand of his dark hair was in place. Even if this wedding hadn’t been in his plans, Brad was determined to make the best of it, and part of that was to make himself as meticulous as possible.
As if he could read his mind, Stephen smirked. “You’ll never survive tonight. You can’t stand the slightest wrinkle or stain on your things. I hate to bring this to your attention, but being with a lady in bed can be a messy experience, especially if you’re doing things right.”
Brad frowned at him. “You think I’m so much of a simpleton that I don’t know what to expect?”
His eyebrows rose. “Do you?”
“Of course, I do.”
“How?”
“That’s not your business.”
Stephen chuckled. “You don’t know anything. You’re only saying that to avoid further embarrassment. You are as pure as a new layer of snow. You don’t have the faintest idea of what to expect tonight.”
Brad felt his face grow hot in anger. So what if he didn’t know what to expect? Was it really any of Stephen’s business? Was it anyone’s business? And worse, did the valet have to listen to this conversation?
“That’s enough,” Brad barked. “You’re not coming to the wedding, you’re not coming to the wedding breakfast, and you better not harass Ava after we’re married. You’ve caused her enough grief already. Leave her alone.”
“Are you telling me that you don’t want me to have anything to do with Ava after you’re married?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“How is that going to be possible since she’ll be living here?”
“This place is big enough for everybody. Just don’t enter the same room she’s in.”
“That’s absurd. Do you really expect me to eat at different times from you two? Of course, that’s assuming you plan to eat meals with her. Do you plan to eat meals with her?”
“Yes, I plan to eat meals with her.”
“Then what am I supposed to do while you’re eating?”
“I expect you to do the same thing you have been doing ever since I cut your allowance. I expect you to eat at a time when I don’t.”
Ever since he had stopped giving Stephen an allowance, his brother had refused to be around him. It was just his luck that Stephen would insist on being around him after Ava came to live in the house with them. But why should he expect any different? His brother loved to irritate him.
Brad was going to have to find something to do with him. He wasn’t sure yet what that would be, but he was going to have to think of something. Because if he didn’t, his brother would be a thorn in his side for the rest of his life. And he would be a thorn in Ava’s life, too, just because she was married to him.
Once the valet finished getting Brad ready, he dismissed him then turned his attention back to his brother. “I don’t care if you go to another room in this townhouse or if you leave, but you will not attend the wedding or the wedding breakfast. If you refuse to do as I wish, I shall send the butler to throw you out of this townhouse.”
Stephen sighed. “Very well. It’s not like the wedding is going to be all that exciting anyway.”
It wasn’t until Stephen left that Brad breathed a sigh of relief. He was definitely going to have to do something with his brother. For now, he had to turn his attention to the wedding.