Nathan generally felt a rush of relief once he was safely on his way home again after a party. His study was safe, his work would always be waiting for him, and there were no fraught social interactions to navigate. His accounts and ledgers and paperwork were all things he could control, things that madesense.
People, on the other hand, were nonsensical, ridiculous creatures.
Take Miss Randall, for example. He’d been so sure that she liked him, that she was perhaps interested in him more than general friendliness required. Who knew where it would lead?
But now, however, he wasn’t sure she had meant anything at all. It seemed like there was no way of telling, and he might have simply seen what he wanted to see. He felt like a fool for having allowed Henry to move around the place-cards.
And yet I want to see her again, so desperately.
“Did you enjoy yourself, Nathan?”
He glanced across the carriage to where his mother sat, very straight and pale, eyes closed.
“It was a fairly pleasant party,” he heard himself say. “The Willenshires always throw good parties.”
“Mm-hm. I noticed you sitting by Miss Randall. She’s their cousin, you know.”
He swallowed. “I know, Mother.”
“A pleasant girl, everybody was saying. Her mother is a little too prideful for her station, and you cansmellthe ambition coming off her. Still, there are greater crimes in the world than wanting something good for one’s daughter,” Rose added, sighing. “I shouldn’t object to knowing that Randalls a little better.”
“Miss Randall is a pleasant girl,” Nathan murmured. “Do you not think… I mean, could she perhaps be a little flirtatious?”
Rose opened her eyes. “I know I raised you better than to accuse an innocent girl offastbehaviour, Nathan. I shall pretend I did not hear that.”
He flushed. “I am sorry, Mother. Too much champagne. I only say it because I felt… well, at one point I rather thought Miss Randall liked me, only later, Lord Owen Barwick hinted that she may have been toying with me. And, of course, she was sitting with him and his mother later, in the drawing room.”
Rose snorted. “Well, I don’t have the measure of Miss Randall yet, but I certainly know Lord Barwick. I shouldn’t pay any attention to him. I daresay he has ulterior motives.”
“Ulterior motives? I heard that Miss Randall has no money.”
Rose pursed her lips, staring out of the window. “The Barwicks have a good deal of money themselves,” she said thoughtfully. “He could have another motive in mind. Nevertheless, it hardly matters. Make your own mind up, my dear. I’m sure we’ll see Miss Randall again. If you like her, try and speak to her, won’t you?”
Nathan said nothing, fiddling with his cuffs. He wasn’t entirely sure what to say, or even whether he should trust his own memory. Perhaps he’d simply been blinded by a pretty face and a set of unusual manners.
He felt his mother’s eyes on him before too long.
“I heard that Lord Davenport paid you a visit recently,” she said simply.
Nathan sighed. “And I imagine you know exactly what was said. It all happened with your permission, I daresay.”
She chuckled. “Nathan, dear, you should know by now that nothing happens in this house without my knowing about it. I’ve known for a while that Lord and Lady Davenport would like to unite our families in one way or another. Since Amanda will be unmarried at the end of her Season, this will solve both problems nicely.”
“He should not think of his daughter as a problem to be solved. Anyway, I am sure Amanda will find somebody she truly cares about to marry.”
Rose didn’t answer for a long moment. Moonlight flashed through the window, bathing the inside of the carriage in a silvery-blue glow. Nathan smothered a yawn, horrified that he was beginning to feel tired. There was no time for that. He had work to do once he got home.
“I think Amanda would make you happy,” Rose said at last, voice quiet. “I think you would make her happy. But then, I believe that you would makeanywoman happy, because you are my son and I’m quite,quiteprejudiced in your favour. But she would make an admirable daughter-in-law for me, and a good viscountess.”
He was silent for a moment. “I don’t believe that Amanda wants to be a viscountess.”
“Perhaps not, but Society is full of ladies and gentlemen who did not get what they wanted. Amanda is pretty, and reasonably rich, but she has relied on her looks this Season and did not apply herself to being interesting, kind, or pleasant. As a result, many gentlemen have turned to sweeter ladies, and she is left on the shelf. Of course, we all make mistakes when we are nineteen years old, but Amanda does not have much time to rectify this. Her parents were always set on her only having one Season, and assumed that she would marry in her first year. They are not happy at the prospect of paying more money for a second Season. The girl is getting nervous, I think. Her future is not as bright as she thought it would be.”
Nathan bit the inside of his cheek. “I’m sorry for her,” he said, honestly enough. “But I don’t think I want to marry Amanda Davenport.”
Rose nodded slowly. “Well, you must make your own decision. But you will think about it, won’t you? Think about it seriously.”
Nathan sighed. “Very well, Mother. I shall think about it.”
