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 thatIam not whatshewants 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 forme.”
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 evenconsiderthe 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. Hedidfeel 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. Sheisdreadfully 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.
