* * *
Matt sat in the large leather chair behind his desk in his study, staring out the window overlooking the still-empty garden. In another month it would be green again, and his sisters would be out there playing rather than running up and down the corridor over his head. He was glad there were only four of them. He hoped his lady liked children.
A light knock sounded on the door. It opened to reveal Patience carrying a small basket. “What is that?”
She set it on his desk. “Invitations. All the ones you told me to accept for you. Really, Worthington, it is time for you to hire a secretary.”
He’d asked her to accept any invitation at which she thought his lady would appear. Swallowing, he asked, “How many?”
She huffed in frustration. “If you attend four events an evening, every evening except Sunday, you will not have met all your obligations.”
He glanced at her expectantly. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to . . . ?”
“No.” Her lips firmed and her chin jutted out a bit. “Iam not looking to be carried off to Bedlam. Louisa and I will attend only the entertainments most suited to finding her a husband.”
Diverted, Matt frowned. That was not what he and Patience had discussed. Louisa was to be given time to mature before she wed. “Patience, do you really want her to marry this year?”
She sat on the chair in front of his desk and sighed. “If she finds someone she loves and who returns her love, then I shall not have any objections. Of course, I would like her to wait another year or so, but, unlike me at her age, she has her own opinions.” Patience’s eyes sparkled softly. “I know you won’t make her wed.”
He shook his head, remembering all too well the story she had told him about being pushed into marriage before she was truly ready. “No. I shall not.”
The running and thumping sounded again. “I do wish they would not choose the corridor over my head to play.”
She glanced up at the ceiling. “Oh, dear. They are not directly over your head, but in the school-room.”
Two floors up? Matt scrubbed his face with his hand. How did they manage to make so much noise from that distance? “Tell them to get their pelisses, hats, and gloves. I’ll take them to the park. I want two foot . . . no make that three footmen, and Duke may come as well.”
The massive light brown lump that had been sleeping on the rug in front of the fireplace raised his head.
Matt grinned. “Would you like that, boy?”
The Great Dane’s tail thumped lazily on the floor.
“I shall tell them.” Patience rose. “Will you take the town coach?”
God forbid. “No, they’ll walk. I want them tired out by the time we return.”
Her eyes lit in amusement. “Indeed.”
Once she’d gone, Matt turned to regard his garden again before ringing for his coat, hat, gloves, and Duke’s lead.
By the time he arrived in the hall his sisters were waiting impatiently for him. He fixed them with a gimlet eye. “On our way to the Park, you will each remain next to a footman. Louisa, you shall walk next to me.”
Smiling, they all nodded. Deceptive little things, his sisters. They’d be trying to break free after a block. But he was ready for them.
Shortly after they left Berkeley Square, Theodora and Madeline decided to have a race. Matt congratulated himself on his forethought. The two footmen assigned to the girls glanced at him for direction. “Stop them. I do not intend to allow my sisters to be the talk of London. They may run when they reach the play area and not before.”
By the time he and Louisa caught up to the miscreants, their hands were held firmly by the footmen. When they arrived at the edge of the Park, Matt nodded. “Let them go and stay with them.”
The girls went running off, laughing. “Don’t tell me it was just the two of them making such a racket?”
Augusta blushed. “No, I was running with them.”
“You may do so now as well. Much better to run here thanover my head.”
“Oh Matt.” Her face scrunched up in distress. “I’m sorry. Did we disturb you very much?”
“No, not very much.” He smiled at her and chucked her chin.Only enough that I needed to bring you here.“Go play.”
