Lord Bryant tipped his head to one side. “Perhaps.” He lifted a shoulder. “But still, if given the choice, I’d rather impress those daughters of whom you speak than their fathers. They are much more pleasant to look at.” Nicholas couldn’t argue with him on that point, especially after walking out of the chamber unable to look at any of the men another minute. “That is my excuse, but what is yours? You gave up on your arguments rather quickly today. Is something wrong?”
Nicholas resumed walking. He didn’t want to have to make small talk with any other lords leaving the chamber. Lord Bryant accosting him was bad enough. The man came beside him and matched his stride.
“Trust me. You are about the last man who would understand my concerns.”
“Has your cravat gone flat?” Lord Bryant groaned. “Because if that is the case, you are right. I can’t help you. I don’t care one lick about cravats. But I’m fairly well versed in most any other subject.”
“My cravat is perfectly well-behaved, thank you very much.”
“But Lady Mercy is not?”
Nicholas coughed, but at least he managed to keep one foot moving in front of the other. Had a member of the Zoological Society been watching Nicholas and Lady Mercy when they were alone? Had Lord Bryant heard something? “What the devil do you mean by that? And be careful in your words, Bryant. I outrank you, and I won’t have Lady Mercy’s name besmirched.”
“Ah, touched a nerve, have I? I wouldn’t besmirch Lady Mercy. She is lovely, and even more lovely because of that mischievous glint in her eye. She is trouble of the highest and best nature. I was only wondering if she finally managed to crack that perfect gentleman’s demeanor of yours? Heaven knows we are all waiting.”
Nicholas scoffed. Him? A perfect gentlemen? That only showed how little Lord Bryant knew of him. “Trust me. I will crack long before she tries to manage me in any way.”
“What makes you—” Lord Bryant stopped. He grabbed Nicholas by the elbow, pulling him to a stop as well. In just a few more feet, they would be out of the building and he could put a stop to this undignified conversation. “You’ve cracked already, haven’t you? Well, well, well.”
“No, I haven’t cracked.” He couldn’t allow Lord Bryant to get the wrong impression. Lady Mercy’s reputation was at stake.
“But you wouldn’t mind cracking. Is that what you are saying?”
“No. I mean yes.” Nicholas ran a hand through his hair. He would be in his carriage in a moment anyway, so he shouldn’t have to see anyone else. He sighed. “What I mean is she might have seen me... that is to say... she might have deduced frommy treatment of her that I am not uninterested in... um...” When did he become such a bumbling idiot? “In cracking.”
Lord Bryant did nothing. Said nothing. He stood in the corridor with his hand on his hip, staring at Nicholas as if he were an unanswered but elementary mathematical problem. After a moment, he dropped his hand. “And?”
“And what?”
Lord Bryant raised his eyes to the ceiling as if Nicholas were an exasperating child. “How did Lady Mercy react?”
“She was shocked.”
“No.”
“Yes, she was. I’m a thousand steps ahead of her in this courtship. I’d happily make her my wife tomorrow.”Happywas not at all the right word to describe the way his body reacted to the idea of calling her his wife. For a plan he’d been more than hesitant about when Ottersby had first mentioned it, he was suddenly quite taken with the idea of becoming a married man.
“You could always ask her.”
“To marry me?”
“I suppose that would work. It does leave you open for rejection. But I meant ask her if she wants you to ask her to marry her.”
“That feels a bit convoluted.”
“It sounds like giving the young woman a choice.”
Blast. It was a sad day in London when Lord Bryant was the voice of reason when it came to women. But the man had a point.
Chapter 21
The next morning, Penelope satin Mercy’s drawing room. She’d arrived earlier than the accustomed visiting hour, so Mama was not quite ready, and Mercy met with her alone. As soon as Mrs. Brooksby set up the tea things and left the room, Penelope spun on Mercy. “Tell me all about the Zoological Garden. You weren’t supposed to be the one alone with the duke. What happened?”
“I was only alone with him for a moment.”
“To catch your finch. I followed that well enough yesterday, but what happened, exactly?”
“In my defense, I didn’t know it was a finch. I thought it might be some rare bird specimen.”
