Page 58 of A Baby to Seal the Duke’s Fate

“That was never my suggestion.”

“No,” he said, “but you are circling the subject with unusual enthusiasm.”

His mother’s mouth tightened, and Leopold noticed her abnormal pause.

“You are becoming more careless about what people will think,” she said.

“I care about honesty, not empty opinions.”

“Honesty is never what is viewed as truth.”

“Not in your experience, perhaps.”

Her eyes sharpened. “Leopold.”

He waited.

She leaned forward a little, her hands folded over the ledger. “You need to start thinking about a marriage match.”

The words made him glance at her a second time.

“A marriage match,” he repeated.

“Yes.”

“Now?”

“Now,” she said flatly, “is when your household is already the subject of unnecessary gossip.”

Leopold stared at her. “You think I should marry because someone left a baby on my doorstep.”

“You should be seen in London considering marriage because a duke cannot indefinitely remain at home with a mystery child and a young woman whose history no one can verify.”

His jaw tightened. “That is a vague assumption, at best.”

“It is the truth.”

Leopold looked down at the ledger and then back at her. “I am not interested in a match.”

His mother did not so much as blink. “Interest is a luxury.”

He lifted one brow. “That sounds like a sentence you have practiced.”

“It is a fact I have known for some time.”

He folded his arms. “I am still not interested.”

She lifted her chin. “And I maintain that interest is immaterial in this situation.”

He had the uncomfortable sense that she knew exactly how little difference there was between those two things in her mind.

His mother reached for the ledger beside her and touched the page lightly with one finger. “The families have been circling the idea for years.”

Leopold’s attention sharpened despite himself. “Which families?”

“The Carringtons, among others.”

He stared at her. “You mean Lord Penmere’s daughter?”