Page 29 of A Bachelor’s Lessons in Love

Apparently, she had been mistaken.

She watched, unable to even make out what anyone said, as he bowed to the little group. He spoke and extended his arm to Daphne. She took it. He brought her back to the card room, to a table. The Colonel helped her into a chair then positioned himself across the table to partner with her in Whist.

Daphne looked over her shoulder but once. Felicity thought she saw disappointment on her niece’s face, but the young lady then turned to her hand of cards with a cheerful smile as they played with another couple.

Felicity wove her way through the room again, nodding at renewed acquaintances, until she rejoined a small group of chaperones near one of the open windows. Her cheeks had grown hot as she watched Halstead fetch her niece—as though Daphne were a misplaced doll, or a child in need of constant minding! Thankfully Daphne did not seem to realize the slight. But Felicity…she felt it keenly.

He did not trust Felicity’s judgment. He did not trust Daphne’s behavior. If he kept Daphne that close all Season, the girl would make few friends, gain fewer introductions, and her prospects would be fewer still. Felicity watched as Daphne bit her bottom lip and stared out the window into the night, but the London sky held as little guidance as it did stars on that cloudy March evening.

What was she going to do about this newest problem?

Chapter Ten

Edward shifted in the leather armchair in the library of Blackstone’s, his discomfort less to do with the chair and more the furnishings of his mind, but it did not stop him from muttering a complaint about the width of the seat.

“Ah, I am afraid I did not obtain furniture with giants in mind,” said a cheery voice from behind him.

Edward jumped up from his seat and turned to see Lord Blackstone standing there, hands tucked behind his back, his eyes as warm and full of amusement as ever.

“I beg your pardon, Lord Blackstone. I did not see you there.”

“Unless you had eyes in the back of your head, I imagine that would be a rather impossible feat.” He gestured to a chair that matched Edward’s, facing the window at angled for conversation between the two seats. “May I join you, Colonel Halstead?”

“Of course.” Edward waited for the older man to seat himself before carefully lowering himself back to his chair. “This is your club, my lord. You need not ask my permission for anything.”

“When one wishes for polite company, one must be mostly polite rather than mostly tyrannical.” The man put his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled his fingers together. “Now then. Apart from the lack of Colonel-sized furnishings—which, you ought to know, there are such chairs on the other side of the room—what is it that is bothering you, young man?”

Edward’s eight and thirty years sat more heavily upon him when the man addressed him that way. “I know myself too old in the ways of the world to accept such flattery, sir.”

“Piffle. You are a younger man than me—my words stand.” Lord Blackstone chuckled and smiled almost benevolently. “You are trying to avoid the question. That tells me to tread lightly. Would it help if I promised discretion? If I told you I am not one to gossip?”

“Perhaps.” Edward considered the man across from him. “Have you…er…any experience with ladies?” When the old gentleman raised his eyebrows, Edward hastened to add, “I mean—you see, I am a second son. I have no sisters, I have no wife. I barely spent time with my mother. Now I am responsible for a young woman as her guardian, and her companion—her aunt—by extension. I find myself lost. There are no maps or guides for a man in my position.”

“Indeed, not. Even if there were, I imagine they would be almost useless since most such things are written by men.” Lord Blackstone chuckled with amusement at his own observation. “Women are rather delicate creatures in some ways, but I find they are stronger than they look. Rather like geese.”

Edward’s mind struggled to understand that particular comparison. “Women…are like geese, my lord?”

Lord Blackstone’s head bobbed as he appeared most pleased with himself. “Indeed, yes. Picture one of those lovely creatures on the water of a pond. There it is. Drifting serenely, appearing as delicate as their cousins the ducks. But then, put both creatures on dry land. Send a cat among them. The duck will fly away, if possible. The goose will puff up and hiss. Rather like a cobra. The goose will fight rather than fly. Can you think of any man willing to harass a goose without at least a stick at hand?”

“I cannot. But you must forgive me, my lord. I also cannot imagine how this applies to women.”

“They are stronger than they look,” Lord Blackwell stated with firmness. “More willing to fight than we give them credit for. Perfectly capable of managing difficulties in all shapes and sizes.”

“But…that does not exactly help my particular situation, my lord.” Edward wanted to rub at his temples. Lord Blackstone’s talk of birds and nature, a topic he had come to realize occurred with great frequency in the club, had done no more than confuse his already exhausted mind. “I must offer a correction to my ward’s companion. An admonition. I fear she does not see the danger that I do in her management of her niece.”

Lord Blackstone’s eyes gleamed knowingly. “And what, precisely, about this situation is causing you such distress, my boy? The girl’s safety or her aunt’s resistance?”

Edward stiffened. “They are one and the same.”

Lord Blackstone merely hummed. “Are they?”

His traitorous chest tightened, but he shook his head. “They are. I do not know the best approach to take.”

“Best approach? Colonel, speak to her,” his companion said with a lackadaisical shrug. “Make your concerns clear. She will not break or crumble—I find most women are quite logical, though many a man would tell you I am wrong. My experience is that honest conversation with a woman does far more good than skirting an issue or making demands. Though I suppose the latter would come more naturally to a military man.”

It would. But the fear of both hurting Miss Price’s feelings and causing an emotional display had kept him silent on the matter.

And there was the faint thought that she would defy orders rather than follow them, which had kept his tongue still.