Page 1 of The Duke’s Matchmaker

CHAPTER 1

“You know this is ridiculous, Nathaniel, don’t you?”

Nathaniel Thorne looked up from his drink, frowning. He had been staring into the amber depths for the last few minutes, trying to marshal his thoughts.

As the Duke of Henshaw, he ought not to have been hiding in the darkened library during the Crestwicke Ball. He knew that, and he hadn’t required his friend Jonathan’s assistance in pointing it out.

Not that Jonathan could ever seem to stop himself from pointing things out, whether his help was needed or not. Now he crossed the room and stood before Nathaniel’s chair, arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed.

“You’re not going to get what you want by sitting around in the dark,” he said.

“I’m beginning to think that what I want might simply be out of reach,” Nathaniel mused.

“Ridiculous,” Jonathan said again.

Nathaniel looked up at his friend. Now that he was married, Jonathan’s demeanor had changed somewhat. He had become much more sure of himself when it came to dealings with ladies. He held himself upright, his chin lifted, and Nathaniel felt more strongly than he ever had before that he ought to refer to his friend by his formal title. Your Grace, he imagined saying. Or even Alderwick.

It sounded foolish even in his head. As long as they had known one another, since their school days, Jonathan had simply been Jonathan.

But now Nathaniel was the last of their group to remain unmarried. The last bastion of bachelorhood, he thought, not for the first time. And he was beginning to think he was consigned to that state forever.

He had never expected to want to marry.

The door to the library opened and their friend Gabriel eased his way inside. The eldest of the three and the first to have married, Gabriel had always had a bit of an elder-brother bearing when it came to the two of them. That much had not changed in recent years.

“Nathaniel,” he chided. “You’re being rude, hiding in here. There are ladies who would like to dance with you.”

Nathaniel groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

“For pity’s sake,” Jonathan said, though he sounded as though he had no pity for Nathaniel at all. His voice was sharp and impatient. “You wish to marry, Nathaniel. We are at one of the most anticipated events of the season. The ballroom is full of young ladies looking for an eligible gentleman. You are a duke.”

“Precisely my trouble!” Nathaniel said. “How am I to choose any among them to marry when I know so very little about them? All I know about them is that they want to marry well. Every lady I meet does just the same thing as the one before her. She smiles prettily. She dances well. She behaves as though I am the most intriguing person she has ever met, and she shares with me some fascinating detail about herself—she knows how to paint, perhaps, or to play the pianoforte. A few have even told me that they are well-read, if you can believe it.”

“A lady will do what she can to stand out,” Gabriel said wisely. “My Agnes was just the same, before we married, though marriage wasn’t what she was seeking. And I’m deeply grateful that I paid attention to what she had to share with me, may I add! Had I not done so, I might never have managed to persuade her that she wanted to be married after all. I might not be in love right now.”

“Yes, well,” Nathaniel said tartly. “That’s all well and good for you, Gabriel, but I’m not looking for love. I’m looking for a wife.”

Jonathan’s face softened, as it rarely did. It was a sure sign that he was thinking of his own wife, Violet. “There’s nothing in the world that says you ought not to love your wife, Nathaniel.”

“But you must admit that one thing is more difficult to obtain than the other,” Nathaniel pressed. “I need a marriage. I have a child to think of.”

“You don’t—” Gabriel began to object.

Nathaniel interrupted. He knew what his friend would say, and he didn’t want to hear it again. “You know what the situation is,” he said, eyeing Gabriel firmly. “Do you deny that a mother is needed?”

“Well…no,” Gabriel conceded.

“And so I must marry,” Nathaniel concluded. “And I must do so promptly. There is no time to waste. Raising a child grows more complicated with every passing day, and I am ill-prepared.”

“You’re doing well enough,” Gabriel said gently. “I’ve seen the way he behaves. He’s not disobedient. He’s simply…grieving. He’s so young.”

“I know,” Nathaniel sighed. “But that is what I mean. He isn’t ill-behaved, but I find him impossible to manage because I simply don’t know what to do for him. He requires a lady’s hand. A motherly hand. And I can’t be that for him…but I can provide it. I have only to find myself a wife.”

“Which you won’t do sitting in the library,” Jonathan said, wresting the conversation back to its original point. “You must come out and socialize.”

“But I don’t see that it will do any good,” Nathaniel said. “There have been many balls this season, Jonathan, as you well know, and I’ve gotten no farther than a second dance with any lady.”

“Because you haven’t asked any of them to socialize beyond that point!” Jonathan threw up his hands. “You aren’t new to London society. You know what the next step is. You must select someone and pursue courtship with her. The purpose of these balls is to meet them so that you may make your choice. It’s that simple. Surely you’ve met someone you like, in all this time!”