Page 8 of The Duke’s Matchmaker

CHAPTER 4

“Oh, Agnes, I just can’t believe you’re going to be a mother!” Violet exclaimed.

Agnes beamed, resting her hands on her midsection, which was currently still flat. “We have a long way to go,” she said. “But Gabriel and I are very excited about it. We’ve talked about having a child for some time now, but when it didn’t happen in the first years of our marriage, I began to wonder whether something was wrong—whether it might not be possible for the two of us. I had accepted that possibility, to tell you the truth. It would have been all right if things had turned out that way. But I’m so grateful that this has happened.”

Dorothy nodded eagerly. Agnes had just shared the news with them that morning, and though they were here to have their book club discussion, the book they had been reading lay forgotten. It seemed ridiculous to even think of talking about a book right now, when Agnes had shared such an exciting and life-altering piece of information with them.

“I wonder whether the child will be a boy or a girl?” Violet mused. “Do you hope for one or the other?”

“Not a bit,” Agnes said evenly. “Nor does Gabriel. We’re just so excited to be growing our family. A son or a daughter—either would be equally lovely.”

The door to the library opened, and Helena walked in. Gabriel’s niece was still a year shy of her twentieth birthday, but she had made her debut recently, and Dorothy knew that Agnes and Gabriel both hoped to see her find a match this season. It wouldn’t be difficult, she thought. The girl was fair-haired, with beautiful features and radiant blue eyes, and she had a knack for charming everyone around her. Even Dorothy felt drawn in by her natural charisma.

“Is this book club?” Helena asked, making her way lithely across the room and settling in an empty chair. “May I join?”

“You haven’t read the book, Helena,” Agnes said in a mock-stern tone.

“That doesn’t matter. I can still talk about it with the three of you.” Helena leaned forward. “Unless it’s a scandalous book again, and you think Uncle Gabriel would be angry if I knew about it? But I don’t have to tell him.”

The three ladies burst out laughing. Dorothy recalled the occasion when they had read a scandalous book together. That had also been when Agnes and Helena had first met, a couple of years ago, and had eventually—strangely—led to Agnes’ marriage, through an odd series of events.

“It’s not scandalous,” Violet chuckled. “It’s philosophy.”

“Which I suppose is a little scandalous, to some people’s way of thinking,” Agnes said. “There are those who would find it inappropriate for a lady to read a book like this one. But I’m confident that your uncle is not among them, Helena.”

“Then let me stay,” Helena said.

“Very well,” Agnes said. “You may. Perhaps it would do you good to listen and expose yourself to some new ideas.”

“Speaking of scandal,” Helena said, pulling out a piece of paper and unfolding it. “Did you all see this?”

It was the same scandal sheet Dorothy’s sisters had been looking at. She closed her eyes briefly—of course it had cropped up here as well. She wondered what the others would have to say about it.

“I saw it this morning,” Violet said. “Apparently Nathaniel has a list of women he might pursue for marriage, and it’s long.”

“Our Nathaniel?” Agnes blinked. “I hadn’t even realized he was seeking marriage.”

“Seeking it with vigor, apparently.” Helena handed Agnes the sheet.

Agnes skimmed it. “Oh my,” she murmured. “Not exactly a gentleman of discerning taste, is he? I suppose he’s willing to marry anyone who will have him, by the looks of things.”

“No, that isn’t it,” Dorothy said. “In a way, it’s worse. It’s that he can’t seem to tell women apart. He had to make this list because he’s incapable of remembering who’s who without it.”

She didn’t realize she had said too much until she’d finished. Her friends were staring at her.

“How did you know that?” Violet asked. “Jonathan has never mentioned to me that Nathaniel has that kind of trouble.”

“Nor has Gabriel,” Agnes agreed. “Are you just making a guess, Dorothy?”

“No, she isn’t,” Helena said shrewdly. “Dorothy spoke with confidence. She knows something about all this.”

Dorothy sighed. She couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, it seemed. “I was the one who reported all this,” she admitted. “I found the list in the library at the ball the other night. And Nathaniel confronted me about it the morning after the event. He saw me hiding near the library, so he knew that I was the one who had done it.”

“And he confided in you about this?” Agnes asked.

“I think he was trying to make me feel ashamed about exposing him,” Dorothy said. “He was trying to make me feel sympathy for him…which did sort of work, I admit.”

“You feel for him?”