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“I always knew that you two would suit,” she said, speaking over him.
“You did?”
His mother bobbed her head. “I did,” she replied. “And to celebrate your union, I think we should host a ball.”
“Pardon?” He had not expected her to say that.
“You won’t have to worry about a thing,” his mother encouraged. “Emmeline and I will plan the whole ball.”
“If Emmeline would like a ball, then I am not opposed to having one,” he replied.
“That is most gracious of you, Son,” she gushed. “After all, if thetonsees that our family supports your marriage unequivocally, then it would go a long way to ensuring Emmeline’s place among Society.”
“I agree.”
His mother bobbed her head. “Wonderful. I shall see to the invitations right away.”
Oliver walked over to an upholstered armchair and sat down, then said, “I need for you to understand something, Mother.”
She shifted in her chair to face him. “Which is?”
“Emmeline and I are not a love match,” he stated.
Surprise resonated on his mother’s features. “But you eloped with her.”
“I did, but that was only to save her from a marriage with the Duke of Billingham,” he explained.
“You must have some feelings towards Emmeline, then,” she pressed.
“We are friends, nothing more.”
His mother frowned. “How is that possible?” she questioned. “Jane mentioned that she saw you and Emmeline kissing in the drawing room.”
Oliver shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “We were just sealing our agreement with a kiss.”
“That is nonsense,” his mother declared. “I don’t go around kissing people when we reach an agreement.”
“Regardless, we both willingly entered into a marriage of convenience with one another.”
His mother reached for a bottle of lotion on her dressing table. “I am not entirely convinced that you don’t hold Emmeline in some regard.”
“We are friends—”
She cut him off. “I always knew that you two would suit admirably, much more than you and Charlotte.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Charlotte was a pleasant enough young woman, but you have always laughed much more freely around Emmeline.”
“That may be true, but Charlotte was much more serious than her cousin,” he replied.
“That she was.”
“It matters not, because I loved Charlotte, wholly and unconstrained.”
His mother gave him a sympathetic look as she rubbed lotion on her hands. “And she broke your heart.”
“That she did,” he agreed, “which is why I will not make the mistake of falling in love again.”
