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“No, I don’t.”
Vanity didn’t blink, looking up at Nathan with her usual cool gaze. This was the woman he knew.
“Yes, you do.” She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t need to. “People are beginning to talk about your bachelor status. Wondering if there’s something wrong.”
Nathan snorted. “Trust me, there’s nothing wrong with me. I just don’t want to get married.”
“And you’re happy to let that go on?” Vanity shot back. “What happens if you die in France and you don’t have an heir? Even I don’t know where the title will go. I want to keep it in the family, as your father wanted. He wanted you to marry and have a child before he passed so he knew the line was secure, and you refused to give that to him.”
“Because I didn’t want to marry,” Nathan snapped. “Father respected that.”
What he really wanted was to marry for love. Nathan had given up on love years ago, seeing love never came into it when there were prominent matches to be made. He was not for matchmaking because of a title. If he was to be matched, it was to someone he could respect and love and get that in return. A woman who saw him and not the title, the wealth and prestige that came with it. He was not a piece of property. Being out fighting the French made it difficult to meet women, but Nathan was content with it. He had plenty of time.
If he didn’t find a woman to love, then no skin off his nose. It wasn’t a priority for him.
Vanity rose to her feet. She swayed a little, but she still looked composed.
“What you want and what you need to do are incredibly different,” his mother said coolly. “You need to step up and take some responsibility, even if you’re not going to be here.”
“So, you choose to do it for me,” Nathan growled. He ran his hands through his hair. It felt strange to do after doing it with longer hair. “Mother, I know who you think are good types for me and I don’t care for them. Remember Lorraine Brooks? You made her believe that we were a good match and that I was incredibly stubborn, so she should not give up on me. She took you literally, and she still does.”
Vanity winced. “I will admit that I messed up on that one. I apologize for that.”
“You more than messed up. I saw her earlier today when I was coming back. She’s a widow now, and she’s still taking what you said literally. If her daughter hadn’t been with her, I would have told her in very ungentlemanly terms where she could go.”
Vanity looked at the floor. Now she looked chastised.
“I can only keep apologizing for that, Nathan, but I do have a girl lined up for you, and she’s not like Lady Chapman at all. She’s not one of the girls who’s just had her first season. She’s a little more...more refined than an eighteen-year-old child.”
“You’ve saddled me with an old maid.” Nathan snorted. “Thank you for nothing.”
“Don’t be rude.” Vanity looked up at him with a frown. “She’s a nice young lady about your age, and from what I hear, she’s very attractive. You would like her.”
“I doubt it.”
A spinster. Vanity had to be scraping the barrel. Nathan didn’t want to be saddled with a woman who saw a title and not him, but to be stuck with a woman no one else would marry? There had to be something wrong with the woman if she was unmarried at her age. Maybe she was ugly. Maybe she had a limp or a physical deformity. How was he supposed to get an heir with someone nobody else wanted?
Vanity sighed and closed her eyes for a moment with a pained expression. She looked suddenly worn out. “Look, Nathan, just do this for me. Marry this girl, and then you can go back to France. Just as long as you give yourself an heir first. If you can do that, you can go back playing soldiers and I won’t bother you with anything again.”
“You will, Mother. You can’t help it.”
Nathan rubbed his hands over his face. He should have known this was about a marriage. His mother would do something sneaky. But at least he could put his mind at rest that she was alive and well and not going anywhere anytime soon. But she had done something Nathan had told her never to do. He wasn’t about to be treated like a toy, something Vanity could prod and poke into the mould that she wanted.
However, this would get his mother to stop pestering him about a wife and an heir. It had been on her mind a lot more the older Nathan got, especially since his father died. He was the last in line, and Nathan had no idea where the title was going to go once he was gone. The sensible solution would be to secure an heir. Which would mean finding a wife, and Nathan didn’t have the time or the inclination to find a suitable lady to marry.
At least Vanity had got rid of that part. To her credit, her judgement of character was often quite good. Lorraine Chapman aside, she could pick out who was a good person and who was a bit suspicious better than Nathan could. If she was sure about this spinster, then Nathan would have to go with it.
He could have a wife, do as much as possible to get an heir, and then leave. It wouldn’t take long, if Nathan could bring himself to lie with his wife. If she was attractive, then it would help. But he wasn’t going to lie about what he was doing. The woman deserved honesty, at least.
It meant he had a little longer to find Mr. Black and the smuggling gang. That was on his list of priorities too, and Nathan knew there needed to be some explanation and closure. He needed to do that, and then he needed to get back to his men.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Nathan turned to Vanity.
“All right. I’ll do it. But as soon as I know there is an heir, I’m going back to France. It’s where I’m needed.”
Vanity’s relief was obvious, and her shoulders slumped. She managed a grateful smile. “Thank you, Nathan. That would make me so happy.”
Nathan knew it would, but it wasn’t about to make him happy. It felt like he was wrapping something around his neck, and it was tightening. He headed towards the door.
