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“She is a rather lovely young girl,” Joyce told her niece. “She is painfully shy, though, so it might take a bit more to make her warm up to you.”
“Oh no, she was really quite amiable. Even Daniel seems to think so.”
The Dowager Duchess’s ears perked up. “Daniel…thinks so?”
Melissa looked stunned for a moment before she muttered, “Oh dear!”
Now, her interest had been piqued. It would seem that her son might not be so oblivious to all the young ladies of the Ton after all!
“I never could keep anything from you, could I?” Melissa muttered, smiling weakly at her aunt from across the table.
Joyce laughed. “Oh no, dear. It is simply that I have had more experience than you about these things. Although, to be honest, I never quite expected my dear son to show any interest in a young lady. This,” she smiled widely, “is very good news!”
Even after two decades of a heartbreaking marriage, the Dowager Duchess wanted nothing more than for her own son to find what she had not—somebody he could love who would love him in return.
For several years, she had not had much success in penetrating the walls he had erected around his heart but…this Lady Emily Montgomery must be a rather remarkable young lady to have achieved such a feat!
“Well, I’m afraid it’s not all that good, Aunt Joyce,” Melissa grimaced.
“Whyever not, dear?”
How could a prospective daughter-in-law not be good news? Is Lady Emily deficient in some way?
“I am afraid that Daniel…well, he might have been embroiled in a scandal of some sort.”
“A scandal?” Joyce pressed a horrified hand over her heart.
Melissa nodded glumly. “From what I gathered, the Viscount of Chaney means to marry Lady Emily, and last night, he toldherfather that he had chanced upon herandHis Grace alone in the gardens.”
Dear God in heaven! Couldn’t Daniel have restrained himself just a little?
The Dowager Duchess felt herself grow a little cold. Her son, who rarely showed such emotion, must have been stunned by the intense passion he had felt! She massaged her temples and sighed.
And here I thought he knew better!
“Well, he has to marry her then,” she told her niece resolutely.
“That is just the problem, Aunt Joyce. You know how Daniel is—he thinks that marrying her is a terrible idea.”
“What could be so terrible about marrying someone you hold much affection for?”
Melissa wrinkled her nose. “Ask Daniel. Apparently, he has some misguided notions about marrying the woman hedoeswant.”
Oh well, this certainly wouldn’t do! If Daniel has compromised this young lady, then he has to take responsibility for her, or she would be ruined and cast out of society!
“So…what does he intend to do now?” she asked her niece.
“He intends to donothing,” Melissa bit out angrily. “Meanwhile, the Viscount of Chaney—and he is a complete and utter scoundrel, I tell you—is blackmailing the Marquess of Rutbridge, demanding that if the Marquess does not give him Lady Emily’s hand in marriage, then word will get out that she is a woman of loose morals and unfit to be a decent wife.”
When the Dowager Duchess of Gilleton woke up that morning, she certainly never expected to hear thatthiswas what had transpired while she was sleeping!
“I think,” she said slowly, “that it is about time I have a talk with your cousin.”
“Oh, you better, Aunt Joyce! He is so belligerent, I feared I would have to hit him in the head with my slipper last night!”
Joyce smiled at her niece. “My dear, leave it up to me. When it comes to men like your cousin, such hard tactics will never work.”
But more than that, she understood where her son was coming from—as skewed as his logic may be. His heart was in the right place, but he was going about it all wrong.
