by Darcy Burke
“You can’t ask only three people and expect to find her.”
“It wasn’t three. It was five.” When he saw her eyes grow wide, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a light squeeze. “I’m teasing. I asked more than five. It was ten. Maybe even twelve.”
“This isn’t amusing, Christopher,” she admonished as he kissed her neck. “We won’t be leaving London until Perry has a wife.”
“And she has to be young, attractive, kind, and overlook his boring tendencies?”
“Of course.”
“You are difficult to please. Do you know how hard such a lady is to find, especially one who doesn’t mind being bored?”
She sighed. “Perry isn’t boring. I don’t want to hear anything else about him being boring. Now, I want you to help me seek out a suitable lady for him tonight. Ask every gentleman there if he has a sister or daughter who is looking for a husband.” She adjusted her gloves. “You know how much I hate going to balls.”
“Which is why we should have stayed home.” He kissed her and wiggled his eyebrows. “We could have a lot more fun there.”
“We’ll have fun later. Right now, we need to work.” After a moment, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while if you find him a wife tonight.”
“All right.” What he wouldn’t do for his wife. “I promise you that before the night is over, Perry will secure a betrothal that the lady in question won’t be able to get out of.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I’ll find a way to make it happen.” He tapped her nose in a playful fashion. “I secured a marriage to you, and I’ll do it again for my cousin. Tonight, I get him a wife and tomorrow we head out to our country estate where we’ll get to enjoy each other without the distractions of other people.”
The carriage came to a stop and he glanced out the window where Lord Roderick was hosting the ball. He guessed Lord Roderick felt the need to host it because his wife insisted on it. He couldn’t blame Claire. If he was her, he’d do everything he could to avoid being alone with him, too. What the poor lady went through when she was with him.
The footman opened the carriage door and he waited for Agatha to get out before leaving it. Somewhere at this ball, Perry’s future wife was waiting. The trick was finding her. And he would make sure he found her before the night was over.
Paula examined the gentlemen at the ball. Tonight. This would be the night she’d find someone to marry. But she wanted someone who’d make a good husband, something that was hard to determine just by dancing with them. She scanned the room and found her brother who was preoccupied with a lady he was doing his best to win over. If the lady was smart, she’d run away from him as fast as her slippered feet could carry her.
Paula strolled around the ballroom. There had to be someone—anyone—who’d be a decent husband. Just one.
“Are you looking for someone?”
She turned her attention to the gentleman who approached her. He was young. Perhaps he wasn’t married yet. She cleared her throat and offered what she hoped was an attractive smile. “No one in particular.”
He glanced around the room. “Shouldn’t you have a chaperone?”
“Oh, I do. She’s over there.” Granted, “she” was really a “he” and “he” was her brother, but she felt no need to direct the gentleman’s attention to her brother.
“Well, let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. I’m Mister Robinson,” he said with a bow.
She smiled and curtsied. “Miss Leighton.” She noted the spark of interest in his eyes and hoped this would be the one who’d save her from marrying the Duke of Leavenshire.
The music got ready to begin so he extended his hand and asked if she’d join him on the ballroom floor. She agreed and they began the dance.
“I don’t recognize you,” he said. “Is this your first Season?”
“Yes, but I haven’t been to many balls,” she replied. Actually, she hadn’t been to any but there was no need to tell him that.
“Ah, that explains why I don’t recognize you. I go to as many balls as I can.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I love dancing and talking to people. Though tonight, I’m on a mission of sorts.”
“And what would that be?”
He gestured behind her, so she glanced over her shoulder where two gentlemen talked. “I’m trying to find my cousin—the one with the cane—a wife. You said you were Miss Leighton, as in you have no husband?”
She paused for a moment to study the gentleman who leaned on his cane. Dark brown hair, broad shoulders, a nice smile.
“He’s the Earl of Clement,” Mister Robinson continued. “I can’t promise he’ll keep you captivated by stories of his interesting life because his life is really far from interesting. However, I can promise you that he’ll be faithful and treat you with the utmost respect.”
“Why isn’t he already married?” she asked.
“He blames his cane.”
“That’s ridiculous. There’s nothing wrong with a gentleman who has a cane.”
“That’s what I keep telling him, but he’s adamant that being born with one leg a mere inch shorter than the other is enough to make ladies run away from him in absolute fright.”
She chuckled at his joke. “Is that all that’s wrong with him?”
“He’s also boring. I did mention that, didn’t I?”
“Yes.” She glanced at Lord Clement again. His friend laughed at something he said. “He doesn’t seem boring. That gentleman talking to him is laughing.”
“Oh, Lord Roderick. He’s equally boring, I’m afraid. The two can put an entire room of ladies to sleep, but if you have a tendency to daydream, you can smile at him and think of whatever you want while he rambles. I’ve done it many times in the past, and he never caught on that I was only pretending to pay attention to him.”
“Is there anything else wrong with him?” So far, he sounded very wonderful, especially compared to the Duke of Leavenshire.
Mister Robinson thought over it and nodded. “No, that’s the worst of it.”
She bit her lower lip and considered her options. She needed to secure a marriage, and she needed to secure one tonight. Surely, a gentleman of Lord Clement’s standing had ladies lined up to marry him. She didn’t have the luxury of waiting for him to court her and propose marriage, not when she would have to contend with others who were interested. And right now, he was her only prospect.
Turning back to Mister Robinson, she asked, “And what about you? Are you looking for a wife?”
“I’m already married to that gorgeous lady over there.”
She followed the direction he indicated and saw a beautiful lady who was talking to a couple of other ladies. She then turned her attention back to Lord Clement. If she couldn’t have Mister Robinson who had seemed quite amiable, then she supposed she better go with Lord Clement. “Will you introduce me?”
“I’d be happy to.”
When the dance ended, he led her over to his cousin who was insisting his friend use some type of maneuver on the chessboard. Had she played chess, she would have understood why his friend commented that it was a wise move, but as it was, she knew nothing about the game so had to settle for a polite smile as Mister Robinson cleared his throat.
The two turned toward her, but her eyes settled on Lord Clement. He had deep blue eyes that hinted at enthusiasm for life, something the Duke of Leavenshire lacked, something her mother had told her was very important in a gentleman. If her mother was still alive, she’d never allow her brother to pawn her off on someone as awful as the duke.
But that was not going to even be an issue now that she was going to marry Lord Clement. All she had to do was figure out a way to become engaged to him. What scandalous activity could she do?
“I thought you left London with your wife yesterday,” Lord Clement told Mister Robinson.
/> “Yes, well, we delayed going there,” Mister Robinson replied. “I have something I need to do first. Speaking of which, I’d like to introduce you to...” He smiled. “Forgive me, but what was your name again?”
“Miss Leighton,” she replied, her heart pounding in her chest.
“This is Miss Leighton. Miss Leighton, this is my cousin Lord Clement and his only friend in the world Lord Roderick.” Glancing at Lord Clement, he chuckled. “I’m only kidding, of course.” Turning back to her, he shook his head in a way that indicated Lord Roderick really was Lord Clement’s only friend.
She bit her lower lip so she wouldn’t laugh. Mister Robinson had a splendid sense of humor. Since Lord Clement was his cousin, perhaps he was the same way.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Lord Clement said with a bow, Lord Roderick following the same sentiment with a bow of his own.
“Perhaps you’d like to become wild and toss aside that cane of yours so you can share a dance with her,” Mister Robinson told his cousin.
“I’d like to dance,” she offered, her desperation prompting her to be bolder than she knew she should be.
“Oh,” Lord Clement glanced at his cane, “I can’t.”
“Won’t dance,” Mister Robinson corrected.
“Can’t. One leg is shorter than the other.”
“By a mere inch. They make shoes that enable him to walk evenly without a cane.”
“I walk just fine.”
“Which is why he insists on having a cane.”
She watched as Lord Clement sighed in exasperation at the way Mister Robinson teased him. Hoping to ease things for Lord Clement, she said, “I think a cane is quite distinguished.”
“You do?” Mister Robinson asked, not hiding his surprise.
“Yes, I do.” She looked at Lord Clement. “If you’re not comfortable dancing, perhaps you’d like to talk?” She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“There you go,” Mister Robinson told Lord Clement. “You can talk. All you need to do is open your mouth and words come out.”
She bit her tongue so she wouldn’t laugh at Mister Robinson’s joke.
Lord Roderick groaned. “Mister Robinson, have you nowhere else you can be?”
“I brought over a lady to talk to my cousin. That is a lot more than you’re doing for him,” Mister Robinson replied with a huff.
“That’s enough,” Lord Clement said before Lord Roderick could respond. “Miss Leighton, I’d be happy to talk to you. Where’s your chaperone so we can do so?”
Her chaperone? She scanned the ballroom and saw her brother who was dancing with a lady. Turning to Mister Robinson, she asked, “I don’t suppose your wife would care to chaperone?”
“I suppose I can track her down. I’ll return shortly.”
As he stepped away, she excused herself from Lord Clement and hurried after Mister Robinson and stopped him. “You’ll think my request an odd one,” she said in a low voice so no one could overhear her, “but I am in dire need of a husband. Can you send your cousin outside where I’ll be waiting for him?”
His eyebrows rose in interest. “Do you mean to create a scandal?”
“Well…” How much did she dare tell him? Would he even agree?
“Why Miss Leighton,” he grinned, “I think you’re just the kind of lady my stuffy cousin needs. Find your way to the veranda, and I’ll have my cousin go out there alone. Then my wife and I will stumble upon you two. Does that work?”
Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, she nodded. “Thank you.”
THREE
Paula couldn’t believe she was doing this. She swallowed and took a deep breath to help calm her pounding heart. The veranda was blessedly quiet since everyone was in the ballroom. It gave her a moment to compose herself. She had to create a scandal. Lord Clement might not be happy about it. All right, he definitely wouldn’t be happy about it. If she was lucky, he wouldn’t scream at her. Well, he wouldn’t scream, at least not in front of all the people. And maybe by the time they got married, he would calm down to the point where he wouldn’t scream when they were alone.
She closed her eyes and steeled her resolve. She could do this. All she needed to do was kiss him when Mister Robinson and his wife came out onto the veranda. That was simple enough. Releasing her breath, she opened her eyes and looked up at the evening sky. She always enjoyed watching the twinkling stars and seeing the way the moon changed each night.
But tonight, she had more pressing matters to tend to. Once her nerves were settled enough, she edged behind a thick column and peered around it.
A minute later, Mister Robinson opened the door and gestured for Lord Clement to step outside. “I told you no one is out here,” Mister Robinson said. “I will go inside and my wife and I will find Miss Leighton. Then we can all talk.”
Lord Clement hesitated on the threshold of the doorway. “I don’t know. Maybe we should all come out here together.”
“What’s the need? As you can see, no one is out here.”
He tapped the golden tip of his cane and sighed. “I suppose you’re right. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Miss Leighton won’t show up,” Mister Robinson replied, chuckling at his joke.
“I’m not amused.”
He cleared his throat. “Of course not. Nothing amuses you.” As Lord Clement stepped onto the veranda, Mister Robinson added, “If anyone needs a lady who doesn’t take life so seriously, it’s you. It’s the only way you’ll learn to enjoy life.”
“I enjoy life just fine.”
“Playing chess and discussing politics aren’t enjoyable.”
“That depends on who you ask.”
Rolling his eyes, Mister Robinson shut the door, leaving Lord Clement alone. Paula gripped the column and watched as Lord Clement settled onto a bench just mere feet from her. If she was going to do this, it was best to do it now.
Lord Clement jerked and turned toward her as she approached him. “Miss Leighton? I didn’t see you out here.” He rose to his feet. “We must get back inside before someone sees us.”
Her heartbeat picked up as she closed the gap between them. “No one knows we’re out here.” In a bold move, she took his cane, slipped her arm around his, and urged him to sit. From the position she chose, she had a clear view of the door but he didn’t. Good. With a smile, she set his cane on the other side of her so it wasn’t in his reach and clasped her hands around his. “Your cousin, Mister Robinson, was telling me that you’re a very kind gentleman.”
“Oh, well, that was nice of him.” He made a move to grab his cane but she shifted to block him, and in doing so her breast brushed against his hand. Pulling back from her as if he’d just touched fire, his face grew bright red. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t,” he motioned to her breast, “mean to…you know.”
“I know,” she quickly assured him, surprised he should be so flustered. Weren’t gentlemen supposed to try to touch a lady’s breast when they were alone with them? “It was an accident. I understand.” Holding onto his arm, she continued, “I wanted to get a chance to talk to you. Without any interruptions. I thought I might learn more about you that way.”
He cleared his throat and scooted away from her, but she quickly scooted along with him. He let out an uneasy laugh. “We can talk at Hyde Park. While we would need a chaperone, we could ride horses further ahead. That way we’d have a private conversation while not risking anything scandalous, like we are now.”
Before he could turn his head to the door, she cupped the side of his face in her hand and turned it back in her direction. “You worry too much.”
“My cousin will be out here any minute.”
“But he told me he’ll be at least five minutes. That leaves us a little time to talk.”
“I’m really not comfortable—”
“Like I said, you worry too much. Now, tell me all about yourself.”
He stopped struggling to get away from her for a moment and
stared at her. “What?”
“What do you like to do? What are your favorite things?” When he didn’t answer her, she asked, “What’s your favorite color?”
“My favorite color?”
“I’m partial to purple myself. Now, tell me, what color do you like most?”
“Um, red, I suppose.”
“You suppose?”
“I also like blue a lot.”
“What a wonderful combination,” she said, snuggling closer to him as she gathered the courage to kiss him. “Red is passionate and exciting while blue is loyal and friendly. I bet you’re a loyal friend who has a passionate and exciting streak hidden beneath the surface. Am I right?”
“I never thought about it before.”
“I bet it’s true about you.” She took a deep breath. “I think we could be well matched.”
“You can’t tell that by learning what colors I like.”
She noticed that though he protested, he wasn’t trying to get away from her. Either he’d given up and was hoping she’d release him or he realized he wanted to be close to her. She hoped he wanted to be close to her. There was something unbelievably sweet and charming about him that made her want to spend more time with him.
She glanced at the door and saw it open. Mister Robinson stuck his head out and gave her a nod. Taking that as her cue, she leaned forward and kissed Lord Clement. He stiffened but didn’t push her away, probably due to shock. In fact, he didn’t even respond, so it was up to her to make it look good. She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued kissing him. Just when she thought he was starting to warm up to her, someone gasped.
Lord Clement stiffened once more and looked behind him. She followed his gaze and saw an amused Mister Robinson with his shocked wife.
“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” Mister Robinson said, placing his hands behind his back. “Can you believe this, my dear?” he asked his wife who seemed to be at a loss for words. He turned back to his cousin and his grin widened. “Good for you. You’re finally guaranteed a wife!”
“But this is a scandal,” his wife blurted out.