Miss Kitty Farrow’s hands shook as she picked up the teacup in Lilly’s drawing room. As soon as her brother let her leave, Kitty ran right over to her friend’s residence and asked if Lilly would invite Emilia over so she could talk to them both. Lilly had done as Kitty wished, and now Lilly and Emilia were waiting for Kitty to speak.
Unfortunately, now that they were all together, Kitty was afraid to say anything. Lord Northton obviously hadn’t been pleased to find out her brother was forcing him to marry her. She still recalled how red his face had gotten. It’d been so red that she thought it might burst.
Up to today, she hadn’t had anything to do with him. She recognized him only because Lilly had pointed him out at a ball, but she hadn’t ever spoken or danced with him. So, she didn’t think he was upset with her. At least, she hoped he wasn’t.
She’d known her brother had been planning something by the way he’d kept smirking at her for the past week, but she hadn’t dared to ask him what it was. He wouldn’t have told her anyway. He never told her anything. He thought she was too stupid to understand what was going on around her because she was a lady.
Lilly, who was due to give birth in another month, looked at her in concern. “This must be serious. You’re quieter than usual.”
“What is it?” Emilia asked. “I thought you wanted to tell us something.”
Kitty gave up on the idea of drinking tea. She set the cup on the tray and clasped her hands in her lap so they’d stop shaking. After a moment, she cleared her throat. “I came here to ask about Lord Northton.”
Lilly blinked in surprise. “My husband’s friend?”
She nodded. “I wanted to know what kind of gentleman he is.”
“Why? Are you interested in him?”
“No.” Kitty shifted in the chair and tucked a dark curl behind her ear. “But my brother has demanded I marry him.”
“Don’t do it,” Lilly said. “Aaron doesn’t like ladies. He thinks none of them can be trusted.”
“Why does he think that?” Emilia asked.
Lilly shrugged. “I don’t know. Roger won’t tell me. He says that when Aaron told him, it was in confidence, and Roger has always been good at keeping his word. Just suffice it to say that Kitty should marry someone else.”
Kitty winced. “What if my brother already arranged it?”
“I doubt Aaron would agree to the arrangement,” Lilly said.
Lilly was right. He hadn’t agreed to it. But her brother had stated things in a way that made her suspect that Aaron was going to have to go through with it even if he didn’t want to. She knew it was pointless for her to go against her brother’s wishes. Her brother always got his way no matter what.
“Aaron must be a good person if Roger is friends with him,” Emilia spoke up before she took a sip of her tea.
“Of course, he’s a good person,” Lilly replied. “Roger speaks very well of him. He just isn’t interested in marriage.”
“But he’s a titled gentleman. He’ll need to marry if he wants an heir,” Emilia said. “Heirs are the only way they will pass their title directly down the line.”
“Well, he’s not in any hurry to get an heir like your husband was.”
“Benjamin is a very considerate and sweet husband. I can’t help but want to give him a child.”
Lilly smirked at her. “That’s not what you were saying on your wedding day. You were determined to keep him from ever touching you.”
Emilia gave a nonchalant shrug then sipped more tea.
Kitty’s face grew warm. She didn’t know the first thing about what happened between a husband and wife in bed, but it made her uncomfortable whenever her friends made comments about it. If it was up to her, she would remain unmarried for the rest of her life. Just dancing with a gentleman was difficult for her. She never knew what to say or how to act, no matter how often her friends had tried helping her in these matters.
Lilly turned her attention back to Kitty. “I don’t know much about Aaron. Roger says they play chess a lot at White’s. The few times I’ve seen him we haven’t said anything to each other beyond the usual pleasantries.”
Kitty tried not to hide her disappointment, but she was afraid it showed on her face anyway. “Besides chess, do you know anything about him?”
Lilly winced. “I’m sorry, but I don’t. He’s like a portrait. He’s there, but he doesn’t do anything.”
Kitty sighed. She had hoped her friends would assure her that Aaron was a kind and sweet gentleman who’d make a good husband. Apparently, that wasn’t going to happen.
“I wish I could have my dowry and do whatever I want to with it,” Kitty mumbled.
“What would you do with it if you had a choice?” Emilia asked.
“I’d get my own townhouse and spend the rest of my life unmarried,” Kitty replied. “Society says I should want to marry and have children, but I’ve been happy with things as they are.”
“Tell me the truth,” Emilia said. “Is that why you refused to marry Benjamin when I offered to let you take my place?”
“No,” Kitty slowly said, unsure if her friend would welcome her reasoning for rejecting the offer. “I wasn’t the least bit attracted to him.” She winced. “I’m sorry. I know you adore him.”
To her relief, Emilia laughed. “I wasn’t attracted to him when I married him, either. But, over time, he’s become handsome to me.”
“Sometimes a person’s beauty develops as we get to know them,” Lilly said. “Kitty, you won’t have that problem with Aaron. He’s a good-looking gentleman.”
Yes, Kitty couldn’t argue that point. He had dark hair, a strong jaw, and broad shoulders. All were things she liked on gentlemen. He had been blessed with male beauty. Still, it didn’t make her inclined to anticipate marrying him. Looking at a gentleman was far different from having to spend her life with one.
“I’m sure everything will be all right,” Emilia said. “If I can fall in love with Benjamin, anything is possible.”
Maybe. Or maybe not. Kitty wasn’t all that hopeful her marriage would be anything like the kind of marriages her friends had. They had love matches, and they had both wanted to get married. Granted, Emilia hadn’t wanted to marry Benjamin, but she had wanted to get married. It wasn’t all that surprising that Emilia ended up falling in love with him since he treated her so well.
Kitty’s situation was different. Neither she nor Aaron wanted to get married, but her awful brother forced the union. She doubted her marriage would end up being anything like Lilly’s or Emilia’s. And that gave her a terrible sense of foreboding about the whole thing.
***
Aaron turned from the chessboard. “I’m not in the mood to play a game today.”
Mr. Roger Morris took another one of Aaron’s pawns off the board and set it on his side of the table. “Well, you’re playing miserably, so I’m not surprised.”
Aaron got up from the table and poured another glass of brandy. He downed the entire glass in one gulp. Maybe coming to White’s had been a bad idea. There was far too much liquor in the place, and he was so restless that he kept going back for more of it.
Resisting the urge to pour another drink, he returned to Roger and plopped into the chair. Then he slammed the glass on the table and crossed his arms. “The more I think about how Lord Halloway duped me, the angrier I get.”
Roger put the pawns that had tipped over back up. “Yes, I can tell. But you could have done worse. Kitty is Lilly’s friend. She’s nothing like your mother. You won’t have to worry about her acting inappropriately.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “No lady can be trusted. Some just hide their transgressions better than others.”
“That’s not true. Some are good. What your mother did was terrible, but you can’t say that all ladies share her sins. That’s not fair to them.”
“Of course, I can say all ladies share her sins because they all do the same things she did. Or still does. I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”
“I know you want me to feel sorry for you, but my sympathies go to Kitty. She isn’t the lady you’re assuming her to be, and my wife isn’t, either. Lilly would never take a lover.”
Aaron couldn’t believe how naïve his friend was. “Even after all Lilly put you through, you insist on seeing what you wish was true.”
“That’s not fair. Lilly was a virgin when we consummated the marriage.”
“I was talking about the way she continually rejected your affections, chose another gentleman to get engaged to, and then decided she had to have you once you stopped chasing after her like a hopeless puppy. Had you kept pursuing her, she never would have taken an interest in you. Now that she has you, it’s only a matter of time before she does take a lover.”
Roger’s expression turned hard. “Just because you’re miserable, it doesn’t give you the right to be nasty.”
“I’m merely stating the truth. My father believed my mother would be faithful to him if he just catered to her whims long enough. I don’t blame you for being misguided. You want to see the best in people, so you’ll do whatever it takes to justify their actions.”
“I’ve had all I can take of this.” Roger rose to his feet. “When you find yourself in a better mood, I’ll be happy to talk to you. Until then, keep your misery to yourself.”
Aaron watched him in disbelief as he left White’s. Was the truth really so hard for Roger to accept that he couldn’t at least consider it? Aaron shook his head then set the chess pieces back where they belonged on the board. He had just finished placing the last piece down when Lord Edon came over to him.
“Do you want to join the wager?” Lord Edon asked.
“If it has anything to do with Lady Richfield, I’m not interested,” Aaron replied.
“No, this has nothing to do with her. I would never endorse a wager as foolish as that. Any gentleman who thinks he can conquer her lacks intelligence.”
Not too long ago, Aaron would have agreed with him, but Lord Halloway wasn’t stupid. He’d managed to pin him into marriage to his sister, and the more Aaron thought about it, the more he suspected the gentleman had been looking for a way to get rid of his sister the entire time. The wager had just been a ruse.
Aaron was the one lacking intelligence. He’d fallen for the trap. And a casual asking around London had revealed that prominent members of the Ton really were expecting him to marry Kitty. Lord Halloway hadn’t been bluffing. Aaron couldn’t bring himself to cause a scandal to his family’s name. His father was an honorable gentleman. Everything his father had done had been for him and his future. His father didn’t want him to be tainted by his mother’s scandals. The least he could do was honor his father by doing the same for the family legacy.
“The wager has to do with Mr. Robinson and Lord Roderick,” Lord Edon said. “Now that Lord Roderick is in London, Mr. Robinson is determined to frighten him. Do you want to place your bet on whether or not he can do it?”
“I don’t know. Does this bet come with a sister I’ll be forced to marry if I win?” He tried not to let the bitterness seep into the question since he was sure neither Lord Edon nor Mr. Robinson had a sister, but he couldn’t seem to rein in his bad mood no matter how much he tried.
Lord Edon’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a moment then understanding lit up his eyes. “Is that what Lord Halloway did to you?”
Aaron’s expression darkened. “Did you know the wager was a trap?”
“No, I had no idea it was a trap. He’s such a braggart that I thought he believed he could conquer Lady Richfield when other gentlemen have failed. The reason I didn’t make the wager with him is that it didn’t interest me. I don’t like wagers where the outcome is certain. I like the possibility of losing. It makes the game fun.”
“You’ve never lost a bet though.”
“Not yet, but one of these days, I will. I can’t win them all. It’s impossible.”
Aaron studied him. “Do you want to lose?”
Lord Edon shrugged. “I wouldn’t be devastated if I did.”
“So what is your bet in this wager? Are you putting your money on your friend or Lord Roderick?”
“I’m putting it on Lord Roderick.”
“Hmm… For a moment, I thought you would bet on your friend because you like him.”
“I do like him. Mr. Robinson is the gentleman I most prefer to talk to. The fact that I think he can scare Lord Roderick is really in support of him. All he needs to do is figure out something to scare Lord Roderick. Everyone has a weakness.”
“And your friend is all right with you betting on Lord Roderick solely for the purpose of losing a bet?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t he be? As long as he knows I think he can win, he knows he has my support.”
Aaron had to admit the two had a splendid friendship if they could be so forthcoming with each other. That, in itself, was enough to make him want to see Mr. Robinson succeed. He stood up. “I’ll wager that Mr. Robinson can do it, too.”
“Excellent! Come sign the book so we can mark you down.”
With a nod, Aaron followed him to the other room.