"Regarding your departure," Georgina said, "shall we settle on one month then? That will be almost the end of the Season, or were you planning on explaining to Jack why you won't be here for the end of it?"
"Our darling girl barely notices I've been in attendance at those balls and soirées," James reminded her.
That was a very real complaint. He didn't even try to adjust his tone to disguise it. Georgina tried not to laugh but couldn't help it, which got her one of James's more intimidating stares, which he knew very well had no effect on her. He certainly had planned to frighten away all of Jack's suitors. It had taken a long round of cajoling from both his wife and daughter before James had agreed to remain inconspicuous at the parties Jacqueline was invited to. And while it was definitely hard for a man his size to be inconspicuous, he did try to keep to the sidelines, occasionally even standing outside by the terrace doors if the events weren't large enough to have sidelines. As it turned out, Jack so bedazzled her beaus that the young lords didn't notice him, which James found quite annoying.
///
Then again, James would never have agreed to try to be inconspicuous if Jack hadn't assured him she refused to fall in love during her first Season and certainly wouldn't be marrying anyone for at least a year. Georgina recalled that Jack's cousin Judy had shared those intentions, but they all knew how that had turned out, with Judy's wedding occurring this week. But Georgina wasn't about to remind her husband that well-laid plans, particularly those involving the heart, could go awry.
To ease her husband's annoyance at his lack of success in sending every one of Jack's beaus running for the hills, Georgina remarked, "She doesn't favor any of them, you know."
That got a brilliant smile out of James, which earned him a glare and the complaint "Why are you so happy about that? The purpose of this Season is for her to meet and fall in love with a fine young man and get married. Instead, she wants to be like you. She'd be a rake if she could. She'd be a pirate if she could. She's taken every one of the unladylike things you've taught her quite to heart. I should have drawn the line at swords and pistols. But fisticuffs? You wisely didn't mention that, and I wouldn't even have known if she didn't offer to give me a demonstration."
"Where exactly is the harm? She's a Malory and my daughter. I want her to be able to protect herself with whatever is available to her, if I'm not there to do the protecting. And from what little Jack has told us about the time she spent on her abductor's ship, she did put her pugilist skills to good use in venting her anger on the ship's captain and keeping him from taking unfair advantage of her. You can't imagine how much I'm looking forward to getting my hands on that man m'self."
"Still, you should have refused. It was so utterly inappropriate to teach Jack those skills. They didn't help her defend herself when someone was intent on abducting her. Instead they made her think she could fight those men herself after the fact, when she was already captured-which could have gotten her more hurt than she was."
When Georgina saw the thunderous expression appear on James's face, she knew it wasn't directed at her, but due to the impotent rage he'd felt at having been as helpless as Jacqueline had been to hurt the men responsible, so Georgina quickly changed the subject. "Well, she's breaking countless hearts, you know-just as you did. And enjoying every minute of it. You weren't really that callous, were you?"
But he didn't like hearing that, either, and sat forward. "I know for a fact she's not the least bit callous. She's honest to a fault. She's not leading them on, George. She's not giving false hope. She's just having fun. Isn't that a good part of what this bloody Season is about?"
Georgina rolled her eyes. "You know very well it's a marriage mart. For her to attend all the balls and soirées is misleading when she doesn't want to marry yet."
"Shall we cancel the rest of the Season? Problem solved."
"By all means. You can tell her."
He chuckled. She snorted. They both knew there would be no canceling when Jack had so been looking forward to this Season-if not to landing a husband during it.
"Well, I know that you're as relieved as I am at how quickly she's put that ordeal behind her," Georgina said.
"But has she really? When her anger returns every time it is mentioned? So does mine, if you haven't noticed."
"Then I should have put it this way-at least she hasn't spent the last month since we got home crying in her bedroom and refusing to step foot out of it, Season or no Season."