“I’m telling you, Martin, I don’t like it. Not one bit.” Her mother’s voice rang out.
“I don’t see why not.” Her father’s voice was strong and calm in comparison.
“What can you possibly mean?” Mother replied. “He’s completely inappropriate for her.”
“His family is one of the most esteemed in the country.”
“He’s a ne’er-do-well.”
“His father is one of my oldest and closest friends,” Father replied.
“He’s a rakehell.”
“So was I once.”
Alexandra couldn’t see inside the room, but she pictured her mother waving her handkerchief and turning red. “I cannot believe you would allow our darling girl to be carted off by the likes of him, of all people.”
“I daresay she could use a good carting off, Lillian.”
“Don’t be indecent.”
“It’s an excellent match. We’d be lucky to have him. A man’s actions speak louder than his words. I believe he’s got quite a lot of good in him.”
Alexandra held her breath. It was worse than she’d thought. Whoever the chap was, he must be particularly odious for Mother to be arguing with Father about it. Mother never argued with Father. She would gainsay him nothing.
“But we don’t even know how she feels about him. She may not even like him,” Mother pleaded. “And if actions do indeed speak louder than words, then he’s a drunken lout.”
“Nonsense. He merely hasn’t decided to settle down yet. My money’s on the lad. That devil can be downright charming when he wants to be. And as for her feelings, that’s why I insisted that he court her. She must choose him.”
“You admit he’s a devil?” Mother replied, her voice reaching such a pitch that Alexandra worried for the glassware in the study.
“He needs to settle down, Lillian. A wife and children will make him grow up. I’ve no doubt.”
“What if you’re wrong? What if his egregious behavior doesn’t change? I don’t think we should be taking that gamble on our daughter, for heaven’s sake.”
Alexandra slowly let out her breath. They must be talking about a suitor for Lavinia, mustn’t they? Lavinia was the one who must marry first. Lavinia was the one whose marital prospects were forefront in her mother’s mind. But what if they were talking about Alexandra? An icy sweat broke out on her brow. What if they’d received an offer? Alexandra didn’t think she’d had any offers, and no one had shown any particular interest in her, of course, but neither had they shown interest in Lavinia. And hadn’t Mother mentioned just last week that she despaired of Lavinia ever making a match with her “difficult” behavior? Given that, her parents might well be speaking about Alexandra after all.
She was just about to push through the door and insist that her mother was right. She couldn’t possibly marry a man she didn’t know and didn’t love. Though she was certain they’d fall over in dead swoons if she announced she intended to marry the infamous Lord Owen Monroe.
“I’m telling you, Martin,” Mother continued. “I think it’s all wrong.”
Her father’s voice grew cajoling. “Let’s just see how they get on at the ball we’re planning for them.”
Her mother sighed. “Yes. And now I must plan a ball. As if this match weren’t bad enough.”
“We want them to have every opportunity to enjoy each other’s company, don’t we?” Father replied.
“Fine, but I daresay I know my own daughter well enough to guess her mind.”
Alexandra nodded firmly.
Mother’s voice held an edge of anxiety. “There’s simply no way Lavinia will willingly accept the suit of that rogue, Lord Owen Monroe.”
Alexandra gasped.
CHAPTER THREE
Owen had been sitting in his favorite seat at the club for the better part of an hour, and he’d yet to hear any good news. In fact, his friends seemed to be reveling in telling him the exact opposite of good news. It was bad. All bad. Exceedingly bad. And it centered around Lady Lavinia Hobbs.
Normally, Owen kept company with a group of like-minded aristocrats. All of them bored, all of them drinking to excess, all of them gambling a bit too much. But today he hadn’t been looking for sport. He’d come to Brooks’s seeking some good advice, and while he might hate to admit it, his sister’s husband and his closest friend were two of the wisest people Owen knew. Both of them were war heroes who’d fought at Waterloo. The third man present, Captain Rafferty Cavendish, was a military officer recently turned viscount. He was engaged to marry Swifdon’s younger sister, Daphne. Those in their close set knew that Daphne and Rafe were actually already married. They’d legally married more than a year ago, before they completed a mission for the Crown together, but for the sake of propriety and to ward off the hint of a scandal, they were planning a large Society wedding.