Wicked Nights With a Proper Lady(21)
“As I was saying, what brings you here?”
Leo leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “We need to discuss Ponsley’s daughter.”
“Ah, I see.” Tristan turned to the waiting attendants. “We can serve ourselves, you are dismissed.” To Leo he said, “Coffee? Cook always works some sort of magic with that vacuum pot of hers; I wish I could figure out how to get the grinds out. She manages to make it taste better than any of the coffeehouses about Town.”
“Coffee without grinds sounds perfect. I don’t have anywhere to be this early in the day, anyway.”
Tristan handed over the carafe with a grin. “I suppose not. Can’t imagine why you’d come so early to discuss Lady Charlotte.”
After pouring himself a coffee and adding a generous helping of milk, Leo made himself comfortable in his chair. “I would like to call off our wager in courting and winning the girl to our favor.”
“Poor sportsmanship of you, isn’t it? We did bet that fine filly of yours.”
“How about I offer breeding rights?”
Tristan leaned back in his chair and gave him a scrutinizing look. “Have you managed to steal the chit right out from under my nose?”
“I’m glad to say that I have not. Nor do I wish to pursue this mission of Jezebel’s.”
“Have you told her?”
“Once she stops mourning her old life I’ll find the time to tell her.”
Tristan gave him a look that said he didn’t believe him. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I am. Think on it, Tristan, Jez is in a rough patch right now. Mr. Warren has never shown an inclination toward brutishness. I’ve never heard a bad word about him.” Leo paused deliberately and let his words sink in. “Besides, once you gain favor with the Ponsley girl, I guarantee you there will be another … and another after that to keep away from Mr. Warren. In fact, I don’t see an end in sight.”
Tristan took a long sip of his coffee and set the empty cup on the table to pour himself out more of the dark brew. “But this is Ponsley’s daughter. Have you forgotten that?”
“I haven’t.”
“It’s that woman, isn’t it? Miss Camden has your balls in a noose.”
Genny.
Of course this was partially about Genny. “I assure you, I came to my senses long before seeing Miss Camden again.”
“Precisely how did you come to know her before?”
“Tristan, you’re not focusing on the topic at hand.”
“Oh, indeed I am. You have a tendre for Miss Camden and you don’t want to upset that if I move on the Ponsley chit.” Tristan actually guffawed like some old biddy might do at the latest joke and smacked the flat of his hand on the table. “This is brilliantly hilarious! I didn’t believe I would ever see a day when you actually cared for someone more than you care for yourself.”
Leo gave him a droll, unimpressed look and ignored the jab at his character. “Think of your daughter, if you won’t think of the damage you will do to this young woman.”
“I assure you, that young woman is nothing like my daughter.”
“And what if someone wanted to ruin Ronnie’s chances to marry into a decent title and fortune?”
“I think you are mistaking my children for someone else’s. Unless you have forgotten their roots, let me remind you that their mothers dropped them off on my doorstep without so much as shouting out a hallo.”
“I do not mistake their origins. But that isn’t to say that young men won’t chase after your daughter as we have chased after so many women. I hate to admit this but the Ponsley girl seems decent. A hell of a lot more decent than her father.”
“Decent?” His friend snorted at that and took another sip of his coffee. “That is not a word I would associate with Lady Charlotte.”
“You think you have a better understanding of her character than I do?”
“I have spent time with her, so yes, I like to think I have a good understanding of her disposition.”
“Is your mind set on garnering her favor and ruining her chance at marrying Mr. Warren?”
“I didn’t say that precisely.”
“Then stop beating around the truth and spit it out, man.” Leo sat back in his chair, quite frustrated that this conversation was going nowhere.
“Look, I can’t make any promises where Lady Charlotte is concerned. She’s become a problem for us both, eh? Not only through Jez but by her own scheming tactics.”
“She’s fresh into society and you claim her to be cunning? This I need to know the details of.”
“It is probably better you don’t. Let it alone. Well, not the bit about giving me breeding rights on that equine you managed to get your hands on.”
Leo wasn’t sure if this meant Tristan agreed that they needed to leave the young lady alone or not.
He wasn’t sure he had accomplished anything in coming here. Should he warn Genny of someone’s—not specifically Tristan’s, because he’d not inform on his friend—intent to ruin Lady Charlotte’s upcoming nuptials? Or would the girl be able to fend off Tristan on her own? It was unlikely she would have the defenses needed to steer someone of Tristan’s reputation in a different direction.
This whole scenario put him in a damnable position. Where should his loyalties lie in all this? With Jez who stood to lose everything and already had in a sense? With Tristan whom he’d known all his life, or with Genny, the woman he wanted back in his life if she would accept him?
* * *
Was it possible she was in the clear? She hadn’t laid eyes upon Leo since the night of the opera. Nor were any more inappropriate gifts sent to the Ponsley residence. He must realize bribery would not sway her assessment of his character.
Over the past week Castleigh hadn’t tried absconding with her cousin once. They hadn’t seen the marquess since the Carleton party. Was he already bored with the idea of chasing a young debutante?
Clasping the vellum envelope between her hands, Genny broke the wax seal and removed the heavy parchment. After reading it over quickly, she looked across the breakfast table to her cousin.
“Have we been invited to the house party or not?” her cousin asked impatiently.
Charlotte’s father looked up from his paper and picked up his cup of tea to take a sip of the dark liquid. “I don’t see why you would want to attend, poppet. It’s not as though you will be finding a prospective match.”
“Must you constantly remind me? I know you don’t approve of our friendship with Lady Carleton, but she has treated us fabulously and we wouldn’t have been invited to half the get-togethers this season if not for her.”
“Miss Camden should be the one reminding you, not I.”
Charlotte put down the marmalade-covered biscuit she’d been about to bite into.
“Everyone else will be leaving for the country in the next week if this heat doesn’t let up. I don’t see why we wouldn’t be thrilled at the prospect of attending the most exclusive summer house party, one that affords us the opportunity to get some much needed fresh air, Papa.”
“Rusticate if you must, but remember your responsibility to this family.”
“You know I will,” Charlotte said sweetly to her father.
When Lord Ponsley picked up his morning paper, Charlotte focused on Genny.
“We are invited,” Genny confirmed. “But we must think of your grandmother’s health in this heat. It would be unwise to leave her here without a companion.”
Charlotte pushed her chair out from the table and folded her napkin over her place. “I must speak to Grandmamma at once.”
At Genny’s raised eyebrow, her cousin rounded the table and kissed her father on the cheek. “Please excuse me from breakfast.”
Her father made a noncommittal grunt on the heels of Charlotte’s exit from the room.
Genny looked across the table at Lord Ponsley. She really disliked being left alone with him. He wasn’t an easy man to talk to, at least not for her. He doted upon his daughter, which was part of the reason her cousin acted spoiled at times. When he did lower himself to address Genny—which was a rare event—it was clear that she was no more than the help; a poor relation who would never rise to a higher position than the servitude she found herself in at present.
She cut into her poached egg and focused on her breakfast plate. If Charlotte didn’t return soon, Genny would excuse herself before Lord Ponsley remembered that she was even there.
“Miss Camden?” She flinched at her spoken name and swallowed the lump of egg that was only half chewed in her mouth. It wouldn’t do to keep his lordship waiting for a response.
“Yes, my lord?”
Everything about Lord Ponsley was firmly above reproach and so she never addressed him informally. There were no lost feelings between them, even though Lord Ponsley was her uncle.
“Has Lord Castleigh attempted to court my daughter?”
How had he come by that information? And was the exaggeration about courting his own, or the observation of another? She didn’t think it wise to lie in this instance.
“Very briefly. It seems he found another distraction once I made my displeasure known when he befriended Charlotte.”