Nathanial blinked. “In Whites betting book?” he repeated, as his brother nodded fervently. “What do you mean? What does it say?”
William swallowed hard, his eyes then fluttering closed. “It states that he will end your connection to Lady Amelia by the Season’s end,” he said, hoarsely. “And he is telling all of society – gentlemen and ladies included – that your courtship is nothing more than a pretence. That you do not truly care for Lady Amelia and that you have done so in the hope that society will think better of you. He calls you a charlatan, a manipulator and more, telling all that Lady Amelia has beenforcedinto this situation, else you were going to pull her into the darkness also!”
A red mist began to sear Nathanial’s vision. “How dare he?”
“But how did he… ” Nathanial rubbed at his eyes. “There has been the hope that the connection between Lady Amelia and myself would improve my standing in society – and thus far, it has seemed to do that – but there is more in my heart for her now. I do not know how he could make such statements, how he could have stumbled upon the truth of our courtship, though he does not know how I feel about the lady now, of course.”
William shook his head. “I do not know, brother, but all of thetonare in uproar! You will not be able to set foot out of this house without someone watching you, someone whispering about you.” He swallowed again. “And what is worse, Lady Amelia will be pulled into it also.”
Nathanial closed his eyes, a heaviness on his heart. “And she will be spoken of poorly by thetonalso, no doubt,” he muttered, heavily. “If they believe that our courtship is false then who can say what thetonwill think?”
His brother scowled, the fright beginning to fade from his face. “You need to consider what you will do, brother. You must do something! You cannot simply sit and wait for thetonto start speaking of Lady Amelia and you! You must enact a defence!”
Nathanial nodded but rubbed one hand over his chin, his heart heavy. “I do not know what I am to do. The problem is that Lord Wilcox is not entirely incorrect in what he has said. This courtship was not meant to be of a serious nature but now… now that I consider it, I see that my desire is not for anyone other Lady Amelia. I do not want to do anything to end our courtship.”
“Because you have come to care for her.” It was said so nonchalantly, so matter of fact, that Nathanial could not help but chuckle, despite the gravity of the situation.
“You appear to have seen it sooner than I have been aware of it,” he said to his brother, as William nodded quickly. “I do not know what it is I ought to do but I certainly donotwish for Lady Amelia to be captured by Lord Wilcox. I cannot imagine what Lord Wilcox means by stating such a thing in Whites betting book. Surely he cannot think that Lady Amelia would willingly engage herself to him?”
William shook his head. “Mayhap he believes that, in ending your courtship with Lady Amelia, she will be so distressed – or her father so displeased – that she will be contented to court and engage herself to any gentleman who approaches her, simply because it will restore her standing in society.”
Nathanial snorted. “Lord Wilcox does not know Lady Amelia’s character particularly well, then. There is nothing within her that would even begin to consider a gentleman such as Lord Wilcox, even if I were to end our courtship.”
His brother lifted an eyebrow. “You do not intend to end it, then?”
“No.” Nathanial lifted his chin, his determination growing in strength with every breath he took. “No, I intend to do precisely the opposite.”
William blinked, his eyes rounding just a little. “The very opposite would be engagement, brother.”
“Yes,” Nathanial agreed, quietly. “Yes, I believe that it would be.” With a small, wry smile, he looked to his brother again. “Let us hope that Lady Amelia will be willing to accept me… and that I get to speak to her before news of this reaches her ears.”
***
“Your Grace.”
Nathanial turned just as Lord Stanton stepped out from his study, coming to stand framed in the doorway, his hands clamped to his waist, his elbows akimbo. “Good afternoon, Lord Stanton.” Seeing the man’s somewhat dark demeanor, Nathanial let out a slow breath, a little worried that Lord Stanton had already heard of what Lord Wilcox had done. “I came to see Lady Amelia.”
“Yes, I thought that might be your reason for calling.” Lord Stanton still did not smile. “However, I should like to know a little more about this courtship of yours.”
Nathanial’s heart slammed hard against his chest. Evidently, Lord Stantonhadheard what Lord Wilcox had said. “My brother has only just informed me about Lord Wilcox’s bet,” he said, coming closer to the gentleman as Lord Stanton scowled, his eyes flashing. “That is greatly distressing for me and, I am sure, to you also”.
“It is, especially given that I thought this courtship was going along very well indeed,” came the reply. “But now I hear that it is nothing more than a pretence!”
Stepping into the gentleman’s study, Nathanial chose not to sit down but instead, clamped his hands to the back of a chairand leaned forward just a little as Lord Stanton came to stand near him. “It was not a pretence, Lord Stanton,” he answered, attempting to find a way to explain what had happened between Lady Amelia and himself without telling the gentleman everything. After all, if he wanted to continue this courtship, if he wanted it to lead to something which Nathanial was certain would bring happiness, then he could not have Lord Stanton upset and determined to put distance between Nathanial and Lady Amelia. “Lady Amelia suggested that it might improve my standing in society if we were to begin a courtship. This is after Lord Wilcox had insulted my brother and, when I defended my family name, began to spread rumours about me stating that I was violent and ill-tempered.”
Lord Stanton’s lip curled. “I do not think well of Lord Stanton, Your Grace. That does not mean I will not listen to him, however.”
“Which is understandable, though I doubt that any of Lord Wilcox’s words hold any truth. They are spoken solely for his own benefit.” Getting out of his chair, Nathanial began to wander around the room, gesticulating as he spoke. “I agreed to Lady Amelia’s suggestion not because I wanted it for my own benefit but because I had begun to care for her.”
Lord Stanton’s eyebrows lifted in obvious surprise.
“I did not know it myself at the time, if such a thing is possible to say. But my brother had suggested thathemight be interested in pursuing your daughter and given that this was the only way I could see for him to be prevented from doing that, I accepted. We have not entered this courtship for long but in truth, Lord Stanton, I can think of nothing I would like less than to end my courtship. I would be upset, broken-hearted, even, to step away from your daughter. I have come to care for her more than I had expected. I find her delightful, charming, kind andgenerous and I have been more open about my own self and my own life than I had ever expected to be with another living soul.”
“I see.” Lord Stanton tilted his head. “Then might I ask what it is you suggest to do as regards Lord Wilcox? Do you think it best just to ignore him?”
“Mayhap.” Nathanial rubbed one hand over his chin. “Though I confess that I grow concerned in that regard. Lord Wilcox has made a very foolish bet and given that it was made in the early hours of this morning, I might very well presume that he was in his cups at the time. However, given that there will be numerous gentlemen who will have bet against him, I suspect he might now be in something of a panic, afraid that he will not succeed and thereafter, will be forced to pay out a great deal of coin.”
A shadow passed over Lord Stanton’s face. “You think that he might force the issue.”
