Never before had Anthony been this excited for a full moon in his entire life.
Chapter 16
“What? Don’t be absurd! We only have about two-and-twenty guests. Eight large cakes would be completely unnecessary. Six, we can have six cakes with differing flavors, or six cakes of one flavor. And no more than that!”
Kenneth opened his mouth to protest, but he decided against it, as they couldn’t afford to waste any more time. The party was only eight days away and there was still a mountain of work to get through.
Seated at his desk, Anthony was surrounded by a sea of lists regarding their party planning decisions, as well as the replies from the various guests. Kenneth and Colin had pulled up their chairs to the desk and were endeavoring to help Anthony tackle the ever-growing heap of papers.
Colin put his quill down and began to forcefully shake his wrist.
“My hand has cramped from all of this nonstop correspondence. You shall have to take over for a bit, Kenny.”
“No! You know for a fact that my writing is barely legible at best. Give me something else to do.”
Anthony rubbed his temples. “I already gave you something to do, Kenny. You’re supposed to keep track of the decisions we have and haven’t made yet. So, we’ve sorted the music, mostly settled on the food and refreshments. Once his hand feels better, Colin will resume handling the replies. Between the three of us, how did this intimate dinner grow to such a size?”
Kenneth shrugged, “With the Season basically in full swing, we had assumed only a handful would respond. But it seems that every single invited person said yes.”
Colin cracked his fingers, “It would appear that Tony is quite popular despite being quite a recluse. What else needs sorting?”
“The seating arrangement for dinner. We haven’t really worked out all of the problems with it yet.”
Anthony groaned, “Why can’t people just sit wherever the—?”
He took a deep breath to regain his composure. “What I mean to say is, what was wrong with the seating plan that I had designed yesterday?”
Colin raised his eyebrows. “With all due respect, old boy, that arrangement would have been an absolute disaster if we stuck to it. For one thing, you put the Ridlingtons and the Humphriesright nextto each other, which is something that only a madman would conceive of doing.”
Anthony buried his face in his hands, “Ugh! Well, then I’msorryfor not being aware of the petty squabbles, or rivalries, or cliques, or what have you that seem to plague high society.”
“You know what? You and Kenneth should probably take care of the seating arrangement yourselves because, quite frankly, I have nothing of value to contribute towards it.”
Evidently sensing that this relentless party planning was starting to take its toll, Colin wisely suggested taking a break. As Anthony paced around the study to stretch his legs, Kenneth casually remarked, “You know, lads, if we had wives, we wouldn’t even have to worry about any of this.”
Colin snorted, “I see that you are still under the impression that a woman would consent to marry you, Kenny. Oh, if only I had your capacity for optimism.”
Kenneth rolled his eyes, “With no offense meant to either you or Lord Social Butterfly over there,” he gestured sarcastically towards Anthony, “I do believe that of the three of us here, I have the best chance of finding a wife.”
“We’ll believe it when we see it, old boy. Until then, you’re no better off than either me or Lord Social Butterfly.”
Normally, Anthony would ask to change the subject at this point, for he used to consider marriage the least of all of his problems. But now that he was in… love? That was not yet clear. So at the very least, he was now infatuated with someone so, obviously, the issue of marriage was now significantly closer to his heart.
As he sat back down in his chair, he hesitantly asked, “While we’re on the subject. Exactly what sort of lady do you think would make the best wife for me?”
Colin and Kenneth looked at each other, “What do you mean by ‘best’, Tony? Clearly, the best lady would be one who is well-bred, well-mannered, well-to-do, healthy—beautiful, if possible— and, er—”
“—can plan parties without requiring our involvement,” chimed in Kenneth.
Anthony shook his head, “No, no— I mean, yes, you’re both right, that truly is an ideal lady. But forme, personally, what sort of lady would I be compatible with?”
It took his friends a bit longer to answer this time. In the end, Kenneth answered, “As the Duke, I would say that you shouldn’t consider anyone except the very best of the social ladder.”
“But as your friend, I’m not sure. Something tells me you wouldn’t get along with a lady like that, for she would have very expensive tastes and would quite likely drag you around town going from party to party as often as possible.”
Colin concurred, “Indeed, I believe neither of you would be happy in a marriage like that, Tony, for you can’t even be bothered to buy extra cakes for a party. Members of high society like to flaunt their wealth by means of their extravagant purchases and extreme party decisions, a notion that is detestable to your entire being. However—”
Anthony did not need to hear the rest, “However, as firstborn and Duke, I shouldn’t be worried about compatibility or happiness. My first duty is to the family and the procurement of an heir. Therefore, rather than pondering who is best forme, I need to be asking who would be best for the estate.”
