He knew that Dominic and his wife had begun their life together as a bid to gain an inheritance and freedom. The arrangement had been one of mutual benefit, not love, though it had turned into that.
I will not fall into that trap.He felt something stir uneasily in his chest, but pushed it away. His cousins might be like brothers to him, but they were their own men. Besides, from what he had seen of Lady Vivian, she seemed businesslike and detached.
She is not looking for romance; she is just seeking revenge.
It was a comforting thought.
Dominic frowned at him. “That was a low blow, Elington, but I suppose you have a point. Though I am guessing by her swift departure that you are not engaged?”
“Actually, she has accepted.” Thomas rolled his shoulders out and gestured to the cup that his fiancée had left behind. “We discussed it over tea. I thought it would help her nerves.”
He ran his thumb across his fingers, thinking of the way she had taken the cup from him and her fingers had brushed against his own.
“You are serious?” Dominic let out a breath of air that fogged the air around them. “When Felty told me you planned on finding yourself a wife, I thought he was pulling my leg.”
“He was not,” Thomas replied nonchalantly.
“You owe me thirty guineas.” Dominic stepped toward him, his hand outstretched, a look of boyish glee on his face. “I did not expect to win quite so soon, I must say.”
“You have not won.” Thomas batted his cousin’s hand away. “Our wager was that I would be married,in love,anddeliriously happy. I am none of those things.”
Dominic’s brow furrowed. “You just told me she has accepted your proposal.”
“Which makes her my fiancée, not my wife. At least not yet.” Thomas ran a hand through his hair, his eyes drifting back to where Lady Vivian had left. “And we are not marrying for love, Dorson. I am sure Felty told you of my need for respectability, and well, Lady Vivian finds herself in need of a husband, and it seemed a sensible solution for us to marry.”
“Lady Vivian?” Dominic asked.
Thomas gestured with his hand, trying to remember her full name and title. “Lady Vivian Willows. Her father is the Earl of Brookes.”
“She is the one that Lord Brixten jilted!” Dominic exclaimed.
“Yes.” Thomas made a shushing motion at his cousin and glared. “Married a girl barely out of leading strings, and broke off a decades-long engagement to do it. She was promised to him at birth, and the scoundrel did not even have the decency to send a letter.”
Thomas’s jaw clenched, and he flexed his fingers. He was thankful he hadn’t run into the man. He had little patience formen who treated women like mere playthings and even less for men who broke their promises.
Not that he will face any real repercussions. After all, his father-in-law will shield him from much of the ton’s ire.
Dominic chewed his lip. “And you do not fear that there was a reason for him to behave like that? What if the woman is to blame?”
“Short of killing someone, I can think of very little a woman could do that would deserve that kind of treatment.” He gave his cousin a level look as he wrestled the anger that flared within him. “And she did not seem like the murderous type to me.”
“That does not mean she will be a pleasant wife. She could be mad or—” Dominic began, but Thomas cut him off, holding up a hand.
“She is still my fiancée, and I will not have my own cousin cast aspersions on her character. She is not the one who has behaved abominably.” Thomas let out a long breath. “I am not trying to find the love of my life, Dorson. In fact, I need the opposite. I need a woman who won’t get caught up in flights of fancy. I need someone who is grounded, who is practical and strong.”
“And you think that is Lady Vivian?”
“I do. I can think of few women who would describe her ordeal without being moved to tears. I can think of even fewer whowould enter society at twenty-four with their heads held high, and upon meeting their ex-fiancé and his new wife, immediately find a way to make him regret leaving their engagement.” He thought of the businesslike way Vivian had laid out everything before him.
She seemed more bothered by the nuisance of having to find a husband than by any hurt her fiancé had caused.
“You sound as if you admire her.” Dominic gave him a sidelong look.
“I admire what I have seen of her nature,” Thomas admitted. “Besides, she comes from a good family. She will bring me the respectability I need, and in doing so, she will have the chance to make her ex-fiancé rue the day he let her slip from his grasp.”
“And I take it Lady Vivian understands just what you are offering her?” Dominic chewed his lip. “She does not expect you to give her a real marriage?”
“I made it clear that it would be a marriage in name alone.” Thomas made an emphatic gesture with his hand. “And I will reiterate it when I call on her tomorrow. After all, I should at least make a show of gaining her father’s consent.”
