“I didn’t know,” she said. “It’s been so long since I saw her, and her mother...” Her smile faltered, then returned more determined. “But she’s a darling girl and I’m so delighted I can do this for her.”
“Was the information I sent helpful?”
She nodded. He had been serving them from the dishes on the table as they talked, and now she took a bite of berry compote. “Oh, yes. I didn’t want to trust my memory. It put my mind greatly at ease to learn I was not wrong.”
She had written to him the day after she arrived here, asking what he could discover about Viscount Burke. Burke, a friend of the Bennets’ rather rakish son Douglas, appeared to have taken an interest in her niece, and she wished to know more about the young man before deciding how she should proceed. Clemency had been all too willing to share a veritable flood of gossip and innuendo, and Richard had had to ask at his club for the truth. He’d sent a long letter two days ago.
“Very good.” He poured his coffee, then hesitated. “Perhaps that is all you should do, on that count.”
Evangeline blinked at him in surprise. “All? What do you mean?”
He held up one hand in surrender. “You have satisfied yourself that he is not a rogue or a fortune hunter. Is that not enough?”
She gave him a narrow-eyed look. “I’m sure I don’t know what you are suggesting.”
He grinned. “You know very well. You believe Miss Bennet fancies the fellow, and you are tempted to a little matchmaking.”
“Oh, Richard,” she said, then spoiled her stern tone by laughing. “And what if Idothink she fancies him? It’s as plain as day that he fancies her.”
“Then he will not need your help,” he replied. Everything he’d heard of Burke indicated the man was not shy about pursuing what he wanted. Richard hadn’t passed on the most salacious bits of information, but if anything, he suspected Evangeline might have to protect her niece from the brash young viscount, rather than encourage her to accept any advances Burke might make.
She made a face. “Perhaps not. But I like to know what I’m dealing with.”
“Then he has approached her?”
From the way she busied herself with buttering a piece of toast, Richard knew. “He called upon us,” she finally said. “Douglas, the scamp, urged him to do it, before he also left the city. That must count for something, don’t you think? Douglas is a bit of a rogue, but he would certainly know if anyone of his acquaintance was unacceptable to his mother, and I notice he hasn’t sent any other of his friends to call.” She looked at him in appeal, and he gave her a wry look. Her lips quirked and she waved one hand. “Anyway, I met Lord Burke as he was leaving, after he had spoken to Joan, and I must say, he looked very pleased by the encounter. I invited him to tea?—”
“Evie,” he said with a soft sigh.
She gave him an unrepentant look. “Why shouldn’t I? I had only just arrived, and here was a handsome young man on the stairs, saying he’d been bidden to look after Joan! I needed to size him up. What else ought I to have done?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “Allow him to leave, then speak to the young lady. Perhaps she did not wish to see him.”
“Richard,” she said in reproach. He met her gaze with a raised brow. With a guilty look over her shoulder at the door, she lowered her voice. “How could I? Joan is four-and-twenty, and no other suitors have been to call. I don’t know much about him, but I know who heis, and I felt it would be wrong to turn away a potential, very eligible, suitor.” She sat back with a tiny shrug. “If Joan takes a disgust to him, of course I would put a swift end to things.”
He shook his head, but with a rueful smile. Even after her own disastrous experience of marriage, Evangeline was still a romantic at heart. Somehow that pleased him, even if he thought she ought to stay out of any courtship involving her niece. “But I presume she hasnottaken him in dislike.”
Her eyes brightened and she leaned forward. “No! Quite the opposite. And having seen them together, I believe the fascination is mutual.”
“‘Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediment,’” he said in amusement. “Of course I would not wish to spoil a young lady’s happiness.” He put his hand on hers. “I merely hope you will make very certain that the interest is mutual, and not likely to upset or alarm Lady Bennet. She has always been a woman of firm ideas.” More like rigid and inflexible, to his thinking, but he didn’t say that. “Miss Bennet is not your daughter, after all, and the decision is not yours.”
Evangeline sobered. “True. I have no wish to anger Marion. And I swear upon my life, the moment Burke puts a toe out ofline, I will whip him from this house and never allow him back in.”
“I shall send a warning around to the man, that he will have you to face if he trifles with the young lady,” said Richard with a grin.
She slapped his hand lightly. “If he needs a warning like that, he’s not the man for Joan. You know I would never allow her to be hurt.”
“Of course not,” he said, putting aside his reservations. Everyone said Burke was no idiot; he would know the rules of society. He was also a friend of Miss Bennet’s brother, which ought to temper his actions further. Richard guessed Burke was like a great many other single young gentlemen—willing to be wild and carouse for a time, but with some measure of honor to keep him from crossing the line, and a nebulous plan to settle down into respectable marriage eventually.
“Clemency is attempting to persuade me to give speeches again,” he said, not wanting to argue over Lord Burke any longer.
“Oh? Do you intend to?”
He lifted one shoulder. “I don’t know.” He glanced at her. “Would you also attend, if I were to give a speech?”
“Perhaps,” she said with a coy look. “If the evening promised to be entertaining.”
He leaned toward her. “What if I assure you... that it would end in your complete satisfaction?”
