“That would be helpful, thank you.” West saw his mother getting ready to leave and wanted to talk to her before she escaped. Shaking his uncle’s hand, he made a quick goodbye.
“Thank you for hosting, mother,” he said once he reached her. “I’m sorry for being short with you earlier, I’m still adjusting to being called Hampton.” Leaning in, he placed a kiss on her cheek, and she smiled warmly at the gesture. The greateraffection between them was still growing, but they both had intentionally taken time over the past year to get to know one another better. He was trying not to resent her for the past and for how little time she’d spent with him as a child, knowing it had been at his father’s direction. Still, it was difficult at times not to wish she had stood up to him and rebelled against the aristocratic belief that children should be raised by nannies and governesses rather than their own parents.
But it was a new world, and West was determined to do what was best for the family rather than what polite society dictated. All that would start in earnest now that he’d finally informed the family of his plans.
CHAPTER 2
“Darling, do sit up straight. I know I’ve taught you better manners than that.”
Sitting up, as it wasn’t worth the argument, Priscilla pulled at the edge of her stays where they were digging into her ribs, which had caused the slumping in the first place as she sought a position that would bring her relief.
It was definitely past time for her to get out from under her parent’s roof. After having led her own household, it chaffed more than a little to be living with her mother again, as she clearly believed that meant she could once more control Priscilla’s life.
Priscilla knew she was much too old to desire staying with her parents—but returning home had seemed like the only viable option after finding herself widowed a year and a half earlier. While the dower house had been hers for the taking, she had not wished to remain on the property with the new duke. A dowager duchess at only twenty-one, the new duchess, whom Pricilla had met only once, seemed threatened by her young presence. The uncomfortable atmosphere had sent her back to her parents’ home, but with funds from the bequest finally settled and dispersed, it was time to move on.
Now twenty-three and out of mourning, Priscilla had a lot more life to live, and she was an exceptionally wealthy woman. Her husband had been generous in her marriage settlement, knowing she was likely to be widowed early due to his advanced age. She had married the Duke of Stern after his second wife died—a last-ditch effort on his part to produce an heir and keep his irresponsible wastrel of a nephew from inheriting. While a sound idea, it had failed when he became bedridden after an apoplexy only a few months into their marriage.
“Are you even listening to me?” Lady Wrexham said, clearly exasperated. Priscilla shook herself from her thoughts and looked up at her mother.
“I need your help organizing the ball, my dear. Hosting the opening ball is no small feat, and we only have a week to get everything finalized and set the tone for the season. People expect a certain level of experience from us after holding the opening ball for so many years. And this year is more important than ever,” her mother finished pointedly.
“Why is this year so important?” Priscilla queried. Lady Wrexham looked at her like the answer should be obvious.
“Because now that you are fully out of mourning, this will be the season to find you a new husband,” she replied.
Oh, no. This was the decidedly last thing that Priscilla needed. Yes, she may want to remarry again eventually, but under much different circumstances than her previous marriage. And she had been planning to enjoy the new freedoms that came along with being a widow.
Though she was able to participate in aspects of the last season, having begun half mourning right before the season commenced, this would be the first time she could fully stretch her wings.
No longer restricted by being a young innocent, or her social activities limited to only those with family while in mourning,this was the first season where she could do as she pleased. There was absolutely no way she would let her mother step in and try to direct her options once again.
“Mother, I don’t think I’m ready to find a husband just yet. I’m still young, there is time for me to select someone down the road.”
“What on earth are you going on about?” Her mother looked aghast at her statement. “You are not young—you are twenty-three. Yes, you are young for a widow, but not in terms of someone who is looking for a wife to beget an heir. If you want to have children, you will need to fight for attention of the men seeking out young debutants. There is not a moment to lose.”
Priscilla sighed and closed her eyes while she thought of a way to respond to her mother that would not cause an eruption. As the daughter of a prominent marquess, Priscilla had been raised with the singular goal of making a match that was equal to, if not above, her family’s elevated status within theton.Knowing no other way, she had gone along with her mother’s schemes and machinations to land a highly placed title, never questioning why it mattered. But in doing so, she became someone who only looked out for her own interests and consequently was not the nicest person to be around.
This had led her to help ruin an entirely innocent young woman four years before, for which she was extremely ashamed.
Elise Pelham had entered the marriage market later in life after the mother whom she had cared for passed. Being older and someone new, Elise had captured the eyes of many of the gentlemen Priscilla herself had been interested in. She’d not liked it when she found herself fighting for men’s attention. And in her second season, having failed to gain a proposal from someone her parents deemed worthy enough, she was under extreme pressure from her mother to make sure she found a suitable match, and quickly.
When a situation had presented itself to paint Elise in a bad light and remove her as competition, she did not hesitate to pile onto the circumstances, blowing things completely out of proportion and forcing Elise to retreat almost entirely from society.
At the time, she’d felt smugly pleased with how things turned out, but now, she saw the event in a different light entirely, internally wincing whenever she thought about what a shrew she had been. Thankfully, now that she knew better thanks to her own experiences, she and Elise were able to make up the year prior, and Elise was now happily married to the Earl of Weston.
“Mother, I allowed you and father to choose my husband for me before, and I am now a dowager duchess. Everything you hoped for me to achieve has already been accomplished. I cannot gain any higher standing in society, and I don’t intend to let that be the driving factor in whom I may or may not marry in the future.”
Worried after Priscilla’s failed first season, her parents leapt at the chance to make her a duchess when the opportunity arose. It didn’t matter to them at all that the man was over forty years her senior, and love was not a consideration for either party involved. Stern had been clear that he was only looking for an heir, and all the Wrexham’s cared about was having a duchess for a daughter. Fortunately, Stern was a kind gentleman and a friendship had grown between the two, which made their short-lived efforts to produce an heir a somewhat awkward endeavor.
“Yes, yes. You have all the rank and position in society you need, but I fear men who are looking to secure the next generation may still pass you by. You’re a good prospect when it comes to your elevated status and wealth, but you may be seen as too old when it comes to baby making.”
Trying to keep her patience, Priscilla responded, “Mother, I desire more out of a relationship than just appeasing myhusband by bearing children, and women much older than me have children all the time. Besides, an heir does not need to be the only consideration. Just look at Viscount Hastings. He and Angeline are perfectly happy even though she may never bear children.”
“And what a foolish decision that was. Who knowingly marries a woman he knows will not be able to give him an heir?”
“They were in love, mama. I think it’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen.”
Just in the past month, the newly titled viscount caused quite a stir when he married the woman he loved even though she had been unable to bear a child in her previous marriage. Instead of casting her aside when he inherited, as many supposed he would, he intentionally sought out his nearest relations and brought them to the estate, training them in what they needed to know before inheriting and running it themselves one day.
