“I was afraid I wouldn’t have time to talk to you before you were due to leave,” Jason began. “I’m glad you came down early.”
Reggie shrugged. “Well, I kept Nicholas waiting yesterday when he took me to Vauxhall, and I didn’t want to do that again.”
Jason sat back, looking very solemn. “I can’t say as I like having this matter settled before I even got here. My brothers took a lot upon themselves.”
“You know we had no choice, Jason,” Edward defended himself.
“A few days wouldn’t have made any difference,” Jason returned.
“Are you saying you will withhold your consent now, after the engagement has been decided on?” Reggie exclaimed.
Anthony chuckled. “I warned you, Jason. She’s got her heart set on the young rake, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.”
“Is that true, Reggie?”
It had been true, yes, but…she wasn’t so sure now, not after yesterday. She knew Nicholas still wanted her. He had made that plain. And she wanted him. Why pretend otherwise? But marriage?
“I do like him very much, Uncle Jason, but—I’m afraid he doesn’t really want to marry me.”
There. It was said. Why did it make her feel so desolate?
“I have been told that he refused adamantly before he agreed,” Jason said gently. “That was only to be expected. No young man likes to be forced into anything.”
Her eyes filled with hope. Could that be the only reason?
“I forget that you do know him,” she said, “better than the rest of us.”
“Yes, and I’ve always liked the boy. There is a lot more to him than he allows the world to see.”
“Spare us, brother,” Anthony said sardonically.
“He’ll make her a good husband, Tony, despite what you seem to think.”
“Do you really think so, Uncle Jason?” Reggie asked, hope rising.
“I do indeed,” he said firmly.
“Then you approve of my marrying him?”
“I’d have preferred to see you married under normal circumstances, but as this unfortunate situation has come upon us, I can’t say I’m unhappy that the fellow is Nicholas Eden, no.”
Reggie grinned happily, but before she could say any more, her cousins started drifting in. They were all going with her to the Hamiltons’ rout, Amy with her and Nicholas, the others with Marshall in his smart new four-seater. Amidst all the merry chatter as Jason was greeted by his nieces and nephews, Nicholas arrived and stood in the doorway unnoticed. Panic washed over him as he viewed this large family. He was supposed to marry into this overwhelming brood? God help him.
It was Reggie who approached him first. He smiled down at her, determined to keep a tight rein on his emotions this time. She was stunning in a cream day gown that complemented her transluscent complexion. The style was unusual, for while most London women delighted in exposing as much of their bosom as possible, she had contrived to cover hers with a gauze insert that rose all the way to her neck, ending in a thick lacy band around her throat. He was amused. Perhaps hehadmarked her there and this was her clever way of concealing it. He wondered.
“Nicholas?” she asked, curious as to what he was thinking.
“So you have decided to have done with formality?” he said softly. “I feared you wouldn’t be speaking to me at all today.”
“Are we to argue again, then?” She looked crushed.
“Perish the thought, love.”
She blushed prettily. Why did he persist in calling her that? It wasn’t proper and he knew it wasn’t. But that was Nicholas.
The Marquis greeted Nicholas warmly and without mentioning the wild escapade that accounted for the engagement. The ride to the Hamiltons’ country house a few miles outside of London went smoothly, too, young Amy filling each lapse in conversation with excited chatter, for she wasn’t often allowed to go to late-night parties.
It remained then to see what reactions the engaged couple would receive at the Hamiltons’ for Nicholas’ engagement to Regina was overtaking the subject of their first improper meeting in the gossip mills. He had found that out the previous evening, at a dinner party.
