“The name is perfectly appropriate. I have been cold and cutting. I’ve had to be, because I refuse to give a man hope when there is no hope.”
“What the devil are you talking about?” Anthony demanded brusquely.
“I hired Sir John Dodsley long before the last season was over.”
“That old reprobate? Hired him for what?”
“To act as, well, an adviser, you might say,” she confessed. “That old reprobate, as you call him, knows everyone. He also knows everything there is to know about everyone. After my sixth serious suitor failed to pass muster with you and your brothers, I felt it was useless disappointing myself or any more young men by having to go through it all again. I paid Dodsley to attend every affair I did. He had a list of what you and your brothers might disapprove of in a man, and he shook his head at me for nearly every single man I met. It saved me time and disappointment, but it got me my quaint nickname, too. It’s impossible, Tony. I can please Jason, but not you…you, but not Edward. Thank heaven Uncle James isn’t also here to express his opinion. There isn’t a man in existence who would please all of you.”
“That’s absurd,” he protested. “I can think of a dozen off hand who would do very well.”
“Would they, Tony?” she asked softly. “Would you really want me to marry any of them?”
He pulled an aggrieved face, then suddenly grinned. “No, I suppose not.”
“So you see my predicament then?”
“But don’t you want to marry, puss?”
“Of course I do. And I’m sure the man you and your brothers find for me will make me very happy.”
“What?” He glared at her. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not putting that responsibility onmyshoulders, Reggie.”
“All right then,” she agreed. “We’ll leave it to Uncle Jason.”
“Don’t be foolish. He’d have you married to a tyrant just like him.”
“Come now, Tony, you know that’s not true.” She grinned.
“Well, close to it,” he grumbled.
“You see, Tony, at leastIwouldn’t have to keep on summing up every man I meet. I want to enjoy myself again, be able to talk to a man without analyzing him, dance without wondering if my partner is husband material. It’s gotten so that every man I look at, I ask myself, Shall I marry him? Could I love him? Would he be as good and kind to me as—” She stopped, blushing.
“As?” he prompted.
“Oh, you might as well know,” she said with a sigh. “I compare every man to you and my other uncles. I can’t help it. I almost wish you all didn’t love me so well. You’ve pampered me outrageously. I want my husband to be a combination of all of you.”
“Whathavewe done to you?”
He was about to burst into laughter and she lost her temper. “You think it’s funny, do you? I don’t seeyoufacing this problem. And if I don’t get a vacation from it, I swear I will try and reach Uncle James and have him take me away.”
He sobered instantly. Though he was the closest to James, even he had been furious and unforgiving over what his brother had done.
“Don’t say that, Reggie,” he warned. “You’re not thinking clearly. Calling James into this will make matters worse, not better.”
She pressed the point mercilessly. “Then will you tell Uncle Jason I want to come home for a while? That I’m done with looking for a husband and will wait until the three of you can agree on whom I should marry?”
“Blister it, Reggie, Jason isn’t going to like this any more than I do. You should be making your own choice, finding someone you love.”
“I tried that.” There was an awkward silence.
Anthony scowled. “Lord Medhurst was a pompous ass!”
“Did I know that? I thought he was quite the one. Well, so much for my falling in love.”
“You could have had Newel if Eddie hadn’t been convinced he would make a terrible father.” Tony continued to scowl.
“Yes, well, Uncle Edward was undoubtedly right. Again—so much for my falling in love.”
