“Then let me make it easy for you.”
Brian stood up, crossed the room, but it wasn’t to leave, damnit. He leaned his back against the door, forming a stalwart barricade. “Well, when you put it like that,” Montgomery mumbled, and sat in one of the chairs.
“Do you really intend to make light of this?” Brian said as he returned to his seat. “You’ve been to war, you’ve come back wounded, you’re too bloody old to be flippant about your transgressions. Or have you really failed to comprehend the backlash this sordid gossip has had on your own family? Your mother was looking forward to this trip, but now she refuses to leave the house. I’ve been subjected to ridiculous ribbing m’self. Evelyn has even come home crying.”
“Evelyn is always crying, which can be blamed on her husband, not me. She hates the man.”
“She loves him too much, but they are both volatile in their emotions. They fight, they patch it up. Not all marriages are as peaceful as mine.”
“I’ve heard Mother yell at you.”
“Bloody hell, Montgomery, the only fighting your mother and I ever did was over you children. All of which is beside the point. Explain yourself. Why would you let such absurd gossip about you be spread throughout London?”
Montgomery sighed to himself, because the only thing he could say wasn’t going to be enough for his father. He still had to try. “Have I ever lied to you?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“I haven’t, so believe me, everything you’ve heard was deliberately arranged and necessary, but unfortunately, it’s a fire that needs to continue to smolder.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that while it’s not a’tall what you think, I won’t deny any of it—but you can if you feel inclined to. Say I was foxed.”
Brian humphed but took the bone. “Claire said as much. So you were?”
“No, but it’s as good an excuse as any. Drink can lead to stupidity, after all.”
Brian gave him a hard look. “I expected a full denial, not this nonsense about necessity. How is scandal a necessary evil?”
“I would hardly call this sort of gossip a scandal. If anything, these rumors have merely made me a laughingstock, which I’m willing to bear. And I did deny the truth of them to you, you just can’t share with anyone else that I did.” And then to distract his father from this distasteful subject, he told him what he was sure Brian would be pleased to hear. “By the by, I think I’ve fallen in love.”
Momentary incredulity. “You think? That’s not something you really need to wonder about, boy. You either are, or you aren’t.”
“I am.”
But Brian’s frown was back. “If it’s one of those old dames—”
“Gads, no,” Montgomery cut in. “Wasn’t I clear? That is all an illusion, Father. I appeared to chase them, but never with the intention of catching any of them.”
Brian tapped his fingers on the desk for a moment thoughtfully, before his expression turned somewhat hopeful. “She’s of good breeding, the one you love?”
Montgomery rolled his eyes. “I highly doubt that would matter to me, but yes.”
“Who is she? One of the Blackburns Claire saw you with?”
“I’m not sure I should mention names yet. The situation is rather complicated, seeing as how I’m helping her to win a different husband.”
Brian shot to his feet. “The devil you are. Why would you?”
“Because it’s what she really wants.”
His father sat back down with a sigh. “So you finally fall in love but with a young woman who doesn’t return your sentiments?”
“I didn’t say that. Didn’t I mention complicated? She doesn’t love this other chap, but marrying him will help her father, and that’s all she really cares about.”
“A girl devoted to her family? Incredible. You settle on a good girl, one I might even like, and your solution is to help her win another man? You disappoint me.”
That, unfortunately, was abundantly clear, but Montgomery pointed out, “If I lure her away from her goal, I would never forgive m’self. All I can do is hope she doesn’t succeed, but then she likely won’t forgiveherself. It’s—complicated.”
