It all sounded innocent enough, but many things did that were not. “Can they not make friends in a ballroom?”
“It is better to have friends before one enters,” she replied. “As a duke, you have no idea what it is like for a miss, new to London, knowing no one. It is daunting and intimidating to enter such an environment where no one is known.”
“They have already been in a ballroom. Several times.” It wasn’t that he objected to his cousins having friends. He objected to those friends being in his house.
“Yes, they were and if you recall, they were relegated to being wallflowers with no help from you.”
Blast! She was yelling at him again. She really should not do that. It did not matter if she was right.
“Can you not arrange for walks in the park or something like that so that they do not need to come here?”
Lady Penelope blew out a sigh. “That is as ridiculous as your idea to take them about a ballroom and introduce them to everyone to avoid holding a ball.”
“My idea still has merit and is still being considered.”
“It is foolish and you know it!”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “Are you calling me foolish, Lady Penelope.”
“If you persist in this idiocy, then yes.”
“I am a duke,” he reminded her.
“My brother is a marquess but that doesn’t mean either of you have any sense.”
He gaped at her at a loss for words. She had just insulted him. How dare she!
“This is necessary, Your Grace,” she offered in a calmer tone. “You do want your cousins to be a success and attract suitors, do you not?”
Yes, he did. They may object to marriage this Season but they also had met no eligible bachelors and when they did, their thoughts might change.
“I will allow it today” he finally said.
“You will allow it until the day of your ball,” she returned.
“I said today! Only!”
“Then you can send the missives uninviting those who have been asked to take tea over the next four days.” Lady Penelope turned on her heel and marched toward the door.
“Days!” He yelled. “You have teas arranged daily!”
Lady Penelope drew in a deep breath, her slender shoulders rising and falling before she turned to face him. “Yes. Days. It is for their benefit, which you should be able to comprehend if you were not set on not having people in your home.”
“It is not people I object to but eligible misses and ladies.”
“Ah, so that is it. You are afraid.” She then had the audacity to grin at him.
How dare she! “I am not afraid of anything, Lady Penelope.”
“If that is so, then I expect you to greet the guests of your cousins each day. You do not need to take tea, simply greet them. It will increase their popularity as those very misses will believe that if they have found favor with your cousins, it might bring them favor with you.”
“It most certainly will not!”
“They do not need to know that.” She smirked. “But it will make your cousins some of the most sought-after hostesses.”
“Because they will expect me to be present.”
“Which you will be, even if you brood in the library until they are gone.”
