“What has she done?”
Henry glared and then listed how they had gone shopping, the cost, the dancing, hairstyles, being forced to hire maids, these teas. “And, now I am expected to host a bloody ball.” Henry leaned forward. “But the worst and most unforgivable is that my cousins have decided to play matchmaker. I overheard them speaking of it this morning!”
“They want you to wed?” Claybrook laughed.
“They fear that I will marry them off, despite my assurance that I will not, but have decided, that if I am caught up in the courtship of a woman that I will be too busy to arrange marriages for them.”
Claybrook lifted the glass of ale put before him and drank, but the humor did not leave his eyes, which was more aggravating than Lady Penelope and her managing his life.
“Do you really think that Lady Penelope, who values her independence and freedom above all else, would assist in your eventual downfall to that of a married man?”
“At first, I did not think she was aware of my cousin’s intention, but can I truly be certain? She does seem to enjoy managing my life.” There were misses in his home right now and in the middle of it all was Lady Penelope, and he had overheard his cousin’s plans.
“Of the five taking tea, would there be anyone in whom you might find an interest?”
“No! They are young and silly.”
Claybrook nodded.
“What?”
“If Lady Penelope were truly assisting your cousins, she would have invited the type of woman you might find attractive. Someone with maturity. Poised, confident and intelligent. Certainly not silly.”
He hated that Claybrook was correct, except… “How do you know that Lady Penelope, in her assistance, would know the type of woman who would interest me?”
Claybrook then had the audacity to roll his eyes! “She observes and pays attention to everything, and no doubt has overheard conversations not meant for innocent ears. She would never invite silly chits into your home, especially the kind that giggle, if she were truly assisting your cousins to see you wed.”
Maybe he was correct… “That still does not change the fact that my cousins are playing at matchmaking for me or that Lady Penelope is at my house daily seeing that they are prepared to return to Society.”
Claybrook smirked. “You should thank her.”
“Thank her! She has disrupted my home.”
“That disruption came when your cousins arrived and I support Lady Penelope’s attempts to see your cousins received in the right circles. Without her interference, as you put it, they would likely turn into spinsters and spend the rest of their days in your household. So, yes, you should thank her.”
He did not want to. He wanted her gone!
He also feared her influence. His cousins looked up to Lady Penelope and he feared that they wanted to be like her, which included freedom, independence and likely spinsterhood.
He also needed temptation out of his house.
Bloody hell!
It wasn’t his cousins or their matchmaking, or even her interference that was the most bothersome. It was because he wanted Lady Penelope Johansen for himself.
How the hell had that come about?
Penelope was no less disturbed by her thoughts when she returned to the Duke of Eldridge’s home the following day than she had been when she left.
Could she have an infatuation for His Grace?
How could that even be?
Yes, he was handsome, and there was a kindness to him in how he took his cousins in, but he was also a…she could not think of anything she disliked when certainly there must be something.
They argued about what was best for his cousins, but then he usually ended up agreeing with her.
Besides, it wasn’t truly his fault that he did not know how to be a guardian. He had not been one before. No one could expect him to immediately know what needed to be done.
