A short while later, Geoffrey entered his parents’ house, hoping they were at home. For all he knew, he’d just left them behind in Vauxhall. His luck held. Not only were they there, they were together, both of them in the upstairs salon, wearing slippers and dressing gowns, sipping brandy and reading.
Lord and Lady Diamond were the picture of domesticity, which tickled him considering his parents’ reputations as being a little wild when they were younger.
After kissing his mother’s cheek and accepting his father’s offer of French brandy, Geoffrey suddenly wasn’t sure if he ought to speak privately with the earl. If there was something unsavory in his father’s past of which his mother was unaware, he would become as tight-lipped as a clam.
Deciding to risk it, Geoffrey flopped down in a chair and poured from the decanter on the table beside him.
“I saw Lady Caroline Chimes tonight at Vauxhall.”
Both his parents lowered their books.
“That was unwise,” remarked his father, James Diamond, “but probably a delightful experience, nonetheless.”
His mother, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes. “Not if she was with her parents. In which case, I’m sure you had a ghastly time of it.”
“I didn’t meet with Lord and Lady Chimes. In case you’ve forgotten, I am not allowed,” Geoffrey said, hopingall his frustration was in his voice. “Because of the two of you.”
His father started to laugh until his mother jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Why must you be so intent upon this particular girl?” she asked. “There are marriageable young ladies all over London.”
“What do you meanintenton her?” his father asked. “What have I missed?”
“Geoffrey spotted Lady Caroline at the Fenwicks’ ball. Lady Chimes gave him a public dressing down and refused an introduction.”
His father looked unimpressed. “And now you’re going out of your way to try to meet your elusive, impossible quarry, is that it? Is she a copper-haired beauty like her mother or a sandy-brown toad like her father?”
Geoffrey gripped his glass tighter, irritated by the earl for making light of the situation.
“I have succeeded in gaining an introduction to Lady Caroline,” he said, “at Lady Plain de Ville’s home. And I have come to admire her greatly, but Lord and Lady Chimes have forbidden us to keep company, not even to dance.”
“You have come to admire her,” her mother echoed. “I take it you’ve had more than a single introduction.”
That was not their business. Geoffrey shrugged, making his father laugh again.
“What do you want us to do? Grant our blessing?” Lord Diamond gestured to Geoffrey to hand him the decanter so he could refill his glass.
“As if we would do that,” his mother said. “Blessing, indeed!”
“Why?” Geoffrey snapped.
“That mushroom,” she began, but he interrupted her.
“Why do you call Lady Chimes such a thing?”
“Because she sprung up out of nowhere and landed in the titled class with nothing more than a baronet for a father and no dowry to speak of, or so I’ve heard.”
The earl crossed his arms and said nothing.
“Come along, Father. Surely you have an opinion.”
“On Lady Chimes? No, not really. I don’t know her. I saw her years ago. She’s beautiful though, with that fiery hair I mentioned.”
“When?” Lady Diamond demanded. “When did you see her?”
Geoffrey’s father sighed. “It was probably at that ball when you and I arrived together as a couple for the first time. I thought Chimes was going to fall upon his sword. Instead, suddenly, he was dancing with her, looking pleased as Mr. Punch.”
“You noticed her?” Lady Diamond asked.
