Felix paced away from the window and over to his desk, closing the ledger that sat open upon it. “I have more than my share of monetary concerns but marrying a woman such as her will not fix them.”
“Do you believe that she is likely to waste a fortune?”
“No.” Felix closed the ledger once more, knowing that he would shortly need to devote an evening to pouring over them and searching for every spare pound that he could find. “I think it farmore likely that she would ruin my connections with her quick tongue.”
Laughing, Stanton finished his glass. “I would think that would make her all the more appealing.”
“You would not. You just hope to see me miserable in a marriage that will likely be my downfall.”
The door to the room opened and Evangeline stepped inside with her arms crossed and a sour expression on her face. “Should I tell Miss Alden that you two are in here like a pair of old women gossiping about her and her prospects.”
“I was not gossiping about prospects.” Stanton had the audacity to look scandalized as he rose and clamped a hand to his heart. “I was merely gossiping and insisting that Miss Alden would make Windham a lovely wife.”
As if the devil were on Stanton’s side, Evangeline bounced on her toes and clapped her hands together. Her squeal was of a pitch so high that he was certain only dogs could hear it.
“Felix, are you to marry Miss Alden?” Evangeline’s grin stretched from one ear to the other. “I cannot believe this. Victoria will be so pleased. Hyacinth and I have a wager. She is to give me her pocket money if you propose to Miss Alden.”
Felix held up his hands. “I will not be proposing to Miss Alden. Stanton here is simply trying to cause trouble. Miss Alden is aperfectly lovely young woman, but there is a man out there who is the right husband for her, and I am not him. As for the wager, young ladies should not be wagering.”
She gave him a flat look. “You should propose to Miss Alden. You would make a handsome couple.”
Stanton smirked and sauntered over to Evangeline. “For the sake of my curiosity, I must know what this wager was, Lady Evangeline.”
“Hyacinth thought that Felix would be too dull for Miss Alden. She was certain that he would die an old maid—though of course he is not a maid.”
“Do you hear that, Windham? Your family believes you are to die alone. You trulydohave moods, do you not?”
Evangeline nodded in agreement as she took one of the ribbons she had left in the study the week prior. “He does. One would think that he would be better left here than going to London. Mama is worried that he will take one look at Victoria’s suitors and send them running in the opposite direction. I told her it would be much more likely that he would prevent Miss Alden from finding a good match.”
Felix arched an eyebrow. “And you said we are the ones gossiping like old women?”
She gave him a wicked smirk. “I shall be telling Mama you called her old.”
“There is little Mother can do about it.” Felix stared at his sister knowing that she truly would not do such a thing. She simply loved to tease him.
Evangeline’s dramatic sigh was her parting answer as she slipped back through the door and disappeared down the hall.
Stanton wandered to the window. “Is that a pup?”
Felix followed him, glancing at the ball of fur that bounced around Miss Alden’s ankles as she and Victoria practiced their waltz, their drawings forgotten. “Yes.”
“You have allowed her to keep one of the puppies?” Stanton chuckled and shook his head, looking at Felix from the corner of his eye. “Do you not remember the way your sisters all begged for puppies when they were children?”
“They were children who would not take care of a dog. Miss Alden has already proven herself quite capable of caring for the creature and it rarely leaves her side.”
“And you have quite the soft spot for this woman.”
“I can sympathize with her plight,” he said sharply, cutting off Stanton before more rumors of marriage made their way aroundthe estate. “She is in a country that is not her own and while she may smile now, I doubt that she is truly happy here.”
Miss Alden put on bright smiles in the morning and seldom dropped them until the evening, but they didn’t quite meet her eyes. More of her sunny disposition was slipping away with each passing day.
That morning when they had been out walking, she didn’t think twice about the goose that crossed their paths. The Miss Alden who had stepped off the boat and into his port was fading away each day. He had expected her to tease him about the goose comment he had made previously, but she didn’t so much as give him a sly look.
He had to do something to improve her mood if only to find her a husband.
“You will be in London soon and then she will see that there is more to life in England than rain and sausage.”
Felix snorted. “She is already convinced that London is dreary. I doubt that her temperament will improve when she sees it in person. She is not the kind of woman to find solace in balls and pretty dresses. Mother has tried to win her over with promises of those and Miss Alden is entirely uninterested.”
