PROLOGUE
London, July 1814
Beau Bellham, the Marquess of Bellingham, was on alert. He was always on alert when he went out drinking with friends. As the only onenotimbibing, he took the responsibility of ensuring nothing untoward happened. Beau didn’t drink. But he also didn’t fault his friends for doing so. He merely wanted to ensure they all made it home safely.
They were sitting at a four-person table in an alcove near a window at The Curious Goat Inn, and Beau was waiting for the perfect opportunity to introduce an idea to his friends that they might just find…ludicrous. He’d been mulling over the various ways one might introduce a ludicrous subject to one’s closest friends when Kendall sat down his mug on the rough-hewn tabletop and said, “I think it’s time I find a wife.”
Beau’s head snapped to face him. Apparently, Kendall would be the first to introduce a ludicrous notion tonight.
Worth and Clayton werealsostaring at Kendall as if the man had lost his mind. Now,thisstood to be an interesting conversation. An interesting conversation, indeed.
As usual, Rhys Sheffield,the Duke of Worthington, was the first to speak. Despite his late father’s influence, Worth was a good man. A bit of rogue when it came to ladies and a dedicated gambler, Worth enjoyed a good competition, and while he did his best to pretend as if he was devil-may-care, Beau knew that Worth would sacrifice his life for his country if it came to it. He nearly had once.
Shaking his head vigorously in response to Kendall’s statement, Worth winced and sucked in his breath. “Awife? Good God, man! There’s no need to rush into anything so…permanent.”
“We’re not getting any younger,” Kendall replied.
“On the contrary,” Worth continued, “at nine and twenty, we’re pups. My father was overfiftywhen I was born.”
Kendall was dedicated to his role as a new earl after the death of his brother from consumption. He took the title and its responsibilities quite seriously. Specifically, he’d taken up the cause of the Employment Bill his brother had been so dedicated to getting passed in Parliament before his death. But with this talk of marriage, Kendall was clearly forgetting what had happened thelasttime he’d been betrothed.
Beau decided it was time to speak. He narrowed his eyes on Kendall. “Are you certain you’re ready? It’s only been two years since…” He allowed his sentence to trail off. No need to open the scab that had healed over the man’s heart. Unlike himself and Worth, who’d both always been far more aloof when it came to dedicating oneself to a member of the opposite sex, Kendall felt things deeply. He’d been devastated when Lady Emily Foswell had tossed him over—just before they were set to marry—for a man with a title.
Worth was dedicated to a bachelor lifestyle, while Beau considered himself married to his position at the Home Office. He’d even attempted to renounce his bloody title to serve in the Army, but the idea of him traipsing across Europe being shot at hadn’t pleased the Crown. Instead, they’d allowed him to use his talents in another way. As a spy for the Home Office, his specialty was scouting out traitors, and there was honestly nothing he enjoyed more.
“Thank heavens,” Clayton exclaimed, jolting Beau from his thoughts. “I cannot wait until I’m no longer the only one of us with the parson’s noose around his neck.”
Ewan Fairchild, Viscount Clayton, had recently married and was just back from his honeymoon. The viscount loved his wife, politics, and science (in that order). Wealthy, friendly, and loyal, Clayton clearly adored his wife Theodora, and married life appeared to agree with him.
Beau pushed his mug full of questionable-looking water around the tabletop as he contemplated each of his friends. The four of them had met as lads at Eton and remained dedicated to each other through the years. Each of them played a unique role in their group.
Kendall was preoccupied with duty. A loyal Navy man, he’d promised his brother on his death bed that he would ensure the Employment Bill was passed by Parliament, and he’d promised his mother the same day that he would see to the business of begetting an heir. The man carried heavy burdens. But Kendall didn’t relish the idea of having to find a wife, not after the Lady Emily debacle.
Worth served as the comic of the group, making astute comments with the type of sarcastic humor he was known for. He liked to think he was a ne’er-do-well, but with his title and fortune, he wasn’t a particularly convincing one. Still, the man was loyal to a fault. He would never forgive Lady Emily, for instance, for tossing over his good friend, Kendall.
Beau himself was always preoccupied with his latest mission, and he was currently obsessed with his hunt for the Bidassoa traitor. Someone in Parliament who was privy to the plans of Wellington’s force in Spain last autumn had betrayed the British army at Bidassoa by writing a letter to the enemy, revealing the strategy.
The plan had been foiled, thank Christ, and the British had won at Bidassoa, but it didn’t make the act of the traitor any less dastardly. There was nothing more important to Beau than finding the culprit and turning him over to the authorities for justice. Hence the ludicrous notion that was currently bobbing in his brain while they discussed Kendall’s want of a wife.
“I’m entirely serious,” Kendall continued. “I must look to secure the earldom. I fear I’ve been too preoccupied with the Employment Bill. I’ve been remiss waiting this long to find a bride.”
“I certainly won’t disagree with you that you’ve been too preoccupied with the Employment Bill,” Worth replied. “Obsessed is more like it.”
Kendall shrugged. “Well, now that the Lords have tabled the vote until the autumn session, I have more time to rally the votes I need. I might as well get about the business of looking for a wife in earnest.”
Beau narrowed his eyes. A thought had just occurred to him. Anotherludicrousthought.
“I never bother to vote in Parliament,” Worth said. “Don’t happen to care for the hours. And all the arguing is downright exhausting.”
Beau gave Worth a long-suffering look and shook his head. “God forbid you take an interest in your seat or any of the issues the country is dealing with.”
Worth responded by providing them all with his most charming grin. No doubt that self-possessed smile had been the downfall of quite a fair number of ladies. “I’m entirely confident you chaps can handle it,” Worth replied, clapping Beau on the back.
“When the time comes for the vote for my brother’s law,” Kendall continued, addressing his remarks to Worth, “I’ll drive to your town house and drag you out of bed myself.”
Beau laughed loud and long along with Clayton.
“Let’s not talk of such unpleasantness,” Worth replied with a sigh. “You mentioned finding a bride, Kendall. That’s much more interesting. Now, how old are you again?” The duke shoved back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at Kendall.
