“Ah, Grovemont, there you are. Care for a drink?”
“It’s half ten,” Lucian pointed out, arching a brow.
“Yes, but given the subject matter, I daresay we could both use one.” Southbury chuckled.
Nowthatwas logic with which Lucian could not argue. “Hand me a glass,” he told his friend.
Two hours later,the details of the marriage contract had been hashed out quite reasonably, and Griffin sat back in his seat and smiled at his old friend. Grovemont was going to marry Gemma. Griffin shook his head. It wasn’t a pairing he’d ever imagined. It wasn’t a pairing Grovemont had ever imagined either, he was certain of it.
Griffin knew from talking to Mama this morning that Gemma had been beside herself with guilt over what had happened last night. Apparently, she’d been trying to look out for the wallflowers again and had gone too far. Something about a dance and a dare. Gemma had always been too impetuous.
Grovemont was a good man, however, and he would make a fine husband for Gemma. Only Griffin couldn’t help feeling somewhat responsible for the whole turn of events. He hadn’tbeen too foxed to remember that Gemma had come asking him where Grovemont could be found last night. She’d said one of the wallflowers wanted to know and, of course, Griffin hadn’t guessed that she’d wanted to seek him out for some misguided attempt at keeping Lady Mary Costner from being a shrew. Nonetheless, Griffin telling Gemma where Grovemont had got off to caused him a certain amount of guilt. He should at leastattemptto explain.
“I’m sorry this wasn’t what you’d planned,” Griffin said. “Of course, I believe Gemma will make an excellent wife, but I understand thatyoumight not feel the same at the moment. I feel deuced awful about it because I fear I had some part in it.”
Grovemont’s head snapped up, a wary look in his eye. “How so?” His gaze narrowed on Griffin.
“Gemma came looking for me and asked where you were. I told her you were in the study.”
Grovemont’s brows shot up. “So shewaslooking for me last night?”
“Yes,” Griffin admitted. “She said a friend of hers was looking for you. I had no idea she intended to find you herself. Alone. She’s terribly impatient, I’m afraid. Though I do expect she’ll become less so when she’s older.”
“She wasn’t alone,” Grovemont informed him. “Lady Mary came soon after.”
“Ah,” Griffin trailed off. What else was left to say? At least he could take comfort in the fact that Grovemont would receive Gemma’s indecently large dowry. Not to mention he’d tossed in some property and a new curricle of his that Grovemont had his eye on. But still, it didn’t make up for the fact that Grovemont was being forced into this because of Gemma’s mistake. Griffin didn’t for one moment believe anything untoward had happened between Grovemont and his sister in the study last night. But theirs was a Society that was unforgiving of such things.
Honestly, Griffin couldn’t even imagine being forced into an unwanted marriage. There had only ever been one woman he wanted, and that was Meredith. He wouldn’t have been able to stand a life with anyone else. He could only hope Grovemont hadn’t been secretly pining for a specific lady all these years. If so, he was too much of a gentleman to mention it.
Grovemont slapped his knees and stood. “I suppose that’s it then.”
“Yes,” Griffin agreed. To play down any hint of scandal, they’d agreed to have the banns read over the next three weeks and the wedding would take place in a month’s time. It needed to happen quickly to quell the rumors, but a month would be plenty of time. Anything less would be unseemly. At least Mama had recent experience in planning weddings. She’d already assured Griffin this morning that she would be able to plan one quickly.
“I do hope the situation last night did not put a damper on your celebration,” Grovemont said politely.
Mighty decent of the man to say so. “Not at all.”
Gemma had been worried about that too. In fact, she’d sent Mama down to ensure the party had continued. And it had. Of course, Lady Costner and her pinched-face daughter had taken their leave almost immediately after the scene in the study. But for the most part, the celebration had continued, with Griffin and Meredith staying up far longer than his mother wanted them to. Of course, there had already been rumors flying around the ballroom that Grovemont was soon to wed Gemma, but the ball had continued into the wee hours of the night, long after he and Meredith had gone to bed.
Meredith had been nearly beside herself with worry for Gemma last night, of course. Griffin had finally managed to convince her that while he was also concerned, there was nothing more to be done about it on the night of their wedding ball. He’d argued that they might as well retire for the eveningand do precisely what his mother wanted them to do—get to the business of producing the next heir to the Southbury dukedom.
Meredith had laughed and pointed out that she was already with child. A delightful bit of news she’d shared with him earlier in the day.
“What Mama doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Griffin had replied with a wicked grin before gathering his beloved wife in his arms and taking her directly to bed.
All in all, it had been a terribly entertaining evening. And Griffin had awoken in his darling Meredith’s arms, a place he’d never let her leave again for longer than the span of a day. He’d waited far too long to make her his, and he loved her without measure.
Which sparked his guilt again, reminding him of Grovemont and how Griffin’s family had just taken away his choice of a wife. Damn. Lucian was a good man to do the right thing.
Griffin strode around the desk and clapped Grovemont on the back. They walked together to the door. “It won’t be long now before I shall call you brother.”
“Indeed,” was Grovemont’s stoic reply.
“Before you leave, would you like to speak with Gemma?” Griffin offered.
He almost added that she’d been up all night worried sick but decided against it. No man wanted to hear that his future wife was made ill at the prospect of marrying him. No matter what the circumstances of the betrothal had been.
“No,” Grovemont replied. “I shall have plenty of time to speak to Gemma at length soon enough.”
