Inhaling deeply, the duke seemed to think better of what he was about to say and finally let out the breath he’d been holding. “Indeed, but she has recovered. She can walk without a crutch now. I barely see her limp except sometimes late at night. If she’s been walking too much.”
“Well, this is good news,” George said. “She’ll have suitors banging on your door any day now that the Season is about to start.”
“Except she won’t,” James replied, his brows knit into a graying caterpillar.
George considered how to respond. “Sir?” he finally said. “She’s a duke’s daughter. She no doubt has a generous dowry. She’s a rather pretty young lady. Why do you think she won’t have suitors?”
James sighed. “I think she believes she must only consider men of a certain rank.”
Well aware of what the duke meant by his comment, George said, “Aren’t you of the same opinion, sir?”
The duke scoffed. “Mayhap thirty years ago,” he replied. “Not any longer.”
George considered the comment, rather surprised to hear Ariley didn’t require a duke’s son for his daughter. “Have you told her that?”
Wincing, James shook his head. “Not yet. Only because I had to first assemble the list to determine who her options might be.”
George once again furrowed his brows. “The list?”
James nodded. “The eligible young men of the peerage born between 1813 and 1823 who have completed university and their Grand Tours, and who live in or around London, and who haven’t yet wed.”
Blinking, George considered the conditions. “That’s rather specific,” he remarked. “Are there any who made the list?”
“There are fewer than twenty.”
Inhaling sharply, George stared at the duke. “Is my son on that list?” He shook his head. “I only ask because he’s sent word he’s on his way back from Constantinople.”
“Is he coming back to stay?” the duke asked, apparently intrigued by the news.
“Indeed. In fact, he plans to find a wife. As does the young man who will be accompanying him.”
James straightened in his chair. “And who might this other young man be?”
George dipped his head. “Emir Ertugrul Effendi, heir to Ziyaeddin the First, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Oh, and stepson of Sultana Charlotte, Dowager Duchess of Chichester.” He paused as the duke simply stared at him. “I’ll be hosting Ertugrul at Bostwick House.”
Draining his brandy, James took a moment to consider the information before he said, “Well, Bostwick, you’ve done it again.”
“What’s that, sir?”
James chuckled. “Given me hope. When will they arrive?”
Shrugging one shoulder, George said, “They should be here in a few days, if their ship has remained on schedule.”
“Capital,” the duke said, his good humor increasing. He suddenly sobered. “The emir won’t be bringing his harem with him, will he?”
George shook his head. “I don’t believe he has one, sir. He’s… he and David have been very involved in some construction projects in the empire and haven’t exactly had time for other pursuits.”
Disbelief showed on the duke’s face. “How old is he?”
Furrowing a brow as he calculated Ertugrul’s age, George said, “Two-and-twenty, I think. Maybe three-and-twenty?”
James blinked. “Is that all? He barely qualifies for the list.”
“David is seven-and-twenty,” George offered. “I believe Lady Rose and he are about the same age?”
“Indeed,” James agreed, although he seemed to be studying something in his mind’s eye. After a few seconds, he said, “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but we’re hosting a ball in Rose’s honor next week. I do hope your family will be in attendance. And bring the emir, of course.”
“We will all be there, sir,” George said. “But in the meantime, if you could keep the news about the emir and my son quiet, I would appreciate it. I’d rather my viscountess not learn of it until I hear further word from David. I would hate for her to get her hopes up again,” he added.
“Understood,” the duke acknowledged with a knowing grin. “Now… I should be returning to my duchess before she thinks I’ve taken a mistress.”
“Me as well, Your Grace,” George replied with a grin, glad he had something he could share with Elizabeth when she asked if anything might have happened at the club.
He also had a thought to compile the same sort of list as the duke had mentioned, and there was one particular person at Bostwick House who could help in that regard.
His youngest daughter, Adeline.
Not yet, though. He didn’t want to raise any suspicions.
