Chapter 22

Nicholas had just finished ordering the flowers he was sending to Lady Mercy's family in anticipation of their ball the next day when he heard a knock at the front door. It was probably a woman come to see Mama, but there was a chance that woman could be Lady Mercy, wasn't there? He pushed aside his order form and reached for his cravat. It was still starched and perfectly in place. A few moments later, there was a soft knock at his study.

His lungs filled with air. Lady Mercy had come to visit him, for the first time without him inviting her. He called out for the door to be opened.

McCarthy stepped in and handed him a card.

The deep breath of air he'd inhaled when he thought Lady Mercy was calling froze in his lungs.

The card was from Lady Plymton.

"This woman is here, now?"

"Yes."

"Does she have a companion with her?"

"No, Your Grace, she is alone."

"Did you send her to the drawing room?"

McCarthy didn't answer right away. "I wasn't certain it would be prudent to, as I didn't know if you would want to receive her."

"Well done, McCarthy. I don't want to see her. You may tell her I'm not available."

A small smile tugged at McCarthy's lips. He'd worked his way up to butler over the past few years, but he'd been a part of the household before Nicholas served in the army, and no scandals ever escaped the servants' notice. Apparently he wouldn't mind putting Lady Plymton in her place. "I'll do that."

Nicholas held the edge of his desk and listened for the sound of a door shutting and a carriage pulling away, but neither happened. Instead, a few moments later, there was another knock at his study door.

"Come in." Nicholas sounded gruffer than he meant to be, but having his hopes of a visit from Lady Mercy be dashed by a visit from Lady Plymton had him on edge.

McCarthy stepped in. "The lady requested to wait in your drawing room until you became available. When I told her it could be hours and waiting in the drawing room was not possible, she said she would wait in her carriage instead."

"Is that exactly what she said?"

"I believe what she actually said was that she would be happy to leave her carriage, marked with the Plymton seal, outside for hours while she either waited inside the house or the carriage."

How had Nicholas ever found the woman attractive? He groaned and stood. "Where is she now?"

"Still at the door."

Nicholas marched out of his study and to the entrance hall. The door was open, and certainly enough, there stood Lady Plymton, a smile plastered on her rouged mouth. "Nicholas, what a pleasant surprise. I thought you were busy."

"You will address me as Your Grace."

Her mouth formed an O, and she covered it with her fingers. "I'm sorry, my dear. I thought we were long past formalities."

"No, we are long past any sort of friendship. What do you want?"

"Friendship? Is that what you call our former relationship? I must say, I envy whatever lady friends you have now."

Nicholas stopped five feet in front of the open doorway and clenched his jaw. "What do I need to do in order to make you leave?"

"I only want to speak with you for a moment. Would you rather I do that here, in the open, where everyone passing by on the street can see us?"

"Almost no one passes by here. We aren't exactly in the middle of Town." But still, he couldn't quite bring himself to leave her standing out in the open. He motioned to McCarthy, and his butler opened the door wider for her. She came in, then McCarthy closed the door behind her.

"Stay here, McCarthy. We won't be sitting in the drawing room."

Lady Plymton shrugged. "I don't mind the help hearing what I have to say. But do you feel the same?"

"Unconditionally," Nicholas replied. McCarthy had been part of his father's staff since he was a boy. He trusted him infinitely more than he trusted the woman in front of him. There was no need to hide anything from him.

Lady Plymton took two steps forward, swallowing up the distance between them until she was only an arm's length away. She lowered her gaze to his mouth and parted her lips. "Do you actually think a sweet little creature like Lady Mercy is going to satisfy you? If you let this courtship of yours go on much longer, you are only going to damage her reputation when you wake up and come back to me."

Every muscle in Nicholas's body clenched, but he managed to get a strangled laugh to escape his throat. "You were never mine to come back to."

"But I could be now."

"No, Lady Plymton, you cannot. The damage you caused me and my family can never be undone. I have no interest in any sort of relationship with you, and if you try to approach me in public, I will have no choice but to make that abundantly clear. Somehow I don't think a cut like that would be a good start to your time in London."

Lady Plymton lowered her lashes and bit her lower lip. There was a time when Nicholas might have found the gesture enticing. Now, he only wanted her gone. She arched one eyebrow in his direction and raised her eyes. "You act as if you weren't a participant in our sordid affair."

Nicholas's jaw clenched so hard he could already feel the beginning of a headache coming on. Lady Plymton knew exactly how to hit him where it hurt. He had been nearly obsessed with this woman, and yes, he was young, and yes, she knew exactly what she had been doing by pursuing him when he was so young, but still, the fact that he'd been so willing to be enticed and completely besotted by her still made him feel like a fool. "No, I act as if I was and am deeply ashamed by it. Now, please leave."

"You'd better do as my son asks." Mother's voice sounded from behind him, and Nicholas spun. Mother stood on the last step of the stairway with her hand on the banister, her head held high.

"Your Grace." If Lady Plymton was embarrassed or ashamed at Mother's rebuke, she didn't show it. She only broadened her stained smile. "It is lovely to see you."

Mother strode forward, stopping only when she reached Nicholas's side. "I don't ever recall the two of us being introduced. And if you don't mind, I believe I should like to keep it that way."

Lady Plymton opened her mouth as if she were about to speak but then seemed to think better of it and slid it closed. Still smiling, she gave a bow to Mother and an even lower bow to Nicholas. "I'll bid you farewell. Feel free to seek me out when you change your mind."

McCarthy had the door opened before she'd even turned and shut it behind her so quickly the back of her heel was almost caught in the door.

A huge weight lifted off Nicholas's shoulders the second Lady Plymton was out of sight. She was the most glaring reminder of the rash and exploitable person he used to be, and he'd spent too long trying to distance himself from that young man to ever be comfortable facing him head-on.

"Thank you, Mother."

"My pleasure." Mother smiled, and any last vestibules of the hard woman she'd been only a moment ago faded. "I rather like being the overbearing parent for once."

"Nothing about that was overbearing. It was appropriate."

"Well, imagine that—me being appropriate. You've finally managed to rub off on me."

"I think our most recent guest is proof that I'm not a shining example of propriety."

Mother took his arm, and McCarthy glided quietly through the door that led to the back of the house. "Nicholas, your father and I hadn't even thought to start preparing you for a woman like that to enter your life when she did."

"He shouldn't have had to teach me anything. Watching how he lived should have been enough."

Mother shook her head. "You were young, and that was a hard time in our family. Your father loved you, and as upset as he was for what was happening in your life, he was even more upset with himself. He'd been so focused on his reputation and position in Society that he didn't get around to teaching you to protect yours until it was too late."

Nicholas blinked hard. "I wish I could go back and do everything differently. I wasn't trying to be scandalous with Lady Plymton. I'd honestly thought myself in love and had been too blinded by passion to see the truth that was so apparent to everyone else in London."

"Thinking you are in love with someone isn't a sin."

"But stupidity might be."

Mother laughed. "No, if it were, no one would be entering the gates of heaven. Especially not your mother. I've done things I'm not proud of because of stupidity as well, Nicholas. We all have."

And even though Mother made no mention of her leaving him with Patience so soon after Father died so she could find joy in Paris, he knew that was exactly what she was talking about. "I'm glad you are here. It turns out I'm not quite ready to handle all my problems on my own."

"No one ever has to be. I should've remembered that when I left the two of you to deal with my problems alone." And then a strange thing happened. Mother folded herself into Nicholas's chest and rested her head against his shoulder. It took Nicholas a breath or two longer than it should have for him to remember exactly what he was supposed to do in these types of situations, but eventually his hand made it to her back, and he pulled her into him.

The last time he'd embraced her, he must have been young, for she seemed especially frail now. He swallowed hard, tamping down the emotions that rose up at the thought. "Mother, there is something I have to tell you." She nodded but didn't pull away. He leaned back just enough to see her face while keeping his arm around her. She glanced up at him. "I'm going to speak with Lady Mercy about marriage. If all goes well, her family might announce an engagement at their upcoming ball. But I want you to know you will always have a place with us."

Mother's eyes brightened. "Oh, Nicholas, congratulations."

"Your congratulations are a bit premature." Nicholas wasn't entirely certain Lady Mercy wanted to marry him, but he was more than ready to find out.

Mother ignored him, her shoulders lifting and her face smoothing out, as if she were years younger. "We'll be having a wedding." Celebrations were Mother's specialty. She handled them much better than hardships. So much for his time of peace and quiet. Mother might move into the dower house, but having a novelty like Lady Mercy in their home would most likely mean Mother and Nicholas would be vying for his new wife's attention. But oddly, the thought didn't disturb him. Perhaps Mother's singing wouldn't be quite so unbearable if he had Lady Mercy here to share in his torment.

Mother's eyes clouded and then shifted to the door. "You aren't proposing because of that woman, are you?"

"No, I'm proposing because of Lady Mercy. I can't have anyone thinking I am only leading her on or that my intentions aren't honorable, because they are. I want only what is best for her, and I hope that is me. With Lady Plymton here in London, people are bound to talk. It wasn't as though we were discrete, even though since she was engaged, we should have been. Like I said, I was an idiot. I won't be again."

Mother took a step back and grasped both of his elbows. "Are you in love with Lady Mercy?"

This was a question he should know the answer to, especially if he planned to propose. A niggle of worry reared its head, but Nicholas pushed it down. Marriage was an enormous step. Of course he would be nervous. "I might be." Mother raised an eyebrow. His answer must not have been the right one. "I can't imagine building a life with anyone else. And I'm tired of being apart from her. I want her here. I want to claim her as family." And, more than anything, he didn't want to have to hold himself back the next time she was in his arms.

Mother squeezed his elbows and smiled. "That is more that most couples start with. It will be enough."