Chapter 4

After dining with David's family, Vander stopped by his parents' townhouse. He was surprised to find his mother pacing the foyer.

Her slippers clicked against the marble tiles as she hurried to him. "Did you ask her? What did she say?"

Vander paused in the act of handing his hat and gloves to a footman. "She said yes, of course."

His mother clapped her hands, looking disproportionately excited for such a trivial piece of news. "Of course. Listen to you, so sure of yourself. But this is wonderful news! I must call on Lady Baldridge tomorrow. We have a wedding to plan!"

Vander quirked his head to the side. "Shouldn't that wait until I've actually selected my bride?"

His mother's expression darkened in an instant. "What do you mean, until you've selected your bride? You asked Letty, did you not?"

"I asked her to help me find a bride, yes."

"You asked her to…" His mother gave a cry of frustration as she whirled away, her hands curling into claws. "How is this possible? I married your father, the mathematical genius, specifically so I would not find myself with a child who is as dumb as a donkey!"

Vander flinched. "Maman? Why would you say that?"

She pointed a finger at him. "I told you to ask Letty!"

It almost sounded as if his mother had thought he was going to propose to Letty. But that couldn't possibly be right. To be sure, for a second there, he had thought Letty had misinterpreted his question. But she hadn't, and she had agreed that the mere notion was absurd.

So, he nodded slowly. "And I did."

His mother crossed the room in three quick strides. "I meant to ask Letty to marry you!" she hissed. "Not to help you find some other bride!"

"Marry Letty?" Vander shut his jaw, which had fallen slack. "I can't marry Letty!"

"I should like to know why not!"

Because she is ten years old, his brain supplied, although he knew that was wrong. He settled on, "She's too young."

His mother crossed her arms. "She is three and twenty."

He had to admit, that did sound like a fairly reasonable age to marry. But still, he couldn't marry Letty. "Maman, I can't marry Letty. She deserves someone who will treat her like a queen."

His mother's voice was dangerous as she replied, "And you do not plan to treat your wife like a queen?"

Clearly that had been the wrong thing to say. Vander struggled to regroup. "But she's David's little sister! David would kill me if I dishonored her."

His mother threw her hands up. "I did not suggest that you dishonor her. I said for you to marry her! What could be more honorable than that?"

Vander shook his head. "David is one of the most important people in my life. He's the nearest thing I have to a brother. I won't do anything to jeopardize my friendship with him."

"You would be strengthening your friendship, not jeopardizing it. If you marry his sister, you would be his brother in truth. How is that not a good thing?"

Vander's jaw clenched. His mother didn't understand. David had watched him cut a swath through half the courtesans in London. It was one thing to go carousing with the man who had once won a two-hundred-pound bet by fucking all three Milthorpe triplets, Polly, Molly, and Dolly, in the space of half an hour.

But one would not permit such a man to go within a thousand yards of his little sister.

"Out of the question," Vander said.

His mother made a sound of exasperation. "Who will you find who suits you as well as Letty? No one, that's who. But why should you listen to me? What would I know about a happy marriage?" She shook her head. "It was not like this in my day. Never did I question my elders. Never!"

The lecture that ensued was almost as familiar as his father's speech on the sacred importance of insurance, so Vander listened with just half an ear, muttering apologies and reassurances in all the requisite places, then made his escape as quickly as he could.

Striding out into the night, Vander headed not toward his bachelor apartments, but toward St. James's Street.

It was time to see if the plan he had spent the better part of the afternoon formulating had any chance of working. If he was right, if he could make this hair-brained scheme work, maybe he wouldn't need Letty's help finding a bride after all.