Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Why the long face, old boy?” Edward Vincent Woodhouse, the Earl of Chesterfield, addressed his friend Jonathon Musgrove, the Viscount of Russell.

“Don’t ask,” Jonathon replied with a heavy sigh.

“I believe I just did,” Edward teased, offering him a drink, as the two men huddled in the corner of the overly noisy ballroom, hoping for at least a semblance of privacy—which, of course, was a sheer impossibility in a place like that.

However, Edward knew better than to discuss private matters at balls. A secret was only a secret if just one person knew it. So, he never risked talking about such things when the time was obviously not right for it. Jonathon, however, had no such control. A romantic at heart, his friend was often a slave to his current mood and emotions, and that evening seemed to be no exception.

Jonathon accepted the drink, taking a small sip. Edward watched his eyes, looking in the same direction. A lovely young woman stood by the side of whom he could only assume was her mother, smiling at the world around her.

“A new love interest, I assume?” Edward asked amusedly.

“Yes.” Jonathon nodded, without taking his eyes off of the girl in question.

“Is this the fifth one this year you are pining after?”

Jonathon turned to him with a frown. “Are you actually keeping count?”

“No, it was just a number off the top of my head.” Edward laughed, taking a sip of his own drink. “There was Lady Isabella Moore, then Miss Helena Willoughby, then Lady Thora—”

“Never mind that,” Jonathon cut him off. “None of them matter.”

“Of course they don’t,” Edward replied, even more amused. His friend was of the falling in love kind, truly believing that he was in love with every single one of those ladies. Usually, the ladies in question did not take his courtship all too seriously, as he lacked the confidence to make it properly known.

“Tell me about this one,” Edward urged, gesturing at the lady.

“Aurelia DuPont.” Jonathon said her name with reverence, almost like a prayer. “She is… an angel, Edward.”

“Aren’t they all?” Edward chuckled, elbowing his friend playfully. “But I keep interrupting you. Do go on.”

Jonathon seemed completely mesmerized by Aurelia. “I have spoken to her on several occasions,” he said.

“You have?” Edward raised an eyebrow. “Now that is interesting. You, with your trembling hand syndrome when you need to speak to a woman, actually spoke to her?”

“You weren’t at Lord Forsythe’s ball two weeks ago,” Jonathon explained. “And I had to be introduced to her. I knew that the moment I met her.”

“Ah, yes, Lord Forsythe’s ball, sorry about that. I had, um… pressing matters to attend to. Not to mention throbbing.” He chuckled, much to the disgust of his friend, who turned to him with a frown.

“You overshare sometimes, you know that?” Jonathon asked, but his question only made the two men laugh out loud.

“That’s what best friends are for, are they not?” Edward raised his glass to his friend, and Jonathon did the same. They clinked their glasses together. “To best friends and oversharing.”

“To best friends and oversharing.” Jonathon laughed, as they downed their drinks at the same time. “Now, as for Aurelia… she is wonderful, Edward. But look at all the men vying for her attention.”

Edward had to admit that the lady was truly lovely. There was a magnetism about her, and in the short amount of time he and Jonathon had been conversing, the lady and her mother had been approached by three men already. Jonathon was right.

“But you don’t want a girl like that, a girl who’s entertaining everyone’s attention,” Edward urged him gently.

His friend was his stark opposite. While Edward was more than fine entertaining himself with ladies who had no intention of marrying, Jonathon was not. He wanted to get married. He wanted a family. He wanted love, no matter how ludicrous that sounded. It was simply who Jonathon was, and Edward wanted to see his best friend happy.

“Oh, no, no.” Jonathon shook his head. “She’s not like that at all. She’s only entertaining them out of duty, because her older sister is supposed to be helping her find a suitable match. In the end, what I do matters little, because their mother is insistent upon the older sister marrying before the younger one does.”

“Ah, so she follows protocol,” Edward mused. “I see.” He pondered on it for a few moments, then offered a solution. “Well, that’s easy. Get the older sister married off first. Help… Aurelia, was it? Help her find a match for her older sister, and you will be aiding your own cause at the same time.”

“I wish it were that easy, old friend.” Jonathon sighed, shaking his head.

“It’s not?” Edward raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “How difficult is it to marry off a girl? Unless there is something terribly wrong with her, I mean. It’s not, is it?”

“That depends if you consider her being frigid as something wrong, which many gentlemen do,” Jonathon clarified.

“Frigid?” Edward’s mind toyed with the term. He had never met a young woman who was frigid, only women who never had a real men treat them the way they wanted to be treated.

“Yes,” Jonathon confirmed. “She has turned down all the advances she has received.”

“That still doesn’t necessarily make her… frigid.” Edward was slowly becoming curious. “Where is the lady in question? Show her to me.”

Jonathon searched for the lady in the crowd, then pointed her out. She had just finished dancing with Lord Kinsington. They seemed to exchange a few words, then she turned away from him and headed toward the balcony. Although Edward’s eyes rested on her form for a few brief moments, the lady made quite an impression on him. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed her before.

Among the vibrant sea of silks and satins, she stood out like a flame. Her red hair, a cascade of fiery curls, caught the light with every movement, drawing the eyes of many admirers as she moved hastily toward the crowd.

Her gown, a deep emerald green that complemented her striking hair and fair complexion, was fashioned from the finest silk, its bodice delicately embroidered with gold thread. The fabric shimmered as she walked, the skirt flowing gracefully with each step. Her slender neck was adorned with a simple yet elegant pearl necklace, which seemed to glow softly against her alabaster skin.

Despite her stunning appearance, there was a palpable tension in her demeanor. Her emerald eyes, framed by long, dark lashes, darted around the room as if searching for someone or something. Her lips, a soft shade of rose, were pressed into a thin line, betraying her anxiety.

Abruptly, she turned and rushed toward the grand double doors leading out of the ballroom. Her movements were graceful yet hurried, and the furrow of her brow suggested she was troubled. The other guests barely noticed her swift departure, too engrossed in their conversations and the lively music.

Edward had to admit that he was titillated by what he had seen. She didn’t seem one bit the frigid woman Jonathon had described. In fact, her beauty was so rare that she immediately awoke desire inside of him, as well as curiosity regarding her sudden departure.

However, before he could state any opinion on the girl, he heard someone clear his throat behind them, and both gentlemen turned around the same time. Edward’s eyes locked with his uncle’s.

“Ah, Uncle.” He grinned. “I was wondering when you would show up.”

“Lord Chesterfield.” Jonathon bowed respectfully. One look in the man’s direction made it clear that Jonathon needed to give the two men a moment alone. “I’ll just… go over there.” He pointed in the distance, then disappeared from sight.

“Is everything all right, Uncle?” Edward inquired, concerned with his uncle’s expression.

Vincent Charles Morland, the Marquess of Chesterfield, had always been an old soul. Edward could not imagine the man ever being young, or even looking young. And every additional year of life had made him somehow more severe and more crotchety.

“No, it is not.” His uncle shook his head. “I know this is not the right place to conduct such conversations, but I have just spoken with Lord Ashburn and he had divulged something rather concerning.”

Edward bit his lip. He had stumbled onto Lord Ashburn a few nights ago, when he was out drinking and gambling. Jonathon had called it an early night, a usual occurrence, but Edward had decided to continue, which was another usual occurrence. A few men had joined his party and he carried on well into the night, indulging in much liquor and even a few loose women while losing more money than he likely should.

“What is that, Uncle?” Edward wondered innocently, although he knew it wouldn’t work.

“I would rather not say it out loud.” His uncle refrained from sharing any sordid details, although judging from his facial expression, he knew them all. “I think I have been patient with you long enough, Edward. I have been asking when you had plans of settling down and finally marrying, but you keep avoiding that stage of your life, and I simply cannot understand why.”

Why? The answer to that was pretty simple. Edward loved his life as it was. He had no obligations. He had no responsibilities. And he wanted to continue in such a manner for as long as possible. His uncle, however, didn’t like that. The two men had carried on that conversation more times than Edward could count.

“I am still young, Uncle,” Edward replied playfully.

“You are eight-and-twenty years of age,” his uncle reminded him. “That is not very young. It is high time you considered marrying.”

“Well, you never married.” Edward decided to play that card, although he knew it was a dangerous strategy.

His uncle frowned. “I am too demanding, as you yourself can see. I doubt any woman would be able to endure being married to me.”

“Perhaps I am the same.” Edward shrugged.

“No.” His uncle shook his head. “At least, you shouldn’t be. You need to be more focused on settling down and repairing the damage you’ve done to your reputation—which, I’m afraid to say, precedes you.”

Edward didn’t consider that a bad thing, but he chose to remain quiet about it.

“So, after having spoken to you numerous times about this, you have left me with no other choice,” the man said in a tone of voice that immediately concerned Edward. “You need to find a wife. And not just any wife. It needs to be a respectable young lady. That is the last requirement for you to fully come into your inheritance at last.”

“A wife?” Edward gasped, but he wasn’t allowed to say anything else as his uncle gripped him sympathetically by the shoulder.

“I will not discuss this, my boy,” he said in a stern but loving voice. “You will see that I’m doing this for your own good.” He squeezed Edward’s shoulder, then he turned around and disappeared in the crowd of other people, leaving Edward stunned with shock.