Even though her husband had introduced them at the wedding and again tonight, she was still adjusting to the fact that a peer was to be considered a close family friend. ‘I am sure he means no offence by it,’ she said. ‘He is most grateful for the honour you’ve bestowed on us by hosting a ball. But he does not like to dance.’ At least, that was what he’d claimed when he’d refused to stand up for the first set.
The Duke, who’d known Mr Challenger far longer than she, seemed surprised by the statement. He gave a slight shift of his head to indicate her husband, who was standing on the other side of the room, giving her a dark look. ‘And yet he lingers near the dance floor to watch your every move.’
‘He is probably waiting for me to do something that disappoints him,’ she said, before remembering that it was not polite to sound glum at a party, especially when one was talking with the host.
The Duke laughed. ‘On the contrary, my dear, the fellow is mad with jealousy over all the attention you are getting.’
‘I seriously doubt that, Your Grace.’
‘Come now, Mrs Challenger,’ he said, touching her arm. ‘I stood up at your wedding. Surely that is cause for us to be familiar with each other. You must call me Jacob, as your husband does.’
‘Thank you?’ The response should not have come out as a question, for it made her look even more naïve than she actually was.
But the Duke gave her an encouraging smile in response. ‘Thank you, Jacob.’
She smiled back, instantly relaxed. ‘Thank you, Jacob. And please, call me George.’
‘A masculine name for such a pretty girl,’ he replied. ‘But it shall be as you wish. George, do not be bothered by your husband’s moods. We must give him time to get used to marriage. Though I did not take the time to say so at your wedding, I am glad beyond words that Challenger has found someone who can breathe some life back into him.’
She laughed at the idea. ‘If you think I am likely to bring about a change in his character, I fear you will be disappointed.’ It was all she could do to maintain her own personality in his continued efforts to subdue her spirits.
‘The fact that he married you is change enough for a start,’ the Duke said. ‘He has been far too proper since his return from Belgium.’
‘You speak as if he was ever another way,’ George said in disbelief.
The Duke gave her a surprised look. ‘Very much so. I am surprised you did not know it already.’
‘I know he is very conscious of scandal,’ she said, trying not to reveal such profound ignorance of his character.
‘Because of his family,’ the Duke agreed. ‘If you have not noticed it already, his parents and elder brother are horrible. When we were at Oxford, his method of dealing with them was quite the opposite of what it is now. His intention, as I remember it, was to outdo them all.’
‘Frederick Challenger?’ she said, doubting. ‘Are you sure we speak of the same man?’
The Duke laughed again. ‘How do you think he came to own such a notoriously decadent club? He courted scandal freely, in his youth.’
‘Tell me more,’ she said eagerly. ‘I have seen nothing but propriety from him, since the day we met.’
The Duke nodded. ‘You only know the Frederick Challenger that the army created. He is as disdainful of his family as he ever was, of course. But he thinks he must set a good example for his younger siblings and has got very good at giving and maintaining order.’
‘I am well aware of that,’ George said, with as little animosity as possible.
‘Do not take him too seriously,’ the Duke said, with a gentle smile. ‘The rest of us do not.’
‘I do not let myself be intimidated,’ she said with a surprised smile. ‘But I am unaccustomed to being encouraged in my misbehaviour.’
He laughed, yet again, and stopped, as if surprised by the sound of it. ‘You, my dear, are a breath of fresh air in this stale city. I have not been so amused in ages. It gives me reason to hope that you will blow the cobwebs off my friend as well. There is no reason for him to be as wild as he was. None of us are schoolboys any more. But that does not mean I wish him to be a joyless, hidebound old man.’
‘He is not so bad…’ She stopped herself, unable to defend him with a lie.
‘He is still my friend,’ Jacob assured her. ‘But in recent years, I see no sign that he is enjoying his freedom. He is always at the club, yet he is always alone. We must hope that matrimony suits him better.’
If that was the goal, then they were all doomed. But the discussion raised interesting points. Perhaps she had not been the one who was wrong all this time. Perhaps he had his faults as well. ‘I will do what I can for him,’ she agreed. But the likelihood was that all she could be was a thorn in his side.
‘Excellent. You must not change.’
Another dance was starting and he directed her to a set in need of a female before returning to the side of the room.
* * *
Fred had not thought that there could be such a thing as too much success. He’d maintained a careful watch over Georgiana for most of the evening, waiting for the inevitable disaster that would require a strategic retreat from the ball with a feigned megrim or family emergency.
But none had come. She laughed and chatted and danced nearly every dance, but stood up with no partner more than once. She was the epitome of grace and elegance. If appearance was everything, then he could not ask for a better wife. She was gliding across the room to him, now, offering an affectionate smile that he’d have sworn was sincere. Then she opened her mouth and spoiled it. ‘Are you enjoying the evening, Mr Challenger?’
‘Very much so.’ The words sounded stiff and awkward, even to him.
She opened her fan with a snap and fluttered it in front of her face as if to hide her next words. ‘Then I suggest you make some effort to prove it. People are beginning to remark on your behaviour.’
‘My behav…?’ She had turned away from him before he could even complete the word.
‘Mrs Challenger?’ A young buck he did not recognise was bowing low over his wife’s hand.
‘Lieutenant Williams,’ she replied with a gracious smile.
‘I have come to claim the dance you promised me this afternoon.’
‘Of course.’ Without another look in Fred’s direction, she abandoned him and let the fellow lead her out on to the dance floor.
Who was he and how did she know him? More importantly, when had they been able to speak this afternoon? The young officer was one of many people who were strangers to him, but that his wife had greeted by name this evening. Some even addressed her as Georgiana. Fred was beginning to wonder if he was the only person in London who had not been acquainted with her, this Season.
He had no one to blame but himself. He’d had the chance and refused an introduction. In retrospect, that now seemed as foolish as telling her that he was not fond of dancing and had no intention of doing so tonight.
‘At a ball to celebrate our wedding, you do not intend to dance.’ Her eyes had flashed like a struck flint when he’d told her.
But he had not relented. The way he felt when he looked at her made it far too dangerous to be near her. Even standing beside her on the receiving line, the plans for simple separation seemed to erode like beach sand in a high tide. If they danced, they would end the evening in bed. And tomorrow, his life would no longer be his own. ‘I will not dance,’ he repeated.
The pride and confidence she’d displayed as he’d draped the chain about her neck all but disappeared. The sparks vanished. She was frightened, small, and about to shed a girl’s tears of self-pity.
But only for a moment. She squared her shoulders, tossed her head, and smiled, looking directly into his eyes, ready to meet any challenge. ‘Very well, then. But I do not expect to sit down, all evening. I
will have to find other partners.’
He nodded approval and told her to dance as much as she wished. But it had never occurred to him how annoying it might be to see her take the hand of a handsome stranger closer to her age and wearing a uniform that had never seen battle.
‘Your wife seems to be having a good time.’ Jake had come to stand beside him to observe the dancing.
Fred grunted.
‘I would have thought it would be you out there with her. Not tired of marriage after a mere few days, I hope.’
‘You know I am not much of a dancer,’ he said, draining his glass of wine and taking another from the tray of a passing servant.
‘Save the lies for your wife. I have seen you dance happily and often.’
‘Well, I do not feel like doing it tonight,’ he said, in a tone that should have ended the discussion.
‘It has been less than three days since the wedding.’ Jake said, thoughtfully. ‘I suppose you have better things to do with your time.’
‘I was at the club just last night,’ Fred replied. ‘I left early, of course. But once things are a bit more settled, I shall return to my responsibilities.’
Jake let loose with a bark of laughter. ‘By all means, do not neglect the club. Heaven save me from idiots. If that is what has been occupying your mind in the first week of your marriage, then you do not deserve the lovely Georgiana.’
‘You mean… You assumed that…’ What must Jake think of the embarrassing flush that stole into his cheeks at the thought of bedding his wife? Fred was far too experienced to be acting like a bridegroom, but he could not seem to help himself.
‘You are tired,’ Jake said significantly, then glanced at the dancers. ‘But she does not seem to be.’
‘She is young,’ Fred said, gritting his teeth. ‘And I am not so young as I used to be.’ That made her sound insatiable and him incapable. But it was better than having the world think he had not touched her.
At this, Jake laughed all the harder. ‘Then you should be spending more time in your bed. Resting.’
‘Well…’ Fred gave a helpless shrug.
‘That is all right,’ Jake assured him. ‘I do not expect you to tell tales about married life. Georgiana is a wife, not a mistress. I promise, Oliver and I will treat her with the respect she deserves.’ He glanced around the room and said glumly, ‘Now that the dukedom has fallen to me, I suppose I shall be expected to find a bride of my own.’ As usual, he did not sound in any way happy about his title or his future.
‘It is not so bad to be married,’ Fred replied, though he could not help sounding equally glum.
‘Of course, if I had a mind to wed, I would want to pick someone just like Georgiana,’ his friend said, pensively.
‘Why?’ Fred had not meant for the word to be so sudden and so utterly perplexed.
Jake gave him a surprised look. ‘She is a lovely girl. One of the beauties of the Season. From what I have been told, it was a challenge to attract her attention.’
‘A challenge.’ Fred had not thought her such. As he had watched her making the rounds of balls and routs, she had seemed too free with her favours. She had been everywhere, danced with everyone, and was always surrounded by a throng of young men. Even though he’d tried to avoid her, she had always seemed to be underfoot, in his way, or staring daggers at him from across the room.
‘There are a slew of men who have been trying to catch her for the better part of the Season,’ Jake said. ‘She showed not a bit of interest in anyone who offered. Of course, if it was because the two of you had been having secret trysts…’ Jake left the sentence open as if waiting for a confidence to be revealed.
He was tempted to admit the truth. But it would not reflect well on the woman he had married that a good portion of London society had seen her barely dressed and bartering away her virtue. Better to hold his tongue. ‘I am truly fortunate,’ he agreed, feeling more confused than ever.
‘She is exactly what you need.’ Jake looked out at the dance floor, where Georgiana was laughing as she failed miserably at the steps of The Shipwreck’d Boy. It did not really matter how well she danced. Her partner looked thoroughly besotted to be near her. Didn’t he know that she was recently married and supposedly devoted to someone else?
Fred frowned. Many times a neglected wife was seen as an opportunity. He knew from personal experience what flatteries to use that would turn the head of a woman with a mind to stray. How long would it be before his own wife found a favourite?
His stomach churned with a feeling that he’d have called jealousy, if he was the sort of person prone to such an emotion. More likely what he was feeling was a touch of wind from the pickled onions that had accompanied the buffet.
‘I was better off as I was,’ Fred muttered, before he could help himself. ‘I had responsibility enough without adding a wife.’
‘The weight of the world rested on your shoulders, I am sure,’ Jake said in a cool tone to remind him that his current duties as a peer far outstripped any burden that Fred might complain about.
‘I meant nothing by it,’ Fred apologised quickly. ‘It is just that things between Georgiana and myself are…more complicated than I imagined they would be.’
His friend smiled and nodded. ‘That is exactly why you needed her. Lately, you take a simple thing like loving a beautiful woman and turn it into a difficulty. It is a good thing she does not seem so bothered by her marriage to you for, if I am honest, it is not all that pleasant to be around you. You act as though a single misstep will break that stiff neck of yours. I am the one in mourning, yet you smile even less than I do.’
Jake had few reasons to smile. Fred knew that he blamed himself for the accident that had killed both his father and brother, and landed him with an unexpected title. What did it say about Fred that he was a drag on the Duke’s already low spirits? ‘Do not waste time worrying about me,’ he said, forcing a smile. ‘You should be enjoying this evening as well. You spend even more time than you used to at Vitium et Virtus. And yet, if you mean to drink until dawn, the least you could do is join the crowd in the common rooms and not hide in the office with a bottle.’
If they had not been such old friends, the discussion might have ended in an argument. Instead, there was a moment of silence that stood as a wordless apology. Then, Fred said, ‘It is good that Oliver has still retained some of the buoyancy of youth. Where is he tonight?’
‘Paris, I think. Trying to steal the entertainments from that French club he keeps talking about.’
‘And while we are here behaving like gentlemen, he has a beautiful courtesan in one hand and a glass of France’s finest brandy in the other,’ Fred finished, unsure whether he felt envy, or relief that the job had fallen to someone else.
‘I wonder, do you have the heart to continue as part of the management? Now that you are married…’
‘I am as committed as I ever was,’ Fred said firmly. ‘We agreed that we would keep the place running, so that it might be here when Nick returns.’
‘Or to honour his memory,’ Jake added, expressing the doubt that they both secretly shared.
‘The club was his idea. He had the greatest stake in the place,’ Fred reminded him. ‘If he is alive, we must see to it that his investment is thriving, when he returns.’
‘And I will burn in hell before I allow Bowles to take over that empty chair,’ Jake said, frowning. ‘He was bothering me about it again last month.’
Fred shook his head. ‘The fellow is a loathsome little toady and I like him no better now than I did at Oxford. But just as important as his lack of character is the fact that he has not a feather to fly with. He was forced to run for the country, one step ahead of his debt collectors.’
Jake smiled. ‘It is no less than he deserved.’
‘Should Bowles return, I have
no intention of leaving a second empty chair at Vitium et Virtus for him to aspire to. I assure you, my recent marriage will have no effect on my activities,’ Fred said, feeling more trapped than ever by both the club and the woman.
‘Of course it won’t, my love.’ His wife was standing before him, hands on hips. Fred hoped he was the only one who could hear the irony in her voice as she announced her affection for him. ‘No matter my opinions on the subject, I expect you will be just as firmly attached to Vitium et Virtus as you are now.’
‘If you have opinions on the club, you should refrain from mentioning them in public,’ he said automatically. ‘You should not even know that the place exists.’
‘Then I will pretend that I have not heard people whispering about it, everywhere I go,’ she said, shaking her head in disbelief as if he were the one who was naïve.
Then she leaned towards Jake and said in a conspiratorial whisper, ‘Is it true that husbands and wives arrive there together and go off with others as easily as changing partners in a dance?’
‘I would not know,’ Jake said with a wink. ‘I am not married.’
‘I do not think I should like to find out from experience,’ she replied.
The remark surprised him. Did it arise from actual loyalty, or was she merely feigning devotion?
Then she finished, ‘One husband is more than enough for me.’
Before Fred could respond, she smiled at the Duke and asked, ‘Are you also preoccupied with that club, even tonight, Your Grace? The room is full of young ladies, eager to stand up with you.’
In response, Jake turned pink about the ears and his answer had a slight hesitation that almost sounded like nerves. ‘I thought we agreed to be on familiar terms. You need not bother with the formality of a title if we are to be friends.’
‘Jacob, then,’ she said, smiling even more brightly.
When had they agreed on familiarity? As far as Fred knew, they had not known each other at all before the wedding. Despite his desire to see his friend be happy, it made him uneasy to see the easy smiles that passed between them after so limited an acquaintance.
Convenient Bride for the Soldier & the Major Meets His Match & Secret Lessons With the Rake (9781488021718) Page 12
