“What is it? In the past you have not hesitated when I mentioned his name.” She wondered what emotion gripped Lord Harford, for she dared not call him Jonathan, particularly at Almack’s.
Jonathan wondered how he might caution her against Stephen without sounding like a jealous, spiteful person. He was mulling the matter over when the man in question appeared before Penelope, his jaunty good looks and rakish air giving him a definite appeal. Jonathan noted with satisfaction that Penny didn’t seem all that eager to take off with Stephen. She clung to Jonathan’s arm with a decided reluctance to leave him, he thought.
“Our dance, my fair one.” Lord Stephen extended his arm with the supreme confidence that she would gladly accept his partnering.
She nodded. “As you say, sir.” After a proper curtsy to Jonathan, she walked off with Stephen, with no coy backward glances or indication she was sorry to go.
Jonathan decided that he had done more worrying this past month than in his entire lifetime. He turned from the sight of his cousin in the arms of a good friend to seek his mother.
“Ah, there you are, my dear. The last time I saw you, you were strolling in the direction of the refreshment room with Penelope. Tell me, does not Charis look charming on the arm of David Howell? He’s heir to the Duke of Faincombe, in case you forget. As Marquess of Lisle he has a sizable estate, and stands to inherit quite nicely.” The smugness in her voice might be forgiven, considering the splendid connection her daughter would make, not to mention the feeling of success at attaining one of the supreme catches of the year for her remaining daughter. It was an achievement any mother might envy and probably would.
“How does she feel about him?”
His mother shot him a conscious look, then said, ‘She declared to me that it mattered not if he was penniless, for she utterly adores him.”
With a wry expression, Jonathan shook his head. “I daresay she thinks that, but as long as she truly has a regard for the young man, he has my blessing. I suppose I am to be favored with a visit from him in the near future?”
“Would tomorrow be too soon?” She laughed softly at his expression of mock dismay.
“Definitely April and May,” he murmured, chuckling until his mother spoke again.
“I worry about Penelope. Do you really believe she will find the man to suit her purposes? She said something yesterday about being anxious to return to Fountains to see how her greenhouse was coming along. Jonathan, she cannot go haring off in the middle of the Season and still expect to find a husband, especially the sort she wants.”
‘Cousin Ernest is willing to marry her.”
“Heavens, he is such a toad. I do not care if she merely desires a marriage de convenance, she is too lovely to be shackled with him. What if he ...?“ She gave a delicate shudder at the thought of Ernest taking advantage of his vows to actually consummate the marriage. Provided one of his girth was actually capable of such a thing, that is. Her own husband had been as slender as her son was now, right until the day he was killed in the accident. They had had a most satisfactory married life, and she failed to understand why Penelope felt as she did about the subject.
“Unthinkable, I agree. Of course she must not marry him. Tell me, do you think Lady Winthrop would take matters into her own hands to place a notice in the Times?” He watched the progress of Penny on Stephen’s arm as they moved down the center of a country dance. That smile she flashed him was far too trusting. Jonathan could see only hurt in store for her if she settled on Stephen.
“I had not considered the possibility, but that woman is horrid. I would put nothing past her capabilities.”
“That is what I thought,” Jonathan replied, drawing up to his full height as he considered the problem before him. The slender minx was fluttering her lashes at Stephen, flirting with him like the veriest of coquettes. Off to one side he observed that Lady Winthrop had not missed the little scene either. Drat that girl. For someone who insisted on how proper she was, she had the ability to entangle herself in one situation after another.
When the country dance ended, Jonathan promptly presented Penelope with a very acceptable young man as a partner, one that could not possibly alarm Lady Winthrop. Thereafter, he made a point of casually bringing around one potential partner after another, all unremarkable, and quite presentable. Not one of them was the sort to drive a girl into a passion, he supposed. At least Twysden, with his excessively receding chin, certainly wasn’t.
His mother playfully tapped his arm, whispering, “Whatever are you about, dear boy? I have never before seen such a collection of almosts, not quites, and perish the thoughts.”
“I hope to calm any apprehensions Lady Winthrop may have acquired after seeing Penny gaze at Stephen with those cow eyes.”
“Cow eyes? Really, Jonathan, that is most unkind. He is entirely presentable, and you know it. However, as a possible husband, I should not like him for Charis.”
“Nor for Penelope. He made me a wager that he could win her hand, and indeed, it looked promising when he found her lost cat. She bestowed a very fond smile on him as he gingerly handed the animal to her.” He gave his mother a wry glance before turning again to watch Penelope. “I fancy he did not wish to get cat hair on his new blue coat.”
“But he is charming,” Lady Harford admitted. “However, he is not the most dependable boy.”
“Indeed. Perhaps someone ought to tell her that.” He touched his mother on the arm, then moved to where Penelope fanned herself after finishing a lively country dance.
“Are you willing
