Page 85 of The Best of Friends
Toss was standing near enough to Charlie to make one final remark. He did so quietly and quickly. “I have every intention of one day marrying that man’s daughter. Please bear in mind her tender heart whilst doling out your punishment.”
Charlie gave a single nod, then walked with his brothers and Mr. Layton out of the drawing room, the six of them flanking Mr. Mullins.
“In case you have any doubts,” the duke said to Toss, he being the only one left in the room, “the late earl would not have hesitated to defend his wife. Not even for an instant. And he would have been thorough.”
“No one who knows his sons could have the least doubt, Your Grace. They were raised to respect and cherish their mother.”
“And he would have vehemently championed Miss Mullins and would have managed it without causing her the least distress. He was, in a word, remarkable.”
For not the first time, Toss wished he’d known Charlie’s father.
“And you, despite the evidence your brother offers to the contrary, were, like the Jonquil brothers, also raised to be a respectable gentleman.” The duke looked directly at him. “Why, then, is there not yet an agreement between yourself and Miss Mullins?”
Not at all the topic he would have expected His Grace to raise. Toss had found over the past weeks that the duke didn’t ask questions he didn’t want answered. “My financial situation does not bear scrutiny, I’m afraid. Until last night, I was dependent on my brother for every penny I received. Now I simply don’t have any pennies. Until we can build a life together that isn’t one of poverty, we cannot truly move forward.”
“Surely, the young lady has a dowry.”
“Actually, she doesn’t, thanks to her parents.” A battle waged between embarrassment and pride. “But even if she did, no young lady wants to be—”
“Married for her dowry.” The duke finished the sentence in the way one did when repeating verbatim something he had heard before. “How many times am I going to have to endurethisconversation?”
Toss’s embarrassment and pride fully gave way to confusion. “I don’t believe we have had this conversation before, Your Grace.”
The duke’s scarred face pulled in annoyance. “I am perpetually inflicted with people who have this conversation with me. I’ll tell you what I have told them. Two people who love each other and are well suited and would find happiness together and are kept apart only by the gentleman’s lack of income and, thus, are able to marry only because the lady has a dowry are not at all the same as a couple who marry because a gentleman wishes to enrich his coffers with a lady’s dowry and values nothing else about her. Her dowryallowingyou to marry is not at all the same as marrying herforher dowry.”
“Very succinctly put.”
“I have had ample practice.” The duke motioned Toss toward the door. “On the drive back to Falstone House, tell me more of your situation and her missing dowry.”
“Are we not going to wait to see what the Jonquil brothers have in mind for Mr. Mullins?”
“I do not make a habit of loitering about in places where I have no purpose.” The duke made his way back to the entryway. Toss kept pace as best he could. “I know you have an aptitude and interest in music. And I understand Mr. Fortier suggested you seek membership in the Royal Society of Musicians.”
“I applied, Your Grace. They felt me insufficiently qualified.”
The duke didn’t look at him with pity or shock, but neither did he seem to agree with the dismissal Toss had received. They climbed into the carriage. The footman closed the door, and a moment later, the conveyance began to roll along.
“What do you mean to do now?” the duke asked. “You and Miss Mullins need an income to sustain you as the years pass, which seems unlikely to come from your late father’s estate, considering the rift between you and your brother.”
“If I can go back and finish my time at Cambridge, the Royal Society of Musicians would most likely allow me to join, and they do offer some financial support to musicians and composers who are in difficult straits. They also help their composers find opportunities for their works to be performed, which provides an income. But I haven’t the money to return to Cambridge, and returning as a fellow would mean not being permitted to marry.”
Toss found in the duke a listening ear and a very quiet companion. There was something relieving about being able to talk without being interrupted or required to justify his explanations. Worries he hadn’t spoken of at length with anyone spilled from him, and none of it seemed to perplex the duke.
When there was little else to say, Toss looked at His Grace and simply shrugged. “That’s the long and short of it, I suppose.”
“It appears you have a few choices.” The duke spoke matter-of-factly, as if being able to offer Toss multiple options for surviving a scenario in which he thought he had none wasn’t shocking. “Return to Cambridge as a fellow and hope to be able to marry Miss Mullins once you have finished your time there. Or you could attempt to establish yourself as a musician without returning to Cambridge and hope to have an income soon that will allow you to marry. Or you could pursue another career, hoping to reach that level of income sooner.”
“I notice you did not suggest ‘Don’t marry Daria’ as one of my options.”
“I do not waste time on pointless conversations.” The duke took his hat off the seat as the carriage came to a stop. “As you have already established that Miss Mullins shares your hopes for the future, discuss the choices before the two of you.Whatyou choose is not nearly as important as making the choice together.”
It was exceptionally good advice. And having his options so plainly stated would simplify the conversation he needed to have with Daria. With a fair bit of luck, it would simplify the many choices remaining to be made. “I am trying to believe that we will find a means of building that life together, but I suspect doing so will require a great many risks.”
“For the right person,” the duke said, “those risks are worth taking.”
Toss and His Grace alighted from the carriage.
“But know, Mr. Comstock, if you prove yourself a coward, I will throw you out of my house.” On that final remark, the duke passed Toss on his way inside the stately home.
