Page 47 of A Duchess Bound
“I have distant cousins.”
So distant that he had nevermetthem, but that hardly mattered. It was not as if the dukedom would cease to be if he did not produce an heir.
“Then, you have no interest in training a successor to properly understand the needs of the dukedom,” Pontoun said flatly. “You would see all your hard work to manage it undone in a single generation.”
“You do not know that.”
“I know that if you have an heir, you can ensure that the man who succeeds you knows how to manage things properly.”
“You were never taught to manage your dukedom, and you seem to be doing well enough,” Gerard pointed out. “I imagine that my successor will do the same.”
“But why?” Pontoun asked. “Why can’t you just marry some lady out of convenience?”
Gerard inhaled sharply. “Careful,” he growled. “I value your friendship, but I am uninterested in having this same conversation twice in one week.”
“Because you know we are right.”
Gerard shook his head and downed the rest of the brandy. It was not nearly enough alcohol to give him that familiar, light feeling that he often experienced when he drank spirits.
“Enough,” Gerard said. “I do not wish to ever marry, and that is all you need to know.”
Pontoun sighed. “Very well. But I do wish you would consider the possibility. It is uncomely for a man to be a bachelor forever.”
“Then, I will be uncomely.”
“So it seems.”
Gerard twirled his empty glass in his hand, frowning and wishing he had not consumed the brandy so quickly.
“Why did you go to visit her?” Pontoun asked. “Were you hoping to rekindle your affair?”
“No. I just wanted to talk,” Gerard said. “The fancy struck me, and you were not around.”
It occurred to Gerard just how pathetic that sounded. When he wanted to talk to someone, he only had Gerard and old lovers to return to. And Halls, he supposed. However, Halls was employed by Gerard and forced to listen to him. He did not count as a confidante. The man barely counted as a butler, given that his only loyalty to Gerard came from being well paid.
“What was the subject of your conversation? Aside from your refusal to wed,” Pontoun added hastily. “Is there something weighing on your mind?”
There wasn’t until I spoke with her.
Gerard shook his head. “No, I just wanted to see how she was getting along. I suppose. She has a new lover.”
“Really? Who?”
“She would not say, but I assume he is one of the ton. Lady Everleigh encountered me at Lord Bryton’s ball, and she mentioned that he is a jealous man. I suspect that she hoped her lover, whoever he might be, would see us and be moved to some act of passion.”
“Lady Everleigh seems like an interesting lady,” Pontoun said.
“She is. If you like, I would be happy to introduce you,” Gerard said. “I was drawn to her because she is pleasant company. Intelligent, witty, charming. Everything but beautiful.”
Pontoun opened his mouth as though he meant to say something, but he seemed to think better of it. Instead, he took a sip of his brandy.
Gerard watched his friend’s face, waiting for the man to say something unpleasant. Pontoun did not.
“I liked her because she knew exactly what we were to one another,” Gerard said after a moment. “Lady Everleigh was content to accept that we were having an affair and that there would never be anything more between us. Sometimes, young women have difficulty with that.”
“You are partly to blame for that, my friend,” Pontoun said gently. “You spin pretty words for them, and even if you insist that you do not want anything more serious with them, youngladies believe you do. They believe that they can reform you into something that you are not.”
“Is that my fault? I should think it is theirs.”
