Page 6 of Unmasking a Wicked Marquess
“So romantic,” Jane tutted at their father.
“One of us has to be practical.”
“Then let it be me,” Edward piped up. “I do not have to get married yet. There is plenty of time for all of that.”
Edward’s mind was suddenly full of pictures and memories of ladies shifting gowns from their shoulders and of beds with the sheets ruffled and dropped to the floor. On the continent, he had not been as well-behaved as perhaps his parents thought. When attending parties and masked balls in Italy and India, there had been a general air of temptation and scandal.
At some of the darker, more mysterious parties, it had not been unusual to see an unwed couple kissing in plain sight in corridors. What Edward had got up to at night to gain his first few experiences of lovemaking was for his mind only to know.
What he did know was that after enjoying himself for the last few years, he was in no hurry to choose just one woman yet.
“Yet you stand a better chance of having many babies if you get married when you’re young and if you have a young bride too. You’ll have the energy for the necessities then.”
“Mother!” Edward cried in outrage, nearly dropping what was left of his tea in his teacup.
“What?” Amelia looked around in innocence as Philip and Jane started laughing once more.
“This has escalated fast,” Edward observed. “This conversation went from you telling me to produce an heir to having many children.Many?”he repeated in an incredulous tone.
“It is necessary,” Amelia explained with a shrug, reaching calmly for one of the pieces of cake Jane was now offering up.
“Necessary?” Edward was stuck just repeating other words now, unable to form his own thoughts.
“Yes, necessary,” Amelia said simply with a nod.
Edward looked at his sister, tongue-tied.
“I blame you for this,” he managed after a minute of silence, pointing at her.
“Me?” She offered the perfect innocent look.
“If you weren’t getting married, this conversation wouldn’t be happening.”
“The time has come, Edward.” Philip clapped him on the back again, softer this time as he did it only to have his attention. “Now you are back, have seen the world, and are doing so well in your business affairs, not to mention the horses,” he added with a smile, making the wrinkles around his lips deepen, “it is time to turn your attention to the other part of your life. This season, you should look for a wife.”
“God’s wounds.” Edward fell back on the rococo settee. “I should have stayed in India.”
“I am glad you did not.” Amelia looked at him and flicked her fingers. “And sit up. You won’t catch a wife slouching like that.”
“I’m not hoping to catch one.” He slouched down purposefully a little further. “You speak as if you go fishing for a lady. I hardly imagine that is how you two courted.” Edward glanced between his mother and father. The two of them shared a little smile, and when Philip winked at his wife, Edward looked away, groaning loudly as Jane giggled.
“Is marriage so quickly really so important? On my travels, events were not so strict and formal. They were more fun, much more relaxed. I confess, I loved it. Very much.”
“Then find someone who doesn’t mind a man slouching on his settee,” Amelia said with her lips curving up into a smile. “Yet you must still find someone.”
“But –” Edward didn’t get a chance to say any more.
“There is a ball in two days’ time,” she continued. “You shall attend, and there you can meet the ladies of the ton. You can see which one takes your fancy.”
“I am not picking a horse, Mother,” Edward said calmly, at which point his father laughed broadly once more.
“You will be there,” Amelia said simply, holding his gaze. “Besides, it is right we introduce you to society again now that you have returned.”
“You can also meet Fred.” Jane sat forward, offering up the cake once more. Rather eager to say or think of anything else other than a hurried marriage, Edward snatched up the cake and took a rather large bite. Jane giggled as if she could sense his thoughts, but his mother just continued to talk.
“Yes, it will be lovely,” she said, sighing with contentment. “Both of my children married by the end of the summer.”
That fast?
