Page 2 of The Danger of Desire
Damn. “What kind of favor?”
“Edwin would do it if he didn’t have to be in Hertfordshire helping my brother settle the family estate, you know,” she babbled. “And Niall—”
“What’s the favor?” he persisted.
“Do you know Miss Delia Trevor?”
MissDelia Trevor? God, would Clarissaneverstop trying to match him up? “Fortunately, I do not. I assume she’s some young debutante you’ve taken under your wing.”
“Not exactly. Although Delia was just brought out this past Season, she’s nearly my age... and a friend. Her brother died last year in a horrible accident, and she and his wife, Brilliana Trevor, have been left without anything but a debt-ridden estate to support. So Delia’s aunt, Lady Pensworth, brought the two of them to London for the Season.”
“Agatha Pensworth, wife of the late Baron Pensworth? The woman who used to be great friends with my mother?”
“That’s her. I suppose you’ve met?”
“Years ago, before Mother died. As I recall, she rarely minced words.”
“She doesn’t suffer fools easily. And she has a fondness for her niece, which is why they’re all in town.”
“So her ladyship can find husbands for the two young ladies.”
“Yes, although I think Lady Pensworth is more concerned about Delia, since the late Mr. Trevor’s wife has already borne him a child who will inherit the estate, such as it is. To make Delia more eligible, Lady Pensworth has bestowed a thousand-pound dowry on her, which ought to tempt some eligible gentlemen.”
That put him on his guard. “Not me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course not you. Things do notalwaysconcern you, for heaven’s sake. She needs someone decidedly younger. She’s only twenty-three, after all.”
Decidedly younger?“Here now, I’m not that old. I’m the same age as your husband.”
“True.” Her eyes twinkled at him. “And given your nightly habits, you apparently possess the stamina of a much younger man. No one seeing you in dim light would ever guess you’re thirty-three.”
He eyed her askance. “I seem to recall your asking me for a favor, dear girl. You’re not going about getting it very wisely.”
“The thing is, I’m worried about Delia, who seems rather distracted these days. She keeps receiving notes that she slips furtively off to read, and she falls asleep in the middle of balls. Worst of all, she says she can’t attend our house party, which I’d partly planned in hopes of introducing her to eligible gentlemen.” She cast him a pointed look. “Eligibleyounggentlemen.”
Thirty-three wasn’t old, no matter what his sharp-tongued cousin thought. “Perhaps your friend had another engagement.”
Clarissa lifted an eyebrow at him.
“Right. She needs a husband, and you’re nicely trying to provide her with a selection of potential ones.” He smirked at her. “How ungrateful of her not to fall in with your plans.”
“Do be serious. When was the last time you saw any unmarried woman with limited prospects refuse a chance to attend a house party at the home of an earl and a countess with our connections?”
He hated to admit it, but she had a point. “So what do you wantmeto do about it?”
“Ask around at St. George’s. See if the gentlemen have heard any gossip about her. Find out if anyone knows some scoundrel who’s been... well... sniffing around her for her dowry.”
The light dawned. Perhaps this reallywasn’tabout matching him up with her friend.
During her debut years ago, Clarissa had been the object of a scoundrel’s attentions, and it had nearly destroyed the lives of her and her brother. So she tended to be sensitive about women who might fall prey to fortune hunters.
Indeed, having learned this summer what she’d gone through—and before that, what Edwin’ssister had gone through to a lesser extent—he’d become far more aware of how easily men preyed on even the most respectable women. That was why Edwin had begun St. George’s and Warren had joined—to make sure that men who cared about the women in their lives could look out for them more effectively in a society where fortune hunters and scoundrels abounded.
But it was still problematic for him to do what Clarissa asked. “You realize that if I start asking at the club about an eligible young lady’s situation, our members will assume I’m interested in courting her.”
“Nonsense. Everyone knows you prefer soiled doves to society loves.”
“I like society women perfectly well... as long as they have inattentive or dead husbands. It makes matters infinitely less complicated.” And there were plenty of those women about, which was one reason he wasn’t keen to marry. He had a ready supply of bedmates without having to leg-shackle himself.
