Page 8 of Avoiding the Merry Viscount
Lydia Cary would marry for love and faithfulness, or she would not marry at all. And she would never again trust a damn rake.
Chapter Two
Elias
December 1811
Elias rolled hiseyes when the sounds of carolers reached his ears as his carriage rolled down the cold streets of London. Fortunately, the sound was gone as quickly as it approached once the carriage turned on another street heading out of town. He wasn’t certain how he felt about the events that awaited him at his country home over Christmas.
Not that he hated the holiday, exactly. But what he hated was the pain in his father’s eyes and the hole left in their family after his mother passed, which felt far wider around the anniversary of her passing. He frequently recalled that first Christmas without her, when his father used every ounce of his strength to pretend for the benefit of Elias’s younger sisters.
It has been twelve years, and time has made none of them miss her any less. The tears were fewer, and his father had gone on to ensure their estates thrived and that each of his children were loved, but the hole remained.
“Surely attending Diana’s house party won’t be all that bad,” Jude said from his seat in the carriage, facing Elias.
“You are telling me you are looking forward to being trapped for a sennight with whatever eager young chits my sister has invited?” Elias asked, not bothering to hide his irritation. Diana had requested him to arrive a day before the others to help with the remaining preparationsand to greet each of the guests as they arrived. He and Jude had decided to travel together, sending their valets ahead of them to prepare for their arrival.
He knew Diana hoped to fill the hole in their lives with a house full of people, and it only made Elias dread the holiday more.
“Not at all, but I’m certain we will have a grand time. You will play the part of the merry viscount and dodge all the marriage-minded ladies. And I shall support you in such an endeavor,” Jude said, raising his arms and clasping his fingers behind his head as he leaned into the squabs.
Jude, who had officially become Marquess Sandon, was the most notorious rake of theton. Elias might have been on his way to earning that title for himself if he didn’t also have sisters to help marry well. He attempted to conceal his libertine lifestyle somewhat more than his friend did.
Diana had made her come out last season, and it was his job to ensure that she didn’t take up with the wrong sort of gentleman, which he enlisted the help of Jude, Hudson, and Matt to do.
Seeing to Diana’s prospects should have been a role that his father tended to, but Papa didn’t wish to leave the country. He preferred to be where he felt closest to Mama and pleaded with Elias to escort Diana to events. Their father would have come to town if Diana accepted a marriage offer, but that hadn’t been necessary.
While Elias was glad his sister hadn’t settled regarding her choice of husband, it also meant that he would have to repeat his role during the next season, and then again for Jenny and Grace when they were of age. It was a tedious task, when he’d much rather partake in far more pleasurable entertainment instead of standing in stuffy ballrooms.
“Have you ever known me to be merry?” Elias asked, smirking.
“From the satisfied grin on your face when you departed from that busty redhead last night, I’d say you made quite merry indeed.”
Elias laughed. Jude wasn’t wrong about that. “Well, we shan’t have an opportunity for such engagements until after the holidays.”
“Come now, Elias. There is a tavern in the village. We shouldn’t have to live like monks for so many days.”
“You make a fair point. Assuming we can escape from Diana and whatever she has planned for us.” His sister had always dealt with her grief by keeping busy. Elias still couldn’t believe his father agreed to allow her to host a big holiday house party. Their Aunt Penny helped her with the arrangements, although Elias doubted his sister needed the help at all.
Diana was better at estate management than even Elias was. She expressed an early interest, and their father taught the two of them together. It was Diana who managed their household with almost the same care and precision that their mother had, and she could oversee everything with the estates from ledgers to crop rotations to coordinating necessary building improvements.
“Do you know who all we will be subjected to at this event?” Jude asked. Jude may be a rake, but he had rules. One of those was not to dally with anyone from theton, even the widows. Elias shared that rule after an encounter a few years ago went awry and made things quite awkward for him once he began escorting his sister to events.
Elias shrugged. “I didn’t ask. Matt and Hudson will be there. And Hannah, of course. That is all I know.”
Hudson and Hannah always spent the Christmas holiday with them. Their parents had also always joined them until Lord and Lady Onslow died a couple of years ago. So the friends all leaned on each other to cope with their grief. They had all been so close that it was almost like Elias had lost another set of parents.
“Stay away from dark alcoves and kissing balls.” Jude teasingly wagged his finger at Elias.
“Now you sound like Hudson.”
Jude chuckled and shifted his hands from behind his head to hislap. “I might eat my own hat if he cracks a smile even once during the entire party.”
Hudson had always been the most serious among them. It has been something they teased him about during their time at university. He became even more so when his parents passed. Elias hoped his best friend might find something in life that would bring him a bit of joy one day.
“It depends on how often he’s subjected to Matt,” Elias said. Matt and Hudson were opposites in almost every way and the divide became worse after they had some falling out. But they could at least tolerate each other as long as they didn’t have to spend too much time in each other’s presence—or find themselves alone together.
“Perhaps it’ll be a holiday miracle, and they’ll resolve their differences,” Jude said hopefully.
