Page 3 of One Night for Seduction
“She has a lot of sense,” Thaddeus said staunchly. “Too much sense. She can’t look at something without seeing a dozen ways to improve it. Her brain never ceases.”
“No wonder you can’t marry her off,” Eastleigh muttered with a theatrical shiver.
“She’ll make some man one hell of a wife,” Cole corrected.
Eastleigh arched a brow. “You?”
“Good God, no.” Cole reeled backward in horror. He would take a bride eventually—duty to the title, and whatnot—but he was far from ready for a step like that.
Unlike Eastleigh, Cole hadn’t been born expecting to inherit a dukedom someday. It had taken years of hard work to learn what others had had a lifetime to discover, and now that he had done so to the best of his ability, he was still fighting to prove himself amongst the peerage. He didn’t want to be ‘acceptable.’ He wanted to excel. To be deemed just as competent as any other blue blood in the House of Lords. Andthenperhaps he’d take a bride.
In the meantime, there was the small matter of an allegedly unmarriageable ward, too preoccupied with arranging others’ lives to take care of her own future. Parliament wouldn’t be sitting for another week.
What better way to pass the time than by winning a friendly wager?
He turned to Thad. “Not the two hundred quid. I mean what are the terms of the bet? Do I win once she’s obtained a serious offer from an interested party, or must we wait until the contract is signed to consider the deed done?”
Thaddeus leaned forward. “You think you can do it?”
“I don’t take a wager unless I’m certain of it. I’ve a ten-year winning streak to consider.”
“It’s the ale talking,” Eastleigh put in.
Cole shoved his mug in the duke’s direction. “I’ve barely touched mine.”
“Then it’s the lack of ale talking.” Eastleigh pushed the mug back toward Cole. “Finish your beer. Then say ‘no.’”
Thaddeus frowned at Eastleigh in confusion. “You don’t think he means to do it?”
“Colehaven is rash as a newborn pup, but honest to a fault,” Eastleigh said with a sigh. “If he takes a bet, he’ll win or die trying. But trust me. Never underestimate a woman.”
Ignoring the warning, Thad turned back to Cole, his eyes alive with hope. “Church bells. Suitors are good, a signed contract is better, but not until she’s legally someone’s wife can the wager be considered won. And there must be a time limit. Shall we say… by the end of the Season?”
Cole inclined his head at this request. Between his sister, his dukedom, and his duties with the House of Lords, Cole wouldn’t have a spare moment once the Season got underway. He would wrap up this wager within a week, and then focus on his true responsibilities.
Thad’s ward hadn’t found a husband because she hadn’t been looking for one. How hard could it be to find one for her?
“To keep things fair,” Thaddeus added, “no manipulation of the outcome. You can’t pay someone to marry her, you can’t marry her yourself or pretend to be entranced so that others follow suit. Diana must wed a man shewishesto marry, who also wishes to have her for his wife.”
“I would never manipulate someone with falsehoods or pretend to be something I am not,” Cole said stiffly. “If you believe me to be that sort of knave, we needn’t wager at all.”
“I meant no offense,” Thad said quickly. “Diana is not just my ward, but my cousin. I care for her as if she were my sister. You have a sister of your own. I’m trusting you not just to win, but to have a care for Diana’s heart.”
Eastleigh lifted his beer. “Behind his imprudence and arrogance, Colehaven is a softhearted romantic. If anyone can rustle up a love match for your ward, it’s a dreamer like him.”
“Five hundred pounds,” Thaddeus blurted eagerly. “If that’s not enough, name your price.”
Cole’s brain was already five moves ahead. “Where is your ward right now?”
“Home.”
Perfect. Cole’s blood sang with excitement. Per the terms of the wager, he couldn’t be seen as ‘dancing attendance upon her’ publicly, but a quick detour to the Middleton town house wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. Anyone who glimpsed the family crest upon his carriage would assume Cole to be paying a call to Thaddeus, not his ward.
Who, Cole belatedly realized, was so effective at being a wallflower that he hadn’t the least idea what she looked like. He had a vague idea that Thaddeus had become her guardian a year or two earlier, but no memory of ever having formally met her.
Until now.
No time like the present to make her acquaintance, Cole decided. He’d get a sense of Diana Middleton’s personality, find out what she wanted in a husband, and work out the particulars tomorrow. Between the beau monde and the Wicked Duke, Cole was friends with half of London. Any number of fine gentlemen should suit. With luck, he’d have the matter sorted before the weekend.
