Page 27 of A Dangerous Pursuit (Regency Spies & Secrets 1)

“I thought it would be best if we planned it straight away.”

“We?”

His mother blinked. “Don’t you want to be involved in the details?”

“No, I don’t,” Baldwin declared bluntly.

“That is a shame,” his mother said as she walked towards the door. “But, fortunately, Jane and I will be happy to plan the whole thing since we know how busy you are.”

“Mother…” he growled.

She stopped in the doorway. “You won’t have to worry about a thing, my dear. Just leave all the details to us.”

“I would prefer it if you called it off.”

His mother gasped. “But the invitations have already gone out. What would people think of us?” she asked, bringing her hand to her chest.

“Frankly, I don’t care.”

“But I do,” his mother stated. “Besides, Jane isn’t married yet, and we have her reputation to think of.”

Baldwin frowned, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. He didn’t have the heart to disappoint his mother in this, not after everything he had put her through these past few years.

“I understand, Mother.”

She smiled broadly. “You are a good son,” she said before departing from the room.

Oliver eyed the empty doorway. “Why is it that I feel we just got duped?”

“Because we did, Brother,” Baldwin said. “We did.”

“So this manjust escorted you to your coach, without so much as a by-your-leave?” her lady’s maid asked in disbelief as she brushed Madalene’s long brown tresses.

Madalene nodded. “The man grabbed my arm, led me outside, and then proceeded to insult me.”

Teresa shook her head. “That was poorly done by him, but he did save you from an unsavory situation.”

“I should think not,” Madalene replied. “I had the situation in hand.”

“You did?”

Madalene reached for a bottle of lotion on the dressing table. “Those three men in the coffeehouse were nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“And why do you say that?”

“Because they were just trying to impress me,” Madalene said. “I don’t believe they intended to do me harm.”

“I think you are too trusting, Miss.”

Madalene started rubbing the lotion on her arms. “Either way, that man at the coffeehouse was just awful, and I hope never to see him again.”

“I should say so,” Teresa responded as she began to pull Madalene’s hair into a coiffure. “Although, I must wonder if he was handsome.”

“Why should that matter?”

Teresa shrugged. “I’m just trying to understand the entire situation.”

Madalene pressed her lips together before admitting, “If you must know, he wasn’t terrible to look at.”

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