A Most Unsuitable Earl (Regency Collection Book 3) (5 page)

“Because you cheat?” her father
guessed.

Ethan’s jaw dropped.  “I’d never cheat.  I have my honor to protect.”

He rolled his eyes.  “Such as it is.”

“There you go, Catherine.  My son is done with his gambling.  All his money will be yours to enjoy.  Considering he’s one of the wealthiest gentlemen at this ball tonight, you’ll do very well with this marriage.  As for Ethan, he’ll do well to settle down with a nice, respectable lady, and few ladies are as nice and respectable as you.  This is an excellent match.  Even better, your son will have a title to his name when Ethan dies.”

Catherine p
laced her hand over her stomach, looking as if she was going to lose her dinner.  As a respectable lady, any thoughts to lovemaking would make her queasy to her stomach.  The only thing he knew about the act was that the quicker it was done, the better.  Wives were for the duty to a gentleman’s lineage.  Mistresses were for pleasure.  And quite frankly, Ethan had no desire for either.  Why couldn’t his mother understand and appreciate the fact that he was meant to enjoy a life in the country removed from all this no
nsense? 
He let out a weary sigh and put his head in his hands.  Al
l hopes for a peaceful life evaporated right before his eyes
.

“Your Grace,” his mother bega
n, “do I have your permission to tell your daughter
about
her duty in the bedroom?”

Appalled by his mother’s brazen question, Ethan
stood up
.  “You continually worry about what the Ton thinks of me, and yet you have the audacity to ask something so personal to a duke in his own home?”

His mother shrugged.  “I doubt His Grace knows how to handle this matter.” Glancing at Catherine, she added, “It’s a delicate thing, and gentlemen aren’t very good with those types of discussions.”

“Why do you persist in embarrassing me?” he demanded.

“Me embarrass you?” She rose to her feet and squared her shoulders back.  “I have to find out about your indiscretions through the
Tittletattle
.”

The duke rose to his feet.  “We don’t need to hear anymore.” He hurried over to Catherine, took her by the elbow, and helped her stand up.  “We agreed that the marriage will take place
in a month.  The B
anns
will be read over the next three Sundays, and after that,” he gulped, “the ceremony will take place.” Turning his attention to Ethan’s mother, he continued, “In the meantime, your son has no need to get near my daughter.”

His mother nodded.  When the duke opened the door and left with Catherine, his mother waited unt
il they were out of earshot to clap
her hands.  “How exciting!
That went better than I hoped
.”

“I don’t understand you, Mother.  They’re miserable about this.”

She waved her hand in a dismissive manner.  “They’re in shock.  It’s bound to happen considering everything they’ve been through.  Look who she’s marrying.” She motioned to him.  “But what other choice did she have?  Spinsterhood?  That’s a terrible fat
e for a duke’s daughter.  Now he knows his daughter’s future is secure
. 
Plus, his grandson will be an earl. 
It’ll be a good consolation when he’s on his deathbed.” She paused and studied him.  “You will do everything you can to make sure he gets that grandson, won’t you?”

“Y
ou really need to ask?” he replied
, both appalled and irritated
that
she needed to pose such a question to a gentleman who had a reputation as a rake.

“Oh, you’re right.  You’ve been with lots of ladies…and not-so-ladylike ladies.  If anyone can give Catherine a son, it’s you.  I just hope you remember to do your duty to her instead of running off to seek pleasure elsewhere.  Remember, you have an obligation to the crown.”

He stared at her as she skipped out of the room and shook his head.  His mother, who had the nerve to refer to herself as a lady, had the tendency to be as blunt as a gentleman at the gambling tables.

“What kind of a travesty did I get myself into?”
he mumbled, and deciding he’d had enough excitement for one night, he slipped out the window.

“Y
ou
have
a request from someone who wants to
visit you
,” Opal told Catherine who was softly crying into her handkerchief.

Cather
ine didn’t stir from her daybed. 
She swallowed the lump in her throat.  What if the request came from Lord Edon or his mother?  Taking a deep breath, she ventured,
“Who is it?”

“Lady Roderick.”

She wiped the tears from
her eyes and sat up. 
“Lady Roderick?”

“Yes.
Would you like her to come for a visit
?”

After she nodded, Opal left her bedchamber.  Catherine wondered what Lady Roderick wanted to talk about. 
She hadn’t visited her before.  The
only time she’d talked to
Lady Roderick was whenever she saw her at balls, and their conversations were always brief.

She recalled
their conversation the previous
evening when Lady Roderick wa
nted to introduce her to Lord Clement
.  Maybe that’s what she wanted to
talk about.  But didn’t she
know about Catherine’s sudden betrothal?
  Catherine thought back to what transpired after her father had arranged the we
dding with Lord Edon’s mother.  Most of it was a blur.  She didn’t remember seeing Lady Roderick after her father escorted her back to the ball.
 
People expressed their congratulations on the upcoming wedding, but Lady Roderick hadn’t been one of them.  So maybe she didn’t see the events that transpired and the resulting wedding announcement
. 

Catherin
e grimaced.  Why anyone would congratulate her on her upcoming wedd
ing to Lord Edon was beyond her.
  They probably said it to be polite.  She put her hand over her stomach.  She was going to be sick if she kept thinking about it.

Opal returned and offered her a smile.  “I sent word for you, my lady.  Lady Roderick should be here soon.  What dress would you like to wear?”

Relieved to occupy her thoughts with something other than her upcoming marriage,
Catherine rose from her daybed and s
elected a green dress to wear.

As Opal helped her
out of her morning dress
, she said, “Sometimes a change of dress can raise a lady’s spirit.
”

“It’s going to take more than changing dresses to
make me feel better.” Realizing she spoke aloud, she quickly added, “Forgive me.  I shouldn’t be complaining.  Yesterday, I moped because I had no suitor, and today, I mope because I’m to be married.” She shrugged.  “I’m not happy, no matter what happens, am I?”

“N
o one can blame you for being upset that you’re marrying someone your father doesn’t approve of.”

“Lord Edon and I
never had
a secret engagement.  He
made that up to avoid being chased by an eager young lady.”

“I didn’t think there was a secret engagement.  I might not know the details on how your betrothal came about, but I know you well enough to understand Lord Edon manipulated the situation to his advantage.”

Catherine raised her arms while her maid slipped the green dress over her head. 
“Well, he might have come up with the lie, but it was his mother who forced the issue.”

“She didn’t
!”

She
let out a heavy sigh.  “She’s quite excited about the marriage, too.  I’m not sure how she managed it, but with her insistence that Lord Edon and I were in love, my father couldn’t say no to a marriage in front of everyone.  He was trapped into agreeing to it.”

“Perhaps your marriage won’t be as bad as you fear
,” she replied as she buttoned the back of her dress.

“Lord Edon’s a rake.  Of all the gentlemen I could be marrying, it has to be him?  He’s not even a decent rake.”

Opal giggled.  “I wasn’t aware that there was a decent type of rake.”

“No, I suppose not. 
But Lord Edon doesn’t even try to
hide his indiscretions.  I haven’t read the
Tittletattle
, but I hear he’s in it more than anyone else.  Sometimes I wonder if he w
ants to be featured so he has something to brag about.”

Opal finished with the dress and motioned to the vanity.  Catherine sat in the chair and watched as she styled her hair.  T
hankfully, she had the comfort of
knowing Opal would be with her after she married Lord Edon
.
  Once Opal finished, she handed her a hand mirror so Catherine could inspect the back of her hair.

“You did a lovely job
,” Catherine said.  “You always do a lovely job.” Too bad she wasn’t lovely enough to do justice to her hairstyle or dress.

Pushing aside her
thoughts, she left her bedchamber and went down the
stairs.  Since Lady Roderick hadn’t arrived yet, she traveled the hallway until she found her father in his fencing room.  She waited
until he
turned to her, lowered his smallsword
, and took off his mask.

“What is it, Cathy?”

She stepped into the room and studied her fingernails.  “
Lady Roderick is coming by for a visit, and I didn’t know what to do until she arrived so I came to see what you’re doing.”

“Oh, I’m just thinking of
what I’ll say to Lord Edon when I invite him over.”

“You’re going to invite him here?” She shouldn’t have been surprised since she was going to marry him, but he was the last person she expected her father to willingly talk to.

“I want t
o make sure he treats you like
the lady you are.  Given his reputation, I think some incentive to behave himself when you’re around is only suitable.”

“I wish he’d found someone else to dance with when he was trying to get rid of Mrs. and Miss Duffy,” she replied.  “If he had, then his mother w
ould have found someone else to
pawn him off on
.  His mother must be desperate to find him a wife.”

“How fortunate for us she found you when she did,” he muttered. 
“As much as I’d like to change the circumstances, I can’t.  Lord E
don doesn’t deserve you
.”

Well, there was
no d
enying that
.

“It makes me sick to see you with him, but short of a duel, there’s nothing else I can do.”

She gasped.  “You won’t challenge him to a duel?”

“No.  Unfortuna
tely, it’s been outlawed, and I’m not the kind of gentleman who breaks the law.  Unlike Lord Edon, I believe in behaving honorably.”

“I suspect that’s what his mother was betting on.”

His hold tightened on his mask.  “I know she was, which is why she gave that grand display in front of everyone.” He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.  “Apparently, it was my undoing to leave your side.”

“You can’
t be with me all the time.”

“While that’s nice of you to say, I failed you.”

She walked over to him and embraced him.  “You didn’t fail me.”

He wrapped his arms around her and sighed.  “I just want the best for you, and God knows Lord Edon isn’t it.”

“I know, but there’s no going back in time and undoing what’s been done.”

He released her and smil
ed
.  “You’re a brave young lady.”

“Courage has nothing to do with it.  I just know that I have no other option.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Lord Edon treats you with the respect you
deserve.  I won’t have him making
a fool of you.”

The butler entered the room.  “Lady Roderick is here, Lady Catherine.”

Her father patted her on the arms.  “Have a good visit with your friend.”

“She’s not my friend.  I hardly know her,” Catherine replied.

“Maybe this is the beginning of a friendship.  Given your upcoming marriage, you could use a friend or two to help you cope with Lord Edon.”

“With any luck, I’ll be able to live in my own home like his mother suggested.”

“That would be best.”

She turned to the butler and followed him down the hallway until she reached the drawing
room where Lady Roderick sat on a settee.  “
Will you bring us some tea?” Catherine
asked the butler.

He nodded and bowed before he left the room.

Up to this point, Catherine had been so focused on her impending marriage that she hadn’t given full thought to what Lady Roderick’s visit meant.  She couldn’t recall the last time she was paid a social call.  Sure, she had ladies visit
in order to get into
the good graces of her father, but
Lady Roderick was here because she wanted to actually spend time with her
.  And that made Catherine nervous since she’d never talked to anyone who simply wanted to get to know her.