His Wicked Lady (3 page)

Shooting him an amused smile, she set the
glass beside him and took her baby. “Have a drink, Malcolm. It
seems like you need it.”

She was probably right. After his harrowing
experience with the blonde lady who dragged him to the dance floor
against his will, he could use some brandy. He took a swallow of
it, forgoing the process of savoring its taste.

“You must be agitated,” she commented.

“My hand has been forced. I must seek a wife,
and I must do so at once. You said Helena can help me with this
matter?”

“I thought you told Father you had no desire
to marry.”

“Yes, well, that was then. This is now.”

“It was only yesterday when you talked to
him.”

“A lot can happen in a day.” When she didn’t
look convinced, he groaned. “I know it’s sudden, but this evening
I’ve come to terms with the truth. If I don’t get a bride in a
respectable fashion, one is going to be thrust upon me through a
scandal.”

To his surprise, his sister burst out
laughing. She, of all people, should understand how quickly
scandals could happen!

“I doubt a lady is going to enact some
scandal so you have to marry her.”

“Oh? And why is that so funny?”

“Malcolm, please stop.” She continued
laughing to the point where tears fell from her eyes. “I might drop
Mathias if I’m not careful.”

With a huff, he quickly set his glass down
and took the poor baby back in his arms. “There. Now my nephew is
safe.” He patiently waited for her to calm down before asking, “Why
is it so hard to believe a lady might take it upon herself to
scandalize me?”

Instead of answering him, she laughed again.
“Scandalize you? Why, Malcolm, you do say the silliest things. Only
you would talk that way.”

Logan came into the room, which only served
to prove this evening definitely wasn’t going Malcolm’s way. Logan
smirked at Malcolm and approached the decanter. “I see you’ve been
telling my lovely wife about your great prowess with the ladies at
tonight’s ball.”

“This has nothing to do with that,” Malcolm
said.

“I know. I was merely being polite. I already
know you don’t want to get married. And who can blame you? No lady
will have you.”

Malcolm’s jaw dropped, and he turned to
Melissa. “You told him Father wants me to get married?”

She finally managed to catch a breath as she
fanned her face with her hand. “You can’t be surprised he knows.
He’s my husband.”

“To be fair to Melissa, your father came over
to ask if Helena had any ideas on which lady might be a suitable
match for you,” Logan told him. “She didn’t tell me about your
plight.”

“My father was over here to see if Helena
could pair me up with a lady?” Malcolm asked his sister.

Clearing her throat after a couple more
chuckles, Melissa said, “I told Father it wasn’t right for him to
try to pair you up with a lady without your permission. Whether or
not to marry is your decision.”

Well, that made him feel a little better.

“But you do want to marry,” she
continued.

“You do?” Logan asked in interest as he
poured brandy into his glass.

Ignoring Logan, Malcolm told her, “I know you
are helping Helena arrange marriages. You know me better than
anyone. Will you make sure she chooses the right lady for me?”

“I’ll be happy to do it.”

“And make it quick. Go over to her first
thing tomorrow.”

“When you get in a hurry, you don’t waste
time,” Logan murmured as he plopped down in the chair across from.
He crossed his legs and took a sip of his drink.

“I see no point in wasting my time now that
my decision has been made,” Malcolm told him. “Unlike you, I’m not
going to pick the first lady I can kiss. I’m going to use my
sister’s wise judgment.”

“So, in other words,” Logan began, swirling
the drink in his hand, “you can’t find a wife on your own, so
you’re enlisting her help.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It was implied.”

“You two need to stop,” Melissa intervened.
“There’s no sense in this discussion.” She turned to Malcolm. “I’ll
be happy to help you, and I’ll go to Helena’s tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

At least his sister wasn’t so devoted to
Logan she couldn’t see the wisdom in helping her own brother out.
But if he thought that was enough to deter Logan from making a
nuisance of himself, he was sorely mistaken.

“Hmm…” Logan leaned forward, his elbows
resting on his thighs, and stared at Malcolm. “For someone who only
seems to care about acquiring money, you’ve taken a sudden interest
in getting a bride.” After a moment of Malcolm glaring at him, he
snapped his fingers. “I know! You came across a lady tonight who
scared you into this.”

“Nothing of the sort happened,” he
argued.

“Of course, it did. You’re in too much of a
hurry for it to be any other reason. What did she do? Threaten to
kiss you? Threaten to take you off to another room and—”

“Logan!” Melissa interrupted. “Please stop
upsetting my brother.”

“I’m sorry, my delicate flower,” Logan
replied. “It’s safe to assume Malcolm has no idea how to kiss a
lady anyway. She’d have to pretty much teach him. Maybe that’s what
scared him. Maybe this one was willing to help him along in the
ways of romance.” Logan smirked at Malcolm. “You should try a kiss
sometime. It’s quite enjoyable.”

“Logan,” she shot him a pointed look, “I’m
sure my brother has kissed a lady before. He’s twenty-five.”

Logan, eyebrows raised, turned his amused
gaze at Malcolm in a silent challenge to prove he had kissed a
lady. Malcolm, however, wasn’t in the mood to play any of Logan’s
games. Actually, he was never in the mood for it, but that was
especially true this evening.

Malcolm stood up and faced Melissa. “Father
made a good point when he said I have no one to leave my money to
when I die.”

“You could leave it to us,” Logan said.

Ignoring him, Malcolm continued, “Besides, I
like my nephew. It stands to reason I’ll enjoy having
children.”

“Especially making them,” Logan quipped with
a chuckle.

Melissa shook her head at Logan, and
thankfully, this succeeded in getting him to stop chuckling. “I’ll
visit Helena tomorrow, and I’ll let you know when we find you a
wife.”

“Thank you,” he told her. He turned to leave
but caught a muffled chuckle from Logan who was doing his best not
to laugh. He almost didn’t justify his brother-in-law’s subtle
insult but then decided he might as well. It wasn’t like the
evening could get any worse. He directed his gaze to Logan. “Did
you receive Lord Steinbeck’s invitation to a dinner party?”

“I didn’t know Lord Steinbeck was having a
dinner party.”

Malcolm feigned surprise. “But I thought
everyone at White’s got the invitation.”

Noting the frown on Logan’s face, Malcolm let
out an innocent shrug then left the townhouse.

***

“Malcolm, you are a genius,” Lord Steinbeck
said the next day at White’s. He gave Malcolm a solid pat on the
back then handed him a bottle of brandy. “It’s the best brand in
London. You deserve the best, my friend.”

Malcolm accepted the bottle and thanked him.
“I take it Mr. Carlos’ ship proved a good investment.”

“It did. More so than I’d hoped. You were
right about him. He’s the best in the business.”

Malcolm smiled, glad his advice had paid off
so well. “Now you can get that new carriage you’ve been
wanting.”

“That I can, all thanks to you. Did you get
my invitation?” Steinbeck asked, sitting next to him.

“I did. I was going to write you when I got
back to my townhouse that I’m coming.”

“Good. I want you to meet a good friend of
mine, the Marquess of Dodsworth. You’ll like him. He’s as
respectable as they come.”

“That’s a relief. I had another unfortunate
encounter with my brother-in-law last night, and you know those
things never go well.”

Steinbeck grimaced. “I don’t know how you do
it. There can’t be a fate worse than being forced to have Lord
Toplyn in one’s family.”

“Sadly, that’s true, and he’s worse at his
townhouse than he is here.” Malcolm shivered. “If it wasn’t for my
sister, I’d have nothing to do with him.”

Even now Malcolm’s wrist ached from where
Logan had shot him during the duel. It was a cruel reminder of how
he’d failed to free poor Melissa from marriage to the cad.

“Try not to let people like Lord Toplyn
trouble you,” Steinbeck said. “They aren’t worth giving any thought
to. You have better things to focus on.”

“You’re right. I do.” Malcolm picked up the
paper he’d been reading before Steinbeck came up to him. “I’ve been
studying this particular investment for quite some time, and I
think it’s worth taking a closer look at. Tell me, what do you
think?” He held it out to Steinbeck.

Grinning, he took the paper. “You’re the
expert. If you say it’s a sure thing, I’ll believe it.”

Malcolm couldn’t help but be pleased with
Steinbeck’s high estimation of him. It was nice to be appreciated.
God knew his father was busy talking about all the things Logan
liked, and his mother only wanted to talk about Mathias. He
couldn’t blame his mother, though, for wanting to dote on her
grandson. Mathias was the one redeeming quality Logan had. But even
Melissa, the sister he’d dutifully looked after since the day she
was born, refused to utter a bad word about Logan. It was enough to
make anyone ill, and Malcolm had a healthy constitution.

“Are you going to put some money in that
investment?” Steinbeck asked, bringing Malcolm’s attention back to
the paper.

“I think I’ll go with five pounds.”

“That much?”

“Well, it’s not really a lot. I want to put
in a little bit and see how it does. I never put more in than I’m
willing to lose.”

Steinbeck chuckled and shook his head. “I
wish I could afford to lose that much. Unfortunately, I’m not as
well off as you are. I think I’ll put in a pound. I don’t want to
miss this opportunity.”

“I don’t think you’ll be sorry.”

“Judging by your keen eye for this sort of
thing, I’ll gladly take my chances.” Lords Roderick and Clement
left their chessboard, so Steinbeck gestured to it. “Want to play a
game?”

“I love the game, so the answer is a hearty
yes.” Malcolm followed him to the board, looking forward to playing
with someone of Steinbeck’s prowess at the game. It’d be nice to be
challenged for a change.

Chapter Three

R
egan wasn’t able to secure an appointment with the Duchess of
Ashbourne until two days later. She had no idea so many people went
to the lady to find a suitable match, but she reasoned it only
proved how well the duchess did her job. Perhaps, just perhaps, it
was a sign Regan would like the gentleman the duchess would find
for her, though it was a shame things hadn’t worked out as well
with Mr. Jasper as she’d wanted.

Try as she might, she couldn’t forget about
him. No gentleman since her husband died had excited her so much.
Forcing aside the thought, she stepped out of the carriage, and she
headed up the steps. Along the way, she paused. Maybe she shouldn’t
do this. Maybe she should turn around, get right back into the
carriage, and go home. And she almost did just that.

But then she remembered how enjoyable
marriage had been on so many levels. She’d had someone she could
confide in, someone she could be who she truly was without fear of
rejection, someone who could accept her, faults and all.

Surely, there must be a gentleman out there
who would be good to both her and her son. Frederick would have
wanted her to be happy. Her first priority was her son, of course.
Whoever she married, he must be good to her boy. If she couldn’t
find such a gentleman, then she wouldn’t marry.

Feeling much better, she continued the rest
of the way up the steps then knocked on the door. She’d only seen
the duchess from time to time at a ball, but this would be her
first time talking to her. She prayed the lady’s reputation would
lead her to an ideal match.

The door opened, and she was soon guided into
the drawing room. Her footsteps came to a stop when she saw three
ladies. One was at a desk with a parchment and quill in hand. The
duchess was sitting on the settee, and the third lady sat in a
chair close to the duchess.

“Duchess,” the butler began, gesturing to
Regan, “Lady Cantrell has arrived.”

“I’m sorry,” Regan told the pregnant duchess
who rose from her settee. “I must have gotten the time wrong.”

“No, your timing is perfect,” the duchess
assured her, waving her into the room. “These are my friends. They
help me arrange marriages.”

“Oh.” Since that was the case, Regan stepped
forward.