The Earl's Wallflower Bride (28 page)

He found Anthony by himself, reclining in a
chair with his eyes closed, his expression indicating that he was
depressed. Surprised by the sudden change in his friend, Warren
bypassed a few gentlemen and pulled up a chair by Anthony.

“What happened?” he asked as he sat down.
“Did you lose money?”

Anthony opened his eyes and looked at him.
“Worse. I’m engaged to Miss Bachman.”

Warren tried to remember who Miss Bachman
was, but his mind drew a blank. “Who’s Miss Bachman?”

“My sister’s friend. You met her at the
dinner party I hosted while you were betrothed. Your wife’s father
was there. We were having a marvelous discussion on picking the
captains who can be trusted to go back and forth to India in a
timely manner when you had to leave early.”

“Oh, right. Yes, I remember now. Miss Bachman
was at the dinner table.” He really needed to start paying
attention when he was introduced to ladies. It was far too easy for
him to forget their names. “She was the one wearing the yellow
gown.”

“Yes, that was her.” He let out a long sigh.
“I hate the color yellow now. It’s all she ever wears.”

“I get the impression you don’t want to marry
her.”

“I don’t.”

“Then why are you?”

“My sister kept pestering me until I gave
in.”

Warren stared at him, sure his friend would
laugh and tell him he was joking. But he only let out another
disheartened sigh. “Why would you agree to marry someone just
because your sister wants you to?”

“You don’t know my sister very well. She has
a way of making you feel like the worst person in all of London if
you don’t do what she wants.”

“But you’re older than her.”

“I might be older, but she’s smarter.”

“That’s not true. You’re brilliant. You’re
one of the best investors in London.”

Anthony shook his head. “That’s not the kind
of smart I’m talking about. My sister has a way with people. You
can be having a seemingly harmless conversation with her, and
before you know it, you’re obligated to do something you don’t want
to.”

“The matter is easy to resolve. Tell her you
changed your mind and won’t do it.”

“It’s not that easy. I’ve tried. The best I
could do was delay the wedding until next summer.” He groaned then
asked, “What time is it?”

Warren pulled out his pocket watch. “It’s
almost two.”

“I promised my sister and Miss Bachman I’d go
to the museum with them.” He rose to his feet, looking more like a
gentleman about to go to war than one who was about to enjoy an
afternoon outing. “Do you enjoy your marriage to the Duke of
Hartwell’s daughter?”

“Yes, I love Iris very much.”

Anthony patted him on the shoulder. “You’re a
fortunate gentleman. If only we were all so lucky.”

Warren watched him as he left, surprised
Anthony couldn’t simply tell his sister he wasn’t going to marry
the lady she wanted him to. The matter was such an easy one. Warren
had never had trouble saying no when he didn’t want something. He
assumed all gentlemen were the same way. Apparently, he was
wrong.

“You can’t seem to stay out of trouble,”
Warren heard Lord Asheley call out in an amused voice.

For a moment, he thought Asheley was talking
to him because he was standing close to him. When Warren looked at
him, he realized Asheley’s gaze was fixed on the Marquess of
Dodsworth who was playing cards with his friends.

Lord Rossington came up beside Asheley. “What
has the good doctor done now to upset the Ton?”

“I think the better question is what hasn’t
he done?” Asheley replied with a smirk. “You keep it up, Dodsworth,
and you’ll be banned from every place in London.”

Dodsworth put his cards facedown on the table
and got up from his chair. “What ails you two so much that you feel
the need to bother me?”

“It’s embarrassing to have you associated
with White’s,” Asheley said. “Do you really think it’s appropriate
to tell the Duke of Richmond his voice is so high that dogs have
been known to howl in protest when he’s near?”

Mr. Robinson, Lord Edon and Lord Toplyn,
who’d been playing cards with Dodsworth, chuckled.

“It’s not my fault he sounds like a sick
violin that keeps screeching off-key,” Dodsworth replied. “But I
stand behind my comment. He never should have made the unflattering
comment about a certain gentleman who has a tendency to lisp.”

Warren wasn’t sure how many gentlemen
realized the gentleman who had a lisp was Lord Farewell. Warren
didn’t know him. In fact, he’d only heard of him in passing, but it
was no secret people had a hard time understanding him because of
the way he talked. That was probably why Lord Farewell was a
recluse.

“The Duke of Richmond isn’t someone you want
to upset,” Asheley reprimanded Dodsworth, shooting him a pointed
look. “If you think Lady Cadwalader is the only one with influence
in London, you’re sorely mistaken. She’s a shadow compared to the
Duke of Richmond.”

“And yet,” Warren interrupted, “it’s
perfectly acceptable for the Duke of Richmond to mock someone who
can’t control his speech?”

The others turned to Warren. Well, since he’d
already blurted out his thoughts on the matter, he figured he was
committed to seeing this through. He rose to his feet and faced
Asheley and Rossington.

“I’m dismayed no one is upset with the duke
for criticizing an honorable and decent gentleman whose only flaw
is the way he talks,” Warren continued. “I’m glad someone had the
good sense to stand up for Lord Farewell. Instead of treating
Dodsworth as if he did something wrong, you should be thanking him.
But,” he snapped his fingers, “that’s right. You can’t comprehend
what good human decency is because you’re too busy swapping wives
in meaningless bets.”

Both Asheley and Rossington scowled at him.
“You’re not perfect, either, Steinbeck,” Asheley said through
gritted teeth.

“Really? Then please share what my shameful
little secret is,” Warren dared, knowing full well there were no
secrets. Well, none they knew. Only Dodsworth knew about Edon’s
book.

After a long moment of fidgeting, Asheley let
out a huff. “No one likes someone who lectures others on what’s
right and wrong.”

“That’s not exactly a secret. I’m well-known
for telling people what I think,” Warren replied.

“There’s no sense in wasting your time,”
Rossington told Asheley in a low voice. “Especially with someone as
uptight as him.” He nodded toward Warren.

Warren’s eyebrows rose, but he chose not to
say anything. He had absolutely no respect for those two. In fact,
he took their dislike of him as a compliment.

The two left, and Warren expected things to
go back to normal as it often did, but Dodsworth came up to him.
“There might be hope for you yet.” Then he gave him a friendly pat
on the shoulder and returned to his game.

Pleased by the unexpected compliment, Warren
smiled to himself and headed out of the room. Someone called out
his name, and he looked over in time to see Malcolm and Robert
waving to him from their chessboard.

He went over to them. “I didn’t realize you
liked chess.”

“I don’t think I do,” Robert admitted. “I’ve
been trying to understand the appeal of the game, but so far, I’m
not impressed.”

“Me neither,” Malcolm agreed. “So many
gentlemen enjoy it. We thought there must be something to it.” He
shrugged. “It seems like a waste of time to me. I’d rather be
drawing up business plans. Speaking of which,” he turned away from
the board so he could look directly at Warren, “Robert and I were
wondering if you and your wife will join us at my home for a dinner
party in three days. We’ll have a ship captain over who will spend
the winter in Africa, and he wants to show us a detailed plan on
what he’ll be bringing back. If we pay for the voyage, we might
reap a good profit.”

“Really?” Warren hadn’t meant to show his
surprise, but he hadn’t expected to be invited to one of Malcolm’s
dinner parties.

Malcolm nodded. “He might be young for a
captain, but he grew up on the ship. In fact, his father was one of
the best captains of the seas.”

“No,” Warren clarified, “I meant, are you
sure you really want me to come to a dinner party, given what
happened with the vote regarding Lord Edon’s book and the way I
upset Miss Carlisle when I ignored Iris?” He glanced between
Malcolm and Robert.

“I thought we worked all that out about the
vote,” Malcolm replied.

“Well, yes,” Warren began, “but I wasn’t sure
I’d be welcome to a dinner party.”

“It’s my fault I didn’t come to you sooner.
I’ve never been very good with people. It’s why I like working with
numbers. Numbers are predictable and easy.”

“I thought I was the only one who felt that
way.”

Malcolm chuckled. “No, you’re not. I’ve been
awkward with people ever since I was little.”

Warren relaxed. It was nice knowing he wasn’t
the only odd gentleman in London. Maybe that was why he and Malcolm
had seemed to get along so well from the moment they met.

“Well, I’m not afraid to admit I do all right
when it comes to people,” Robert said, a teasing tone in his voice.
“But I don’t do as well with numbers. I’ve benefited a lot from
being with you two. And Warren, word is that your wife is very
happy with you. When your wife is happy, my intended is happy.”

“Intended?” Malcolm asked, eyebrows raised.
“Does that mean you finally asked Miss Carlisle to marry you?”

“Not exactly,” Robert said. “I’m going to ask
her this evening since I got her father’s permission to
propose.”

“A father’s approval goes a long way,” Warren
replied.

“And sometimes that approval is to the
detriment of the poor brother-in-law,” Malcolm quipped.

Robert shot him an amused look. “Is it
possible you and Lord Toplyn will ever get along?”

“I’ll admit that Logan has his moments where
he actually seems decent,” Malcolm said, “but he likes to say
things to irk me. He thinks it’s funny.”

“I thought you were going to ignore him,”
Robert replied.

“I tried.” After a moment, he added,
“Apparently, my eye twitches when he upsets me, and he knows it.
Now he tries to see how many times he can make my eye twitch. It’s
like a game. Believe me, if I could stop the twitching, I
would.”

“
Unfortunately, you can’t
pick all of the people in your family,” Warren said.

Warren had been around Logan enough to know
the gentleman had a mischievous side to him. Granted, Logan wasn’t
as bad as Byron had been, but he could understand why Malcolm lost
patience with him.

“Fortunately, you can pick your friends,”
Robert spoke up, “and I consider you both good ones.”

“We do make a good team,” Malcolm agreed.
“Let’s play some cards. That will be more entertaining than chess.”
He glanced at Warren. “Want to join us?”

Warren smiled with pleasure. “Sure. It sounds
like fun.”

“Great.” Malcolm led them to one of the
tables where a deck of cards was waiting for them.

***

“We’re glad you’re all right,” Iris’ mother
said, giving her another hug.

Iris shot her father a look that implored him
to help her. When she came to visit her parents, she had no idea
her mother would keep hugging her.

“Iris is fine, my dear,” her father told her
mother as he gently pulled her away from Iris. He led her mother to
a chair. “You don’t need to keep holding onto her. Byron won’t
cause us any more problems.”

“Warren was so worried about you,” her mother
said. “He thought you had spent the day with us, but of course, we
hadn’t seen you.”

“I had to go to your townhouse to find out
what happened,” her father replied. “Thankfully, the butler assured
us you were going to be all right. Warren was in such a hurry he
didn’t think to send us a message.” He paused then added, “Since he
was that worried about you, it means he cares for you.”

Noting the pointed look on his face, Iris
smiled. “Yes, I’m aware of how much he cares for me.”

“Good,” her father replied, looking relieved.
“That poor gentleman’s been trying so hard to get back into your
good graces ever since he learned he was going to marry you. There
were times I felt sorry for him.”

“Well, he’s doing fine now, so you have no
need to worry,” she assured him.

“That’s good to hear. We’d like to have
grandchildren.”

“Yes,” her mother agreed. “While I know they
won’t get here right away, I’d like to know you’re working on
them.”

Iris had no idea her mother could be so
outspoken about such a personal topic, but she chose not to
respond.

Thankfully, her father patted his wife’s
hands. “Just be happy our daughter has a love match. The rest will
take care of itself. Now, Iris, when will we get a chance to meet
Opal?”

“Soon. In fact, Opal’s been excited about the
prospect of buying some lovely gowns,” Iris began, already knowing
this was going to thrill her mother to no end. She paused, just to
build up the suspense, “So I told her that when I returned home
today, I would take her dress shopping. And,” she glanced at her
mother whose eyes lit up, “I was wondering if you’d like to join us
since you keep up on the latest fashion.”

She barely had time to finish the last
sentence before her mother jumped up from her chair and grabbed her
hand to help her up. “It’s already after noon. If we’re going to be
back in time for dinner, we need to go right away.”

Iris laughed. “Surely, we won’t be out all
afternoon.”

“We’ll probably need several afternoons to
get everything we need. The poor girl hasn’t been to London. She
has much to learn.”

“But, really,” she protested as her mother
practically dragged her to the front door, “we’re only going to
look at dresses. It shouldn’t take that long.”