Her Devilish Marquess (3 page)

How did Helena know she was scared?

With some prompting from Regan, Danette went
to the settee and sat down, glancing at Chloe and Melissa. Did they
think there was something wrong with her because she wasn’t as
outgoing as Regan? She knew they’d helped Regan arrange a marriage
with Malcolm. Most likely, Regan was a much more ideal candidate
for marriage. Not only was she attractive, but she had no trouble
when it came to talking to strangers.

“
Perhaps it’d be easiest if
we started asking questions,” Chloe suggested.

The others nodded in agreement, and Danette
took a deep breath, not sure what they were going to ask her.
Questions such as, “Why should anyone consider marrying you?” or
“What benefit can you bring to a marriage?” might be among them,
and she couldn’t answer those. Indeed, her mind would go blank if
they asked such things.

The first question Chloe asked her was,
“What type of gentleman would you like to marry?”

“
One who’ll say yes on the
wedding day,” flew right out of Danette’s mouth before she had time
to think. She brought her hand up to her cheek, feeling the heat of
her embarrassment. Good heavens. Could she sound any more
pathetic?

Regan laughed. “My friend has a marvelous
sense of humor.”

The others chuckled.

“
A gentleman who says yes is
definitely a good one,” Melissa agreed. “Though, I gather from your
answer you’d like someone who has a sense of humor. Would that be
an accurate statement?”

“
Well…” Danette thought it
over. It would be nice if she ended up with someone who didn’t take
life too seriously. Someone who wasn’t uptight might possibly agree
to bear with her faults. “I do like to laugh. What I’d like is for
him to be able to accept me. I’m not perfect, and as you’ve
probably gathered, I’m not exactly graceful in social
situations.”

“
No one’s perfect,” Regan
was quick to interrupt.

“
But I’m not charming and
talkative like you are,” Danette told Regan.

“
You don’t need to be like
Regan,” Helena said. “Our goal is to match you up with the
gentleman best suited for you. You’d be surprised at how different
people are. Different personalities mix better than others. It’s
the nature of things. Not every gentleman would do well with your
friend.”

Danette had a hard time believing that. She
thought for sure Malcolm Jasper, who’d married Regan, would never
accept her, given the fact that he hadn’t wanted a lady who enjoyed
scandalous behavior. But Regan managed to make him fall in love
with her, and Danette would never understand how Regan pulled off
such a feat.

“
Regan can get anyone to
fall in love with her,” Danette told the others. “Malcolm was
completely different from her.”

“
Sometimes differences can
work well for couples,” Helena said. “Melissa said Regan would help
him relax and enjoy life more. Perhaps you might do well with a
gentleman who can make you feel good about yourself. He’d be
someone who is confident. Confident people can help bring out the
best in others.”

“
So maybe,” Chloe
thoughtfully inserted, “your ideal match is a gentleman who isn’t
afraid to be himself around others. Also, if he has a sense of
humor, then he’d get your jokes and find you
delightful.”

“
Oh, I don’t know how
delightful he’ll find me,” Danette slowly replied. The two she’d
been engaged to hadn’t found her delightful at all. Too ashamed to
admit that, she settled for, “I’m afraid I’m not all that
interesting.”

“
That’s not true, Danette,”
Regan said then looked at the other ladies. “She’s just shy. Once
Danette gets comfortable around someone, she has no trouble talking
to them. I have known her since we were children, and I wouldn’t be
with her today if I didn’t think she was a lot of fun to be
around.”

Melissa smiled at Regan. “I think I see how
you managed to get my brother wrapped around your finger. You have
a way of building people up.”

“
I only told the truth,”
Regan said.

“
I know, which explains why
my brother is so happy,” Melissa replied. She turned her gaze to
Danette. “Perhaps we should match you with someone who can bring
you out of your shell, much like Regan did for Malcolm.”

Chloe bit her lower lip. “Would you mind
marrying a gentleman who does things his own way? He doesn’t let
others dictate what he should think or do.”

“
I see nothing wrong with a
gentleman who knows what he wants and does it,” Danette consented,
“as long as he is kind and thoughtful.”

Helena’s smile widened. “Since you’re not
particular about the kind of gentleman you marry, we’ll have no
problem finding you a match. But we should find someone who will
appreciate you. Now, if you don’t mind, we’ll ask you some
questions about yourself.”

Danette nodded and proceeded to answer all
their questions.

***

Derek poured Mr. Christopher Robinson and
Ethan Silverton, the Lord of Edon, brandy as the two gentlemen sat
down. Derek still didn’t feel comfortable in his brother’s
townhouse. He’d have to remove all the portraits of his brother and
send them to the estate where they’d be locked in a room that few
people would ever see.

Even now, he could feel the heavy weight of
his brother’s disapproving stare glaring down at him from the
painting hanging in the den. With a glance at his brother’s
portrait, Derek rolled his eyes. It was a shame the only good
memories he had of his brother were from their childhood. But that
was all before his brother got obsessed with impressing the
Ton.

Forcing his attention off his brother, Derek
collected the glasses and handed them to his friends. He could have
the butler do the task, he supposed, but he rather enjoyed doing
things himself. God help him if the day ever came when he was much
too important to pour himself a glass of brandy!

“
I really wish you’d come to
the balls again,” Christopher told him. “It’s not the same without
you there.”

Derek snorted as he went back to the
decanter to pour himself a glass. “I’m sure it’s not.”

“
Things get so boring now
whenever I go to them,” Christopher said. “It’s the same boring
people doing the same boring things in the same boring
way.”

“
Indeed,” Ethan added after
he sipped his brandy, “there’s hardly a whisper of a scandal at any
of the balls recently.”

Derek shot them a wry grin then settled into
his seat. “What a travesty.”

“
Well, it certainly was more
entertaining when people did more than kiss,” Christopher said.
“That’s all they seem to do anymore. A simple kiss at a ball, and
that’s supposed to be exciting? At least, he fainted.” He gestured
to Ethan.

“
Not on purpose,” Ethan
replied.

“
But it wasn’t a kiss. It
was something different. These days the most you can get is a kiss.
I tell you,” he shot Derek a pointed look, “once you’ve witnessed
that a few times, it’s no longer shocking.”

“
The
Tittletattle
would disagree with
you,” Derek replied.

“
The
Tittletattle
is in desperate need of
better scandals.”

Derek shook his head. “If you’re hoping I’ll
go to a ball in order to upset another prominent member of the Ton,
it’s not going to happen. In fact, I have to be on my best behavior
now that I have a title.”

“
Please tell me you’re
joking.”

“
I’m afraid not. I promised
my brother I’d get an heir, and the only way I can secure a bride
is to be worth marrying. To do that, I must close my mouth and
ignore what people are saying.”

“
But you can get a bride
regardless of how you behave. Titled men do it all the time. Why,
even Ethan got married, and he used to be London’s most notorious
rake.”

“
Being a rake isn’t as fun
as you make it sound,” Ethan told Christopher. “It’s a lot of work
to keep people talking about you all the time. Maybe Derek’s
looking forward to fading into the background for a
change.”

“
I never had to work at
upsetting people,” Derek replied. “I’m also not a rake. I’m simply
someone who can’t keep his mouth shut.”

“
Christopher can’t keep his
mouth shut either, and he hasn’t been harmed by it,” Ethan
said.

“
Yes, but Christopher is
still allowed to attend your father-in-law’s balls. He has the
sense to keep his shirt on.”

Christopher threw back his head and laughed.
“I remember that evening! I meant to ask you why you did that.”

Despite the trouble he got into with the
Duke of Rumsey, Derek felt a smile tug at his lips. “A couple of
wealthy people were being critical of a lady of limited means. They
thought her dress inappropriate because it was poor in quality. I
told them it was in bad taste to laugh at someone who couldn’t
afford the things they could and removed my shirt in protest.” He
took a sip of his brandy then added, “Then I let the onlookers know
I despised their hypocrisy. All the Ton does is judge people, and I
happen to know some of the people they judge behave much better
than they do. Being a doctor, you get to find out things about
people you wouldn’t ordinarily know.”

Christopher leaned forward in interest.
“Oh?”

“
I keep all of my patients’
information to myself,” Derek replied. “But I will say you avoid
unnecessary illnesses by simply keeping yourself to your wife
instead of seeking pleasure elsewhere.”

“
And if the wife seeks
pleasure elsewhere?”

“
If you make her happy, she
shouldn’t feel the need to do so. For ladies, it’s what happens
outside the bed that makes the most difference.”

Ethan laughed. “If only you knew my
wife.”

“
I’m not saying ladies don’t
want a good love life,” Derek amended. “I’m just saying if they had
to choose between a husband who makes her the center of his world
and one who’s a great lover, they’d choose the one who makes her
the center of his world. The bed means little if the husband
doesn’t care about her feelings.”

“
That is definitely true,”
Christopher replied. “Which leads me to wonder why you don’t
believe you’re suitable for marriage. You understand ladies more
than most gentlemen.”

“
I have a tendency to upset
prominent members of the Ton,” Derek reminded him. “I’m not sure a
lady can be happy married to someone like me.”

“
Oh, sure she will,”
Christopher said. “Taking off your shirt and insulting people
aren’t that bad.”

“
They aren’t that bad to a
lady who doesn’t mind if her husband’s reputation with the Ton is
ruined,” Ethan interjected. “Some ladies are mindful of what others
think of them and their husbands. You seem to forget that your wife
happens to be such a lady.”

“
Oh my wife manages just
fine.” Christopher waved his hand to dismiss Ethan’s admonition.
“Besides, she wanted me to get my cousin married, and the only way
that was going to happen was by forcing a scandal. He’s happy now,
and he has an heir. I say the scandal was worth it.”

“
It could have happened
without a scandal,” Ethan argued.

Christopher let out an exasperated sigh. “If
you knew Perry as well as I do, you’d know how ridiculous you
sound.”

The butler chose that moment to come into
the room, and Derek couldn’t help but feel relieved. Yes, he
enjoyed talking with Ethan and Christopher, but sometimes they
could get into the most senseless debates. And those debates could
go on for hours if no one interrupted them.

“
You received a missive from
the Duchess of Ashbourne,” the butler said. “Where would you like
me to put it?”

“
I’ll take it now,” Derek
replied.

The butler handed it to him then left.

Christopher’s eyes grew wide with interest.
“It looks like she found you a wife.”

“
This could be telling me
she found no one,” Derek said, waving the neatly folded missive
toward Christopher. “You can’t assume it’s good news. I might be a
hopeless cause.”

“
Or she might have found
someone for you,” Ethan replied. “You can’t assume it’s bad news.
Though I suppose it depends on how you look at it. Do you want to
get married?”

Derek shrugged. “The lady wouldn’t benefit
from it.”

The edge of Ethan’s mouth
curled up. “That’s not what I asked. I asked if
you
wanted to get
married.”

“
To be honest, I hadn’t
given it any thought beyond the promise I made to my brother on his
deathbed.”

“
Why is it any time a titled
gentleman marries it’s out of duty?” Christopher asked. “They
either want an heir or money. Meanwhile, gentlemen like me, who
have no title at all, marry because we want true love with a
wonderful lady. Except for Perry, I can’t think of a single titled
gentleman who rushed to the altar.”

“
There’s been a couple,”
Ethan said. Then, with a smirk, he added, “You just don’t pay
attention because you’re too busy looking for scandals to talk
about.”

Christopher opened his mouth, and for a
moment, Derek thought he was going to protest. But after a pause,
Christopher said, “I think you’re right.”