Mistress - Amanda Quick [95]
“This does not concern you, Iphiginia.”
“Nonsense. You have dragged me into it. If you wanted to keep me out of the thing, you should never have told Dorchester that you were about to announce a betrothal. Now we shall both have to deal with all the annoying questions and speculation. It will make everything vastly more difficult.”
“I do not see any great problem. I have a rule against answering personal questions.”
“But Marcus, people will expect you to announce your engagement to one of the young ladies who was brought out this Season. Not to your mistress, for heaven’s sake. Even your own brother assumes that you are going to declare yourself for one of the eligible young women of the ton.”
“I am going to betroth myself to a young lady who is having her first Season,” Marcus said. “You.”
“You are the most stubborn man I have ever met in my entire life.”
“You may as well get used to it because I have no intention of changing.”
Iphiginia stifled a groan of exasperation. “Let us get back to the matter at hand. I advise you not to take such a hard and inflexible stand with Bennet and Juliana. I fear that by doing so you will only drive them into each other’s arms.”
“I do not recall asking for your advice on the subject.”
“Then why are we having this discussion?”
“Damned if I know,” he muttered. “It’s none of your affair. Bennet is my brother and I will act as I see fit.”
“Marcus, I comprehend what you are trying to do. You wish to protect him.”
“What is wrong with that?”
“Nothing. I understand your desire. You raised him. I suspect that in many ways you are more of a father than a brother to him. I was in a similar position with my sister. In some ways I was almost a mother to her.”
“I’m aware of that,” he said quietly.
“You and I both became parents before we had a chance to become mature adults ourselves. And we feel protective toward our charges, as any parent would feel. But as much as we would like to guard them forever, we cannot do so.”
“I can and will protect Bennet from Juliana Dorchester.”
“You are going about it in the wrong way.”
“What do you suggest that I do?” Marcus growled. “Give my blessing to the marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Never.”
“Hear me out.” Iphiginia leaned forward earnestly. “Tell your brother that you will give the marriage your blessing if he will agree to a reasonable period for the engagement.”
“What do you call reasonable?”
“Many young couples in the ton are betrothed for a year. Surely you can convince Bennet to go along with such a request. You can ask for six months at the very least.”
“And what happens when the engagement period is finished?”
“A year is a long time, Marcus. So is six months, for that matter. If Juliana is the wrong woman for Bennet, there will be ample opportunity for him to discover that fact.”
“Breaking an engagement is no light matter.”
“True, but it can be done and it is done. You can arrange for the thing to be handled quietly.”
Marcus’s expression darkened. “What if Juliana succeeds in compromising herself with Bennet before the year is ended?”
“You already face that risk. In fact, the threat is greater at this very moment because the pair will be feeling desperate. If Juliana does care for Bennet as much as he cares for her, they may see themselves as star-crossed lovers. They may decide to defy family and convention in order to be together.”
“Bloody hell. What you are saying is true only if I am wrong about Juliana’s feelings. But if I am right, the entire matter is finished. The Dorchesters, Juliana included, will decide that Bennet is no longer a suitable marriage prospect.”
Iphiginia sighed. “My lord, I doubt that you are right in your assessment of the situation. You are a man of science, probably the most intelligent man I know, but you are blind when it comes to dealing with matters such as this. Love makes people do very desperate things.”
He slid her an assessing, sidelong glance. “What makes you an expert?”
She refrained from pointing out that she was a living example of the desperate