Always a Maiden (The Belles of Beak Street #5)(5)

Moreover, did his uncle expect Gilbert to marry? He studied his pudgy cousin who was lagging far behind other boys his age in height and maturity. In spite of his cousin’s condition, there was probably a woman who’d be willing to marry him. He would inherit his father’s barony and estates. Again Evan pictured Lady Susanah and her almost desperate hunt for a titled husband. Although his cousin’s future title probably wasn’t enough, but if he were to inherit a dukedom…she probably would have considered it.

Gilbert patted the horse and then hugged its neck. “I can’t ride anymore.”

Evan waited until Gilbert faced him before asking, “Why not?”

Gilbert shrugged. “I fell and had a fit. Papa says it isn’t safe.”

Evan had a moment of wondering which came first the fall or the fit. “Racing in a phaeton is far more jolly. We’ll do that.”

Gilbert grinned widely. In spite of his condition, Gilbert was the happiest person Evan knew. His goofy smile was an almost permanent fixture on his face.

A groom took the reins with an apology and promise to thoroughly rub down the horse. Usually, the staff was on notice when he returned, but his decision had been sudden. He’d fled London more than planned to leave. He had been disturbed by his thoughts about Lady Susanah. And well, getting away from Theresa and any possible recriminations had been a factor in his decisions too. She hadn’t been happy when he’d terminated their encounter before things had gone very far. She had been just too intent on removing his clothes and hers and asking him to tear her shift as if she planned to accuse him of rape. And there was that hell had no fury thing.

He rather wished he’d never bothered with the woman. As he thought back, his pursuit of her had been lackluster. Truth to be told, he suspected she’d pursued him more than he’d pursued her. But it was no matter. He was more than half inclined to move into his uncle’s house permanently—if his uncle was amenable.

Later that evening after dinner, Gilbert’s caretaker led the boy away to retire, leaving Evan and Uncle Phillip to their port. Evan broached the matter of his cousin’s question about getting married.

“What did you expect me to tell him?” Uncle Phillip asked. “He wonders why you aren’t here when I’ve told him you’ll be looking after him and the estate after I pass.”

Evan looked down into his glass. “Which won’t be for many years, yet. God willing.”

Uncle Phillip sighed.

An uneasiness settled under Evan’s breastbone as he tried to figure out what was troubling his uncle. Tentatively he asked, “Are you well?”

“Well enough for an old man.” Uncle Phillip gave a thin smile.

His uncle was in his sixties, but now that Evan had passed thirty that didn’t seem as old as it once would have. Evan wasn’t certain, but he thought he heard an implied criticism. Did his uncle want him to help with the estate more? “I have been thinking it is time that I took up residence here. If you would have me.”

“Of course I would have you. I’ve told you to treat our house as your home.”

While Evan split his time between his uncle’s estate, his father’s estate, and the rooms he rented in London, he didn’t really feel as if he had a home anymore. He watched his uncle, looking for clues as to what his uncle thought. But his mother’s brother just looked tired. But unasked questions wouldn’t answer themselves. “Gilbert told me he expects to marry when he is of age. Do you want me to discourage him?”

“I don’t know that he will live so long,” muttered Uncle Phillip.

A new concern swirled in Evan. “Is Gilbert unwell?”

Uncle Phillip waved a hand in a desultory manner. “He’s had more fits of late. He gets short of breath just walking any distance. The doctor says it is unusual for a child with his condition to have lived this long.”

“Doctors don’t know everything,” Evan blurted.

“No, they don’t.” His uncle rubbed his face. “Still, Gilbert likes you. You should move in posthaste. So he might enjoy you while he can.”

It was only later as Evan couldn’t sleep that his thoughts swirled from concern about Gilbert’s fate to wondering what Lady Susanah might be about. It occurred to him, his future might be far different than he had imagined if he wasn’t to be Gilbert’s guardian over the next decades.



*

Over the last few weeks, Susanah had wrangled introductions to men she’d known for years, had danced every dance, and had smiled until her cheeks ached. Instead of finding an interested, acceptable suitor, she found herself looking around for a head of unruly tobacco-colored hair and more than half afraid she’d find him.

It wasn’t like her to be unsettled by a man, any man. Gentlemen were a means to an end. The right one would take her out of her parents’ house, not spend her dowry too recklessly, and give her the reins to her own household. She’d prepared all her life to run a home. Her own home, not her father’s home, which would one day pass to her. Her mother would never turn over the reins to her so long as she lived.

While Mr. Cooper couldn’t give her a home or the title that her parents wanted, he could perhaps help her develop the skill she seemed to be lacking.

Passion.

Who better to ask for instruction in such a matter than a rake?