Never Dance with a Marquess (The Never Series Book 2), Maggi Andersen [best short novels of all time TXT] 📗

supreme test of his patience to find a gentleman who pleased her enough to marry, as Max had wished. But get her there, he would. And then wish her happy.

“Is that a thundercloud over your head, Nicholas?” Charles called.

“Looks about to burst,” Dominic observed with an appreciative grin. Nicholas eyed his friends. Charles was the epitome of a steady, married man, whilst Dominic looked like the fashionable, rakish fellow Nicholas knew him to be.

“No lady companion, Dominic?” Nicholas raised his brows and made a point of glancing at a group of ladies riding past them. Dominic rarely lacked female companionship.

“The lady awaits me at breakfast,” Dominic said with his ready smile. “She has instructed me to hurry.”

A widow or an opera dancer? If he’d had a torrid night, it hadn’t marked him. Dominic looked full of juice. Nicholas found himself more than a little envious. His love life had stalled alarmingly since he’d become a surrogate parent.

“You two fellows should get married,” Charles observed. “It is the supreme state for a man.”

Nicholas grinned. “If I were lucky enough to find a lady like Nellie, I would brave the parson’s mousetrap in a minute.”

Charles rode beside him toward Serpentine Road. “Nellie believes you have met someone.”

“Then her usual perspicacity has failed her,” Nicholas said.

“Out with it.” Dominic rode up to them. “Who is she? A diamond? Want to keep her to yourself?”

“I haven’t had time to seek women’s company,” Nicholas said shortly.

“No time for ladies?” Dominic’s green eyes widened. “Are you feeling well? Should we be concerned for you? Send for a physician?”

Nicholas chuckled. It was good to be with friends. And they could always rely on Dominic to entertain them.

Dominic edged closer and peered at him. “Yes, decidedly pasty-faced, a definite need there. My lady might have a friend.”

With a laugh, Nicholas swung a sideways punch at him, which went wide of the mark when Dominic dodged it. “I’ll survive,” he yelled at him. “But will you?”

“You know what the cure is,” Dominic called from a safe distance while cocking an eyebrow. “Find yourself an amiable lady. It will work wonders for your sour demeanor.”

Charles had lagged but rode to join them. “Nicholas has two wards to raise, Dominic. That might have reduced his urges somewhat.”

“Leave my urges out of it, Charles,” Nicholas said with mock annoyance. It was not his intention to live like a monk. Perhaps he should delay his stay in London a day or more. Do as Dominic suggested? Seek some pleasant feminine company?

Dominic’s eyes widened. “I say. That would be sobering. What ages are these wards, Nicholas?”

Nicholas told him. “And I have the care of a young lady about to make her debut.”

“A debutante? I don’t envy you that.”

“Neither do I,” Charles said. “Nellie and I face that soon with Alice, Nellie’s younger sister.”

“Miss Leeming is sure to take,” Nicholas said. “She is a beautiful girl with a good deal of charm.”

Dominic emitted a low whistle. “Fetching, is she?”

Nicholas scowled at him. “Please raise your mind a little higher than where it ordinarily dwells.”

“He meant no harm, Nicholas,” Charles said mildly. “Dominic gives debutantes a wide berth.”

“I know. Forgive me, Dom.” Nicholas grew annoyed with himself. What was wrong with him of late? Had he lost that joy of life Dominic had in spades?

“It’s those match-minded mothers! Terrifying!” With a laugh, Dominic gave full rein to his horse, who had been champing at the bit. He rode down the Row, joined a group of ladies riding together, and soon had them giggling. He continued on, leaving them to gaze longingly after him.

“Don’t mind him. He’s full of high jinks today,” Charles said. “He leaves a host of broken hearts among the ton ladies by the end of each Season. But his appeal is such that they always forgive him.”

Nicholas agreed. “Has a good heart, Dom. Did you hear he gave Mrs. Gould three hundred pounds after her husband died and left her and her children in Dun territory? Found her somewhere to live, too.”

“She was his lover before she married Gould.”

“But a handsome gesture, nevertheless,” Nicholas said.

“Agreed. Few men would have bothered.”

They followed in a more sedate fashion so as not to cause the ire of a group of men of the cloth strolling along the path. One did not gallop in the Row. Unless one was Dominic—he could get away with almost anything. “He’ll meet his match one day,” Nicholas said hopefully.

“They all fawn on him, from widows to dowagers. But as he says, he gives a wide berth to the young women whose mothers have marriage on their minds because they consider him a catch. I agree, a woman will get through his defenses one day, and when that happens, I suspect he will fall hard. And you will, too, I might add.”

“I believe it would give you a great deal of pleasure.”

Charles chuckled. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer couple of fellows.”

Nicholas steadied his mount, which had become distracted by a wasp. “While we have a minute before that rambunctious fellow returns, I am hopeful you might advise me about Miss Leeming.”

“What about her?”

“I must find Caroline, Miss Leeming, a decent suitor, but the sticking point is she doesn’t seem to want one.”

Charles turned to him in surprise. “Miss Leeming doesn’t wish to marry?”

“She has been caring for her brother and sister since their father died. Her mother died some years before him. She does not wish to relinquish control of them to a husband.”

“Mm. So you’re looking for the right fellow? One to tempt her into marriage?”

“Yes.”

“You should have asked Nellie last evening. Women understand these things. Although we can judge if a fellow is honorable and if he is plump in the pocket, in matters of