Matchmaking the Marquess (The League of Eligible Bachelors #3)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Mia grinned, and her stomach gave a flutter of excitement. It had been weeks since last she saw Ben. He’d been visiting his other estates as he did every summer.

Hastings nodded and disappeared into the corridor.

Her father moved back to his chair by the fire, casting the rug onto the couch, as if its mere presence would prove him infirmed. He grunted as he lowered himself into the chair, casting a raised brow at Mia and warning her not to mention it.

Mia looked away and pretended not to notice. They could discuss her father’s creaky joints after Ben left. For now, she only wished to enjoy his company.

Ben had been a fixture in Mia’s life for as long as she could remember. As their family’s estates bordered each other on the north, they had always been acquainted. It was not until Mia was around the age of ten and Ben had come home for the summer before leaving for Oxford, that they had become more than the annoying little girl and the mean older neighbor boy.

They had become friends over an injured kestrel.

Or as close as a girl of ten and a boy of eighteen could be. But as Mia had never enjoyed the pursuits of most ladies—much to her mother’s chagrin—Ben had been more than happy to tutor her on his school breaks in the arts of swordplay and archery. He’d even taught her to shoot pistols and rifles, but she’d never tell her father such things. Indeed, her mother and father had stayed blissfully unaware.

Perhaps not her mother. She’d never been blissful a day in her life.

Indeed, Mia had become quite proficient in the sports considered more acceptable for gentlemen. Her father believed she and Ben only shared good conversations—which they did while fencing and shooting. And that was fine with Mia.

“Good afternoon.” Ben’s voice boomed as he stepped into the room.

Mia’s smile was instant, and her hands went clammy in her lap. Lawks, she had not realized how much she’d missed him. While she would never admit it aloud and fought to push it down constantly, Mia had developed an attachment to Ben some years ago. She could often go weeks…or at least days without thinking about him. Until he returned. Then it was much harder. But even so, she would not wish him away.

Ben’s cheeks held a dark pink hue and his normally wavey, dark hair stuck out around his ears and collar in wet clumps. But it was his bright blue-gray eyes that made Mia smile even bigger.

“Berwick. It is good to see you.” Her father motioned toward the couch opposite him. “Sit, sit. Amelia just rang for tea. Please stay and join us.”

Ben chuckled, deep in his throat. “How could I decline such an offer?” His smile warmed when he glanced over at her. “Unless Lady Amelia objects.”

Mia glanced heavenward with a sigh, but amusement flickered across her face. “You know I’d never do such a thing.”

Ben lifted his arm to her, and she took it, allowing him to lead her over to the couch. Taking his seat at the other end, he crossed one knee over the other. His interlocked fingers wrapped around the top knee and his foot rotated casually.

Mia pulled her eyes from their guest as she folded the rug her father had tossed aside. She lifted it slightly in her father’s direction, raising a brow.

His eyes narrowed until she returned the rug to the basket by the couch. He turned his attention to Ben. “Tell me, Berwick, is the weather as cold as it seems? You look as if you just came in from the winter.” He frowned at droplets running down the glass panes. “I’m afraid I’m unable to see such things for myself.” He flicked a glance at Mia.

She turned away and clamped her teeth tight.

“You’ve been wise to remain in. No one would know it’s August with the weather we are having. Indeed, I believe I felt some snow on my cheeks while riding over.” Ben tugged at his collar and his brow furrowed. “It’s wreaking havoc on the crops.”

Her father frowned. “Yes, we have experienced some loss as well.”

Mia tsked. “You see, Papa? I am not as overprotective as you thought. You’re not accustomed to such extreme weather in the summer.” She turned back to Ben and tipped her head to the side. “How long are you to be in residence at Tweed this time, Ben? I had thought you planned to be away much longer.” Not that she was complaining. His return would surely prove diverting.

“I have not yet decided. I have business to discuss with my bailiff.” He cleared his throat. “But I suppose it will depend on you.”

She leaned toward him. What could he mean by that? “It depends on me? How so?”

His crossed leg bounced lightly on his knee. He was uncertain about something—and that raised the hair on the back of her neck.

“I’ve received an invitation to a house party next month.” Ben watched her father, but his gaze darted over to her several times.

“A house party? That sounds like a capital diversion in this intolerable weather.” Her father’s eyes lit at the idea, and Mia’s stomach twisted. “Is it someone I am acquainted with? I have not been to a house party in an age.”

She bit the inside of her cheek. Ben didn’t bring an invitation, did he? “Did we not attend one just last year with Ben?” she looked askance at him.

Ben leaned back and laughed. “You can hardly count that as attendance, Mia. You did not stay even a whole week. I had a devil of a time explaining your hasty retreat to Lady Heatherton. She thought she’d offended you.”

“There was no offense.” She sighed. “You know Papa took ill. What would you have had me do?”

Her father let out a hollow laugh. “I was not sick. I had a small tickle in my throat, which was completely gone before we reached the first posting house.”

Mia breathed in slowly…deliberately. “I could not have known it was nothing serious. You cannot possibly have expected me to wait to see if it worsened. If it had, we would have been stuck in a strange house. And I know convalescing at a stranger’s home would have been unbearable for you.”

Ben snorted. “Lord Heatherton is hardly a stranger. He’s one of my oldest friends. And as you discovered, it did not worsen.”

Mia lifted her chin. Ben had mentioned this failed house party no less than a hundred times over the past year—which considering his long visits to London and his other estates, was rather often when they were together. Indeed, she did not believe he’d completely dismissed his anger—or perhaps it was frustration—over Mia’s early removal. She sighed. “We have no notion what could have happened if we’d stayed. Perhaps removing ourselves to the coast helped clear Papa’s cough.”

“Yes, I’m sure that was it.” Ben released an exaggerated sigh. “What have you heard from Lord De Long?”

Mia grunt-laughed at the mention of her brother. Lawrence . Her younger brother had been ‘touring’ the continent, and who knew where else, for nearly a year, and they had no notion when he would return. It would not be so vexing if he sent word of his travels and where he was to be next every so often. As they had received only two letters from him—the first posted from London before he boarded his ship—they had little knowledge of his whereabouts. “Nothing. Lawrence has not deemed it necessary to inform us of his plans.”

“Now, Amelia,” her father chided. “Lawrence is doing as he should. He is seeing the world and preparing for his future. I did it, just as my father and his father did. I’m certain he is receiving a great education that will serve him well once he is master of Hedlund.” Her father’s tone did not match his words. He’d been less certain of such things before Ben arrived.

Mia scoffed. “An education, indeed.” A fully funded year of debauchery and no responsibility. She knew her brother and, unbeknownst to her father, she’d seen the letters detailing the sums he was spending while becoming ‘educated.’

Ben coughed and Mia glanced over at him to see him stifling a grin. “That is the Lawrence I know.”

They sat in silence for a moment and Mia turned her attention back to Ben. “You said your plans depended on me. But you have not yet mentioned why.”

He put his finger to his lips, pushing them out slightly. It was his thinking face. But whether he was thinking about his plans or the best way to inform her of them, she did not know.

Mia knew almost all of Ben’s faces. She had studied them for years. Even before she and Ben had become friends, she had watched him with fascination. Sometimes from her perch in a tree, and sometimes from across the yard. But this one was foreign to her.

Ben brightened, and the dimples on both sides of his mouth appeared. “It depends on you because I have come up with a solution I think we’ll all find acceptable. You do not wish for your father to travel to a house party in this weather, so I thought to bring the house party to you. You will not have to worry about Minton taking ill and convalescing at a stranger’s home because he will remain at home for the whole of it.”

“I shall not take ill. Stop talking as if I’m an old man, the both of you.” Her father grumbled.

A quiet gasp sounded. Her hands were wet with perspiration and her mouth went dry. “A house party? Here? You can’t be serious.”

Her father regained the pleasure he’d had at Ben’s appearance. He clapped his hands. “A capital idea, Berwick. Why did I not think of it myself?” He called out family names as he ticked them off on his fingers, his eyes brightening with each one he added.

Ben nodded, satisfaction growing on his face. But when he turned his gaze on Mia, his smile faded, and his brows ticked up. “You do not look pleased, Mia.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. He’d done this on purpose. He knew she would detest the idea. He also knew that once he mentioned it, her father would take hold of it and run without a second thought of her and how she would feel about it.

“What is not to your liking?” He stared at her, studying her intently. But she could tell it was all an act. “It is a compromise that should please you both, I should think.” His feigned innocence was almost insulting. As if he really believed such nonsense.

“You thought wrong,” Mia murmured. She forced her lips upward but could not stop the flare in her nostrils as she folded her arms across her chest. Why would Ben do this to her? Was his only reason to vex her? As a sort of joke? She had no trouble believing him capable of such things. Or did he truly wish to help her father?

Whatever his reason, she had no doubt he knew precisely what he was doing and had been planning it for months.

“Yes,” she said blandly. “A truly inspired notion.” Her mouth felt as dry as the Sahara Desert. Just how many people would invade their home? And just how long must she endure their presence?

Her father stood, a new spring in his step. She muttered inappropriate words under her breath. How could she reject the notion when he was so excited? She had not seen him this happy in months. It made the churning in her stomach ache that much more.

“I shall go make a list and we will discuss it at supper this evening. Capital idea, Berwick. Just capital.” He hurried across the room, looking younger than he had just an hour before. He paused at the doorway and turned around. “Berwick, you’ll join us for dinner, will you not? I’ll send round a missive to ask your mother, also.”

“We’d be delighted, my lord.” Ben grinned affably at her father.

“But Papa, the tea will be here shortly,” Mia protested.

Her father waved a hand at her. “Have mine sent to my book room. There is no time to delay. People will remove from the country in no time at all. And they will need extra travel time with this blasted weather. If we do not make haste, we will lose our window of opportunity.”

“That would be a pity,” Mia sighed.

Ben chuckled. “Yes, it would be.”

Her father hurried from the room.

She turned on Ben. “What have you done?” she asked accusingly.

He leaned away from her, his brows pulled down. “What? It is the best solution, Mia. Your father wishes to be out more in society, but you will not be prevailed upon to leave the estate. I was thinking of you both.” He frowned at her a moment before settling back and smiling. “I rather thought you’d be thanking me.”

“That is a Banbury tale if ever I heard one.” Mia huffed. “You realize he does not wish to attend a house party; he wishes me to attend one. There is a difference. A very large difference.”

“And that is what will happen. And all from the comfort of your own home.” Ben cocked his head to the side. “Where is the problem? Do you not want to give your father what he desires most? I thought you cared about him.” His voice turned condescending and manipulative.

She glared at him.

Ben laughed as he twisted and leaned forward, taking her chin in his thumb and forefinger, their faces only inches apart. Her heart hammered in her chest. “Come now, Mia. Can you not do this small thing for him? It cannot be as bad as all that.”

Small? Since when was hosting a house party small?

She looked into his eyes, the deep blue streaks in his iris brighter than usual. When he looked at her like that, she thought she might do almost anything for him. But a house party? That was too much to ask.

She jerked away from him and pulled her bottom lip in through her teeth. If she agreed, it would be as much for him as for her father. Indeed, it was because of him she’d made it four days at the previous house party. “It’s not as if I can do anything about it now. His mind is quite made up.” She hugged her arms around her middle and closed her eyes. She had little choice. Ben had quite efficiently gammoned her.

She cracked an eye open and glared as best she could with a single eye. “But I’m putting my foot down if he thinks to arrange a marriage from it.” Her lips flattened out in disgust. “Don’t you dare try to help him with that.”

Ben held up his hands in front of him. “I would never be so presumptuous.”

“Oh, yes, you would.” She glanced over at his smiling face and frowned even more.

What was she to do? Where was she to go when people overran her home? And not just people, but strangers? A lump formed in her throat. Perhaps fate would smile down on her and the weather would force everyone to decline.

The door opened and a maid brought in a tray of tea. She placed it on the low table in front of them. “Cook said you ate little at breakfast, so she sent some biscuits in case you are hungry.”

Mia smiled at the girl. “Thank you, Penny. Please see that my father receives a tray. He’s in his book room.”

The maid nodded. “Yes, my lady.”

Mia’s whole body sagged. Their days of quiet solitude were numbered. She had better enjoy them while she could.