Chapter 6
“For the life of me,” said Nathaniel Thorne, the Duke of Henshaw, “I will never understand how you came to be living outside of London, Jonathan. You are the Duke of Alderwick. You have an estate of your own, not to mention your London house. How could you possibly choose to leave those things behind and make your way out into the countryside to live among grass and wild animals? It’s not as though you need this house for anything. ”
“I meant to buy it,” Jonathan said, sitting back in his chair and surveying the scene.
They were in his favorite gentlemen’s club, and it was the middle of the afternoon, a time that was usually not very crowded.
He was grateful for that fact. Though he had enjoyed life in London, the one aspect he did not like was the crowding, and he was relieved to have gotten away from it.
But his friend was right. To live out in the countryside posed its own set of problems. “It’s not forever,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. “I’ll stay there until I can be assured that the house is mine. Once that happens, I’ll be back in the city immediately. You can bet on that.”
“But why bother at all?” Nathaniel asked.
“I told you. I can’t leave the house. It’s lucky I went out there to survey the property at all, because I found this woman living there and claiming that it’s hers.”
“And you can’t just allow her to have it? Do you really need another property?”
“I had plans for it,” Jonathan said stubbornly.
“It’s a wonderfully cozy little place—and much more to the point, Nathaniel, I already paid for it, and she has no means of paying me back.
Would you really have me walk away from my investment just because it requires a bit of inconvenience to take hold of it?
Honestly, she ought to be the one to go, but she’s just so stubborn that she either can’t see that or refuses to acknowledge it. ”
“I have met Lady Violet before,” Nathaniel mused.
Jonathan raised his eyebrows. “Have you really?”
“Oh, only in passing. But I agree with your assessment of her. She seemed quite stubborn. Actually, I found her entertaining,” Nathaniel went on.
“Very different from the sort you usually see in society. You know, with a lot of ladies, I would advise you to take care that they weren’t trying to entrap you into a marriage.
But I just can’t believe it of her. I think she wishes to remain a spinster, believe it or not. ”
“Well, that makes sense, given her age,” Jonathan murmured.
Not that Lady Violet was old at all—far from it—but he had observed that she was past the point in a young lady’s life where she might have expected to have her affairs in order.
It wouldn’t have made any difference if not for the fact that her spinsterhood was probably directly responsible for her trying to take his house from him.
If she were married, she would be living with her husband, and this wouldn’t be a matter of concern at all.
“I just don’t know what you think is going to be achieved,” Nathaniel said.
“If she has a legitimate claim on the house—which, by your description of things, it sounds like she does—then what are you going to gain by staying there? You won’t be able to force her out at any point.
You’ll have to hope that your presence simply comes to annoy her enough that she decides on her own to depart, and do you really think such a thing is realistic?
Especially given how stubborn we know her to be…
“Yes, I think so,” Jonathan said. “She may be stubborn, but don’t forget that I can be very stubborn too when there is something I want, and I don’t mean to give in.”
“So you’re really just going to stay out there in the country until she gives up and goes running back to her father?”
“I don’t care where she runs to,” Jonathan said. “Only that she finds somewhere else to go. I will happily pay her for the portion of the house that’s as yet unpurchased, of course, but I’m not going to give up on my ambition to make the house mine.”
“And you won’t say what’s so important about it?
” Nathaniel pressed. “I mean, I know you made an investment, but can that really matter so much? I know you. You make frequent investments, and even if you did lose the money you had put into this house, it would be no great hardship to you. You have plenty of money. Why worry about this?”
“It’s what I want.” Jonathan heard the mulish tone of his voice, but he didn’t care. “Why shouldn’t I have what I want?”
He wasn’t about to tell Nathaniel about the painting.
He had never told anybody about that, and he wasn’t going to start now.
It was private; it was personal. The only thing his friend needed to know—the only thing anyone needed to know—was that he was intent on taking ownership of that house.
He was going to do it if it was the last thing he ever did.
No one would stop him, and certainly not some spinster who thought she could come in and sweep the place out from under him as if it were hers.
He cleared his throat, not wanting to discuss this any further. “Have you heard from Gabriel lately?”
“Oh, yes, they’re back from their honeymoon,” Nathaniel said. “I must say, I never thought I would see our old friend married and in love. But that’s just what’s happened. No one can doubt it when they see him and Agnes together. It’s very clear that he’s head over heels for her.”
“Well, and good for them,” Jonathan said. “I can’t deny it’s been a good thing for him to fall in love like that. I’ve seen how happy it’s made him, and I couldn’t ask any more for my friend.”
“Do you ever wonder if it might be like that for us one day?” Nathaniel asked.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’ve begun to think about marriage. I always thought you and I would be the last bachelors in all of London.”
“Well, you don’t even live in London anymore, so that idea is already gone,” Nathaniel pointed out with a smirk.
“Don’t ask me to believe you’re considering marriage because I left the city.”
“No, of course that isn’t why. And I don’t know that I’m even truly considering it.
But seeing Gabriel so happy with Agnes, it’s impossible not to at least entertain the notion,” Nathaniel said.
“It’s impossible not to wonder what it would be like, if we were to find wives of our own.
People that we could fall in love with the way he has. ”
“Oh, the way you say all that, you make it sound as if it’s something you’re searching for,” Jonathan said.
“As if you’re going to start attending balls with the aim of finding the right lady to marry.
That’s not who you are at all, Nathaniel.
You’re like me. You’re far more interested in your independence, and in shaping the life you want for yourself, than you are in finding love.
I just can’t believe that’s changed. Maybe you ought to look into purchasing some new property for yourself, as I have.
It seems like you need something extra to do with your days. ”
“You know,” Nathaniel said, as if it was only just occurring to him.
“It would be more than possible for you to pursue your claim to this house without actually living out there. That isn’t something this situation requires of you—and it does make me wonder about the real reason you’ve chosen to do it. ”
“I told you,” Jonathan said firmly. “She won’t leave if I’m not constantly there reminding her that she has no right to be in that house.”
“But it doesn’t sound as if she’s going to leave no matter what you do,” Nathaniel pointed out.
“You’ve been saying how stubborn she is.
I hate to say it, but you might just be galvanizing her by staying where you are.
You might be convincing her that she needs to put her foot down and dig her heels in.
Maybe if you weren’t there she would get tired of the whole affair, or she would decide that the legalities of it weren’t worth going through.
Isn’t that possible? Maybe you would serve yourself best here by walking away and leaving her to come to the right conclusion in her own time. ”
“I just can’t do that,” Jonathan murmured.
“No, I can see that you can’t…but I do wonder why,” Nathaniel said. “I mean, I don’t think the reason is that you truly believe it’s the only way to get her out of the house. I think you have some fascination with her that you haven’t fully explored.”
“How can you suggest that? I told you, she’s nothing but a stubborn lady who is keeping me from what I want. The only fascination I have is with how to get her out of that house. She’s an obstacle to my goal, nothing more!”
“Your face is red,” Nathaniel observed mildly.
Jonathan’s hand flew to his cheek. Sure enough, it was hot. “That’s just the drink,” he mumbled.
“Maybe it is,” Nathaniel agreed. “Or maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s the fact that talking about her excites you. She is pretty, I noticed that when I met her before.”
Jonathan’s irritation mounted. “When have you known my head to be turned by a pretty face?”
“So you agree that she is pretty?”
“I’m saying it doesn’t matter. I can’t see why you would think it would. You know me better than that.”
Nathaniel shrugged. “It never mattered to Gabriel, until the day it began to matter,” he pointed out.
“He never cared for a pretty face either until he set eyes on Agnes, and suddenly that was all he cared about. Suddenly he was lost to her charms. I’m not blind to the thought that same thing could happen to you. ”
“You really are being foolish,” Jonathan said dismissively.
“Or perhaps you fear that now that we’ve lost one friend to marriage, you’ll lose all your friends in a similar way.
I can assure you, that isn’t going to be my tale.
That’s not what’s happening here at all. I’m eager for her to leave the house.”
“And if she did, you would go on staying there?”
“Well, of course I wouldn’t. I would leave as well, if she left. There would be no more reason for me to be there,” Jonathan pointed out.
“That does sound as if your reason has to do with her presence. I’m sure you can see that.”
Jonathan sighed. “Nathaniel, you have always had a penchant for the dramatic, but right now you are creating a tale where nothing at all exists, and I encourage you to set it aside,” he told his friend.
“Now, we came out here to have a drink together, not to make up stories about the lady who is trying to take my house from me.”
And so saying, he picked up his drink and punctuated his sentence with a long swallow, and it seemed that for now, at least, the topic was closed.