Chapter Four
“You do realize her sisters would happily serve as chaperones?” Aurelia asked as their open carriage clattered down the streets of Mayfair. “My presence is unnecessary.”
“I am well aware of that.” Jansen tipped a nod at an acquaintance strolling along the pristine street of the elites’ townhouses.
“But I prefer to better my odds. With you at my side, even if one of her sisters comes along too, the odds are even. Two against two. Were I to come alone, I would be outnumbered from the outset. I prefer to start this battle with the best possible advantages.”
“Do you always think in either gaming or war terms?”
“Life is a war game, dear sister. One must always weigh the odds to not only survive but thrive.”
She shook her head and adjusted her parasol, keeping herself shaded from the warm, sunny day. “All I know is I best not lose my dear friend in all this.”
“It is my hope that you’ll not only keep Lady Joy as a friend but also enjoy her company as your sister-in-law.”
Aurelia smiled, supporting him as she always did. “I hope so too, brother. For your sake as well as mine.”
The carriage slowed as it turned onto St. James’s Street and came to a halt in front of Broadmere House.
Jansen admitted that the place was the most impressive of the homes along the thoroughfare.
But then, it would be. It housed a duke.
He had never been inside, but Aurelia had.
Yet another reason for bringing her along.
“You know you may have to leave your card in case she is not receiving?” Aurelia said as he helped her step down from the carriage.
“She is receiving.”
His sister arched a dark brow, eyeing him much as their mother had whenever he’d been up to mischief. “And how can you be so certain Lady Joy is receiving?”
“Because I told her I would call on her today.” He couldn’t help but feel a little smug. “And she knows if she doesn’t keep her word about courting me, a marriage of convenience or the lack thereof will soon be bandied about by every gossip in the ton.”
“And it does not bother you that you are forcing her to court you? Blackmailing her, even?”
“Not at all. It provides me the opportunity to win her heart.” He gallantly offered his arm, then escorted Aurelia up the steps to the front door. But before he could make use of the highly polished brass knocker, she stopped him.
With a subtle nod, she stepped closer and lowered her voice.
“Walters is their butler. He is slightly odd, older than Methusaleh, and more loyal than the best hunting hound. He has been with the family since before they were all born and refuses to accept his pension and live the remainder of his days in ease. Bear that in mind, because they are all very fond of him. Mind your tongue.”
A bit insulted, Jansen frowned at her. “I am never rude to servants. You know that.”
She grinned. “Ahh, yes. But you have never met a butler like Walters, nor have you ever withheld what you consider helpful suggestions that others might consider poking one’s nose in where it does not belong.”
“Hmpf.” With that, he sharply rapped on the door, clacking the brass knocker three times.
The portal opened slightly, but the tall, white-haired man, hunched over with age, just stood there, silent as a stone.
After a long moment of nothingness, he slowly listed to the right, bumped against the door facing, and drew in a deep breath that sounded remarkably like the beginning of a nasally snore.
Then he jerked, opened his eyes wider, and cleared his throat. “May I help you, sir?”
“Sir Jansen Winterstone calling for Lady Joy.”
“One moment, sir.” Walters closed the door in their faces and left them standing on the doorstep.
Jansen turned to Aurelia, amazed that a duke would keep such a man as the majordomo of the household. “Are we to stand here on the stoop like beggars waiting for scraps?”
“No.” She pushed the door open and waved for him to follow. “He meant to ask us inside to wait in the entryway. He simply forgot. It happens more often of late.”
“How do you know this?”
“Lady Joy is my friend. Remember?”
Amazed, Jansen obediently followed, praying the odd butler wouldn’t forget that they’d knocked and set the hounds or footmen on them.
The young duke, whom he had spoken to briefly once or twice, stepped into the hallway and noticed them.
“Miss Aurelia? Has Walters wandered off, or were you able to make him understand you wished to see Joy?” As he neared, he swept Jansen with a hard look, then turned back to Aurelia, obviously giving a subtle cut direct.
“I assume you wish to see Joy today. Yes?”
“Actually, it is I who seeks the pleasure of Lady Joy’s company today, Your Grace.” Jansen stepped forward with a formal bow, determined that the man acknowledge him. “We have met, Your Grace. I am—”
“I am well aware of who you are,” Broadmere said, “and I am not at all pleased with my sister or yourself, sir. My other sister, Lady Serendipity, informed me about the way in which this courtship began. Bad form, sir. Especially for a knight. Entrapping a young woman and giving her the ultimatum to either court you or marry you.”
Jansen paused for a slow, deep breath to cool his temper.
Steadiness ruled the day, and it would indeed be even worse form for him to knock this young pup on his arse in his own home.
“I am most fond of Lady Joy, Your Grace. It is my greatest hope that while courting me, she will develop like feelings for me.”
“I see.”
Jansen doubted very much if the duke saw anything other than the dollar signs attached to the will that said his bank account depended on his sisters marrying for love.
That stipulation, as well as the size of their dowries, had been the talk of the ton for the past four years.
But far be it from him to remind the Duke of Broadmere of such things.
Jansen had known the young man’s father, the fourth Duke of Broadmere, well.
Sadly, Chance Abarough, the fifth to take the title, was not half the man his father had been.
“Do you know if Lady Joy is receiving today, Your Grace?” Aurelia asked in a voice so innocent no one could refuse her.
Chance turned and glared up the graceful grand staircase that curved down into the wide, marble-floored entry hall.
“I am sure she is. Walters probably fell asleep on the way to fetch her. God bless him. Let me ring for one of the maids.” He disappeared into a side room that Jansen could only assume was a parlor or a library.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Flackney, came around the corner at a fast toddle, then pulled up short. “Miss Aurelia, good afternoon to you. Are you here to see Lady Joy?”
Aurelia shifted with a barely perceptible sigh.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Flackney. Allow me to introduce my brother, Sir Jansen Winterstone. He is the one calling on Lady Joy today. Walters went to fetch her, but we haven’t seen him since.
His Grace went to the parlor to ring for a maid.
And now here you are, overseer of all the maids, so I really couldn’t tell you if Lady Joy knows she has company or not.
Did you come in answer to His Grace’s bell? ”
“Oh dear.” The housekeeper clapped her hands to her chest. “I do apologize. Our Walters appears to be having a very bad day today.”
“Think nothing of it,” Jansen said. It always paid to get in good with the housekeeper. Mrs. Flackney would know everything that went on in Broadmere House. “I commend the man for holding so tightly to his position and am sure he’s doing his best. Would you mind sending word to Lady Joy for us?”
“Lady Joy is right here,” Joy said from midway down the stairs. “Walters fetched me. He merely had to rest a moment and catch his breath before he could relay the message that I had a caller.” She smiled at Aurelia. “And I am happy to see you too, Aurelia.”
“Too?” Jansen seized on the word. “Might I hope that means you are pleased to see me as well?”
“Of course, Sir Jansen.” But she sounded as though she forced the words. “Forgive me—I mean—of course, Jansen. And now that we are courting, you must call me Joy.”
“It would be my joy to do so.”
“Oh, Jansen.” Aurelia groaned and rolled her eyes. “If you court like that, I shall soon cast up my accounts.”
Joy laughed, the same lilting sound he remembered from his vision on the battlefield. It very nearly took him to his knees.
“Mrs. Flackney, would you please take care of their things?” Joy asked. “Walters can store them when he makes it back downstairs. Oh, and might we have tea in the garden? It is such a lovely day. Much too nice to spend inside the parlor.”
“Right away, my lady.” The housekeeper held out her hands for Jansen’s hat and gloves and Aurelia’s parasol.
After divesting himself of his things, Jansen found himself at a rare loss for words and feeling a bit awkward.
He had never courted anyone before, and not only that, the class difference of nobility versus gentry was never more stark than here in this opulent townhouse.
He was by no means a pauper, but neither was he this flush in the pockets.
To his dismay, Joy appeared to have picked up on his discomfort.
As an avid and successful gamer, she apparently possessed one of his traits—she read people.
He hurried to shake free of this rare uneasiness and take control of the situation.
“As you noted the loveliness of the day, my lady, after our tea, would you care to enjoy a carriage ride or a promenade?”
“What better way to establish our situation among Society, sir? Is that your intention? I assume Rotten Row would be our destination?”
The minx had him dead to rights, but he didn’t care. Her quickness and lack of skirting the issue made him laugh. “I am a proud and yet humbled man, my lady. I would shout our arrangement from the rooftops, if I could.”