Chapter Two #2
His interest in the raven-haired beauty who had drawn his eye was decidedly more intense than usual. And as he knew nothing at all about her—aside from her widowhood, which at least removed the inexperienced problem—this was more than a little concerning.
Yet still, he waited.
“Perhaps this interest means you are ready to—”
“You know me better than that, Goodwin,” Edward said.
Anthony let out a sigh that could have come from his mother’s lips. “Yes, I know. The word ‘relationship’ makes you nearly apoplectic.”
“That is categorically—
“True.”
“An exaggeration,” Edward said with a chuckle.
“I simply prefer my…interactions—” He ignored Anthony’s snort at his refusal to even say the word relationship, “with ladies of a certain breeding to be brief in nature and heavily chaperoned. That way everyone is aware of expectations and there are no messy entanglements.”
He would absolutely never dabble with a lady on the marriage mart whose reputation might suffer from his attentions. Attentions that might change that lady into a wife he had no wish for. He had too much regard for both their future and his own.
Anthony shook his head, disappointment weighing his features down. “Marriage might do you some good.”
“Marriage,” Edward said, the word sending a shiver up his spine, “is but a death knell to true passion. And sanity.”
Anthony chuckled but Edward pressed on. “It is! I’ve seen it time and time again. From my father who will pine after my mother until the day he dies though she’ll never feel more than a passing fondness for him…”
Anthony tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips with a grudging nod of agreement.
“To scores of friends and acquaintances,” Edward continued. “Who, no matter how happy the union began, at some point all devolved into complacency at best. Outright hatred at worst.”
Anthony scoffed, and Edward raised a finger before his friend could interject.
“And I have no intention of ever shackling myself so.”
“Hmm,” Anthony said, leaning closer. “Then how did one look at this mysterious woman suddenly spark such a marked change in your very nature, hmm?”
“That is a severe overstatement of the situation,” Edward said, tugging on his cuffs to straighten his jacket as he waited to catch sight of the delectable Mrs. MacLaren again. “I merely desire a dance with her. As an apology for my little accident.”
“That is all?” Anthony asked, one eyebrow quirking up.
“Yes.” He paused. “Though, I will admit to a slight curiosity.”
He scowled at Anthony’s quick grin.
“Do not read too much into it. Judging from the looks that were aimed her way,” Edward continued, ignoring his friend’s smirk, “I’m not the only one who is curious about the lady. Mrs. Haddon said her coming here was returning home, but I’ve certainly never seen her before.”
“Yes, well despite your obvious love of the fairer sex, even you do not know every woman in England.”
Well, he couldn’t argue with that. “Fair point. Hence, the mystery that may be leading me to be somewhat intrigued by the woman.”
“Um hm,” Anthony muttered. “Wait a moment. She isn’t the widow, is she?”
Edward frowned. “The widow? How do you mean?”
Anthony’s wide-eyed look of outraged shock would have been downright comical if Edward weren’t so thoroughly confused as to his meaning. Well, it was comical anyway, but that didn’t change Edward’s confusion.
“The widow,” Anthony repeated. “The one everyone has been talking about.”
Edward squinted, still unsure as to what his friend referred.
“Oh, for the love of all that is holy, how you can be such a social hail-fellow and still be so sadly misinformed of the latest scandals, I will never know,” Anthony said with more than a little mock disgust for Edward’s failure.
Edward just chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. “I have little defense. Of course, I have just returned from several weeks in the country and this is the first event I have attended since my return.”
“Hmm, I suppose,” Anthony grumbled.
“And,” Edward added, “I have taken the utmost pains to avoid my mother and sisters who would be the most likely to supply me with such information.”
“That is true enough,” Anthony admitted. “Afraid they’ll have you married off before you can unpack your bags?”
Edward poured every ounce of his frustration into his grimace.
Being the eldest unwed brother in a family with three elder sisters who had all already done their duty and suitably married made him the focus of far too many meddling mamas.
His two youngest brothers had so far escaped the attention focused on him, and likely would until he, the heir, had married a suitable bride.
“You have no idea. They have been nothing short of militant.”
Anthony laughed again.
“Well, enlighten me, my friend. What have I missed about this infamous widow?”
Anthony glanced about and stepped a little closer, lowering his voice. “According to several sources—”
“What sources?”
“Don’t interrupt. According to these sources, there is a widow traveling about leaving dead husbands in her wake.”
Edward squinted an eye. “So…the gossip is that this widow has dead husbands? Isn’t that the very definition of the word?”
Anthony huffed, obviously perturbed that Edward wasn’t taking this more seriously.
“It is the manner they became deceased that is at issue. And the number of husbands she has in that state.”
Well then. That was enough to spark a little interest in Edward.
“I take it the lady has buried more than one husband then?” he asked.
Anthony nodded solemnly. “Upwards of twenty, I’ve heard.”
Edward didn’t bother to hide the mocking tone of his scoff.
“No! ’Tis true!” Anthony insisted. “And more than the quantity of poor unfortunates who have crossed her path is the fact that she has supposedly helped usher each of them into their graves.”
Edward regarded his friend for a moment, not quite sure how to respond to such astonishing tidings.
Though it would be his luck that the only woman who had spurred him to show genuine interest in more months than he could count could possibly be the actual death of him.
Not just the metaphorical one should she ever trap him into matrimony.
“Well, well. You have me intrigued. Terrified,” Edward said with a self-deprecating grin. “But intrigued.”
Anthony’s eyes flicked up, and he leaned forward, his smile flush with anticipation. “Well, gird your loins, my terrified friend. Your lady returns.”