Convince Me, Viscount (A Very Fine Muddle Book 6) by Kate Archer

Author:Kate Archer [Archer, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2024-04-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Marianna had much rather have stayed at the house, alone in her bedchamber to brew and stew over Lord Darden. Her mother would not allow it, though.

Now that Lord Darden’s sisters and Miss Mayton had called upon them and gained entrance, it was their duty to return the call upon each one of the ladies. Six different calls to six different houses.

At least, she’d thought it would be six. As it happened, Miss Mayton did not host an at-home and then Lady Hamill resided with her in-laws so they might consider themselves excused there unless her duke and duchess were to call upon them.

Still, four was plenty to get through.

Lady Van Doren’s at-home was the first on the list and Marianna was all too aware that the house sat directly across the avenue of Portland Place from Lord Darden’s residence.

Would he call upon his sister? If he did, what stance should she take with him? She’d left him very abruptly, a bit rudely, at Lady Rawley’s theatrical. He’d earned it, she thought. Her hopes were disappointed, she was stung a thousand times over, and she was determined that nobody should know it. There was little worse for a lady than disappointed hopes, other than publicly known disappointed hopes.

And, she did have disappointed hopes. All along, she’d not allowed herself to think too much into the future or whether she would do her father’s bidding.

Now that there was no question of her needing to defy her father over a certain viscount, she realized she very much wished there was.

She was also confused. Lord Darden had told her that if he were interested in marrying, she’d have been in the running. Hardly a declaration or a flattery, but not a dismissal either.

What did it mean? Did it mean it was her bad luck not to be coming next season, or the next, or the next?

Lord Darden had been in Town for seven seasons, what on earth was he waiting for? What if she wed nobody this season and came back next year? Would he be ready then? Or would she foolishly come back season after season and he was never ready.

Or worse, he thought he was not ready and then found himself bowled over by some lady. That was probably the likeliest conclusion. Marianna guessed there had been no end of gentlemen over the years who were determined to stay a bachelor, but then met a lady who upended all their ideas.

Perhaps that was what stung her the most. She would not be the lady that prompted him to throw over all his ideas to secure her. She supposed she was pleasant, but not compelling enough.

“Marianna,” the duchess said, as they walked to Lady Beatrice’s door, “I do believe you are turning into a brooder.”

Marianna forced a smile. “Certainly not, Mama.”

“Well, chin up, my girl. I feel confident things will work themselves out.”

Marianna did not inquire what things her mother referred to.

They were admitted to Lady Van Doren’s drawing room and found their hostess with two of her sisters—the Duchess of Conbatten and Lady Hamill.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.