First Comes Scandal (Rokesbys #4) - Julia Quinn Page 0,5
separate conversations, because his father then said, “It’s only marriage.”
At that, Nicholas full-on snorted. “Say that to Mother and then come back and say it again.”
His father’s expression grew peevish. “This is Georgiana we’re talking about. Why are you so resistant?”
“Oh, I don’t know … Perhaps because you summoned me away from my studies, across two countries, and then when I arrived, you did not suggest that I might have the means to solve a difficult situation. You did not ask me how I felt about the idea of marriage. You sat me down and ordered me to marry a woman who is practically my sister.”
“But she is not your sister.”
Nicholas turned away. “Stop,” he said. “Please just stop.”
“Your mother agrees that it’s the best solution.”
“Oh my God.” They were ganging up on him.
“It is the only solution.”
“A moment,” Nicholas muttered. He pressed his fingers to his temples again. His head was starting to pound. “I just need a moment.”
“We don’t have—”
“For the love of God, could you be quiet for one bloody second so I can think?”
His father’s eyes widened, and he took a step back.
Nicholas looked down at his hands. They were shaking. He’d never spoken to his father in such a manner. He wouldn’t have thought it possible. “I need a drink,” he muttered. A proper one this time. He strode back to the sideboard and filled his glass, nearly to the brim.
“The entire journey down from Scotland I wondered,” Nicholas mused, “what on earth could be the reason for such a mysterious yet blatantly unignorable summons. Had someone died, I wondered.”
“I would never—” “No,” Nicholas interrupted. He did not desire his father’s commentary. This was his speech, his sarcasm, and by God he was going to get through it in his own good time.
“No,” he said again.
“No one could have died. My father would never compose such a cryptic note for that. But what else could it be? What could possibly have led him to call me down at such an astoundingly inconvenient time?”
Lord Manston opened his mouth, but Nicholas quelled him with another hard stare.
“Although inconvenient doesn’t really quite cover it. Did you know I’m missing my exams?” Nicholas paused, but not for long enough to indicate that the question was anything but rhetorical. “My professors agreed to re-administer them when I return, but of course I had to admit to them that I didn’t know when I would return.” He took a long drink of his brandy. “Now, that’s an awkward conversation.”
Nicholas looked over at his father, almost daring him to interrupt. “I don’t think they wanted to grant the delay,” he continued, “but this is one of those cases where being the son of an earl does come in handy. Not to make friends, of course. Because no one really likes the fellow who pulls rank to get out of exams. Even if that fellow has every intention of taking those exams at a later, although as I may have already mentioned, unspecified, date.”
“I have already apologized for pulling you away from your studies,” Lord Manston said in a tight voice.
“Yes,” Nicholas said blandly, “in your highly detailed letter.”
His father stared at him for a moment, then said, “Are you finished with your petulance?”
“For the time being.” Nicholas took a sip of his drink, then reconsidered. He still had one last thing to say. “I will tell you, though, of all the scenarios that played through my mind on the journey home, I never dreamed that I would arrive to find my father had all but promised my hand in marriage.”
“Your hand in marriage,” his father repeated with a slightly uncomfortable huff. “You make yourself sound like a girl.”
“I rather feel like one right now, and I have to tell you, I don’t like it.” He shook his head. “I have new respect for all of them, putting up with us telling them what to do.”
Lord Manston snorted. “If you think I have ever managed to tell your mother or sister what to do, you are sadly mistaken.”
Nicholas set down his glass. He’d had enough. It wasn’t even noon. “Then why are you doing so with me?”
“Because I have no other choice,” his father shot back. “Georgiana needs you.”
“You would sacrifice your son for the benefit of your goddaughter.”
“That’s not at all what I’m doing, and you know it.”
It felt like it, though. It felt like his father was choosing a favorite child, and it was not Nicholas.