The Footman and I - Valerie Bowman Page 0,48
a punch to the gut. He forced himself to keep his face blank as he asked the question he already knew the answer to. “Really? Who is the fortunate lady?”
“Well.” Sir Reginald puffed up his chest and smoothed his hand down the front of his plum-colored coat. “Nothing’s settled yet, you understand, but I’ve become partial to Miss Frances Wharton.”
“Baron Winfield’s daughter?” Lucas continued, biting the inside of his cheek, hard.
“Yes, his eldest. She’s a bit headstrong, apparently fancies herself knowledgeable about politics.” He chuckled condescendingly, rolling his eyes. “Can you imagine? But it’s nothing a good husband shouldn’t be able to quell. She’s a pretty enough chit.”
“I hear Winfield is in debt. Are you certain there’s a dowry there?” It was a horrible thing to say, but Lucas couldn’t help himself. And quell? Had the man truly just said quell? He clearly didn’t know Frances if he thought he would be able to quell her opinion on politics.
Sir Reginald waved a hand in the air. “Makes no difference to me. In fact, I’ve reason to believe that’s why the family’s interested. No doubt I’d be looking at a much older bride if a hefty dowry was my aim. I already have more money than I know what to do with.” The knight had the audacity to wink. Lucas quelled the urge to punch him in the jaw.
“You’re certain she’s interested?” Lucas asked, narrowing his eyes on the older man. He shouldn’t have asked that question either, but he couldn’t stop himself once more.
“I don’t see how she couldn’t be,” Sir Reginald said, coughing into a handkerchief he’d pulled from his lace-covered sleeve. “The chit doesn’t have many options.”
The grin the knight gave him revealed crooked, yellowed teeth. Lucas shuddered for Frances’s sake. No wonder Frances thought all the men of the ton were pompous, boring asses. This man was sitting here talking about her future as if she had no say in it.
“I see,” Lucas replied woodenly. He had to change the subject before he knocked the man unconscious. He shook his head. “At any rate, the reason I asked you here was to—”
“Allow me to guess.” The knight gave him an obsequious smile. “You want to discuss the Employment Bill.”
Lucas grinned at him and took a swig of brandy. “However did you guess, Sir Reginald?”
The knight sighed and waved his hand in the air again. “Seems that’s all you want to discuss with anyone these days, Kendall. You’re garnering quite the reputation for being preoccupied with that law.”
“My apologies if my conversation has turned monotonous.” Lucas gave the knight a tight smile. He had to tread carefully with the man. One rude word from him could send Sir Reginald and the entire group of Royalists who’d yet to declare their intentions as to the vote scattering to the opposition. “Have you had any more thoughts on the matter since the last time we spoke?”
Sir Reginald settled into his chair and ventured another sip of brandy. “Honestly, I have not. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.”
Lucas nodded. “Fair enough. If you haven’t yet made up your mind, I am happy to discuss the finer points of the law.”
“I know you are, Kendall, and that’s the problem,” Sir Reginald said with an impatient sigh.
Lucas furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re more interested in the bloody details of the law, while I’m more interested in the—” he waved his hand in a circle, “—details of, say, what’s in it for me if I vote the way you’d like me to.” Sir Reginald’s obsequious smile returned.
Lucas clenched his jaw. He was not naïve enough to believe these types of discussions didn’t happen when it came to politics, but it still made his stomach turn when he encountered it.
“One would hope you’d vote according to your conscience,” he replied, doing his best to keep his temper under check. “As I said, I’m happy to discuss the points—”
“One would hope, wouldn’t one, Kendall?” Sir Reginald turned up his nose. “But I’m telling you that I’d be more interested in some sort of a bargain.”
“What were you thinking, Sir Reginald?” Lucas asked, merely to have the pleasure of knowing what exactly the man wanted from him. “You’ve already said you have more money than you know what to do with.”
“I don’t want money, Kendall.” A dark gleam shined in the knight’s eye. “I want something much more elusive.”
“And that is?” Lucas prodded.
The knight rolled his