Redeeming the Reclusive Earl - Virginia Heath Page 0,106

you ill? Shall I send for a physician?’

She coloured high on her cheekbones. ‘Certainly not. But, Jasper, time is running out. The Season is well underway and those looking for wives will snap up the most eligible girls in a trice.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you suggesting that should I indicate an interest in a female, she will turn me down for someone she met earlier in the Season?’

‘Of course not. No woman in their right mind would turn down an offer from the Duke of Stone.’

Even if they wanted to, as he had learned in his youth. He pushed the unpleasant memory aside. Dwelling on the past helped no one. ‘Well, my dear Aunt Mary, since I have no intention of offering for a woman who is not in her right mind, I can see no reason for haste.’ He eyed his newspaper. He would take it to his study. No one would dare interrupt him there.

‘They would refuse you if they had already accepted another offer. How do you know there is not a lady among this latest group to come out whom you would not prefer above all others?’

‘I am sure all of them are respectable young women whose parents would leap at a crown of strawberry leaves. I do not expect to encounter any difficulties.’

‘How can you know, Stone, if you do not look?’ Her voice was full of exasperation. She shook her head. ‘There is no point in talking to you about this, I can see. But take my advice, marry now while you are still in your prime. No one knows what the future holds.’

He frowned. Aunt Mary was making more of a fuss about this than she had about anything since...since he could not remember when. And, yes, he knew he had to bestir himself at some point. Find the right sort of woman to be his Duchess. He simply had not thought of it as urgent. Nor was it. Yet his aunt seemed genuinely distressed. ‘Very well. To please you, I will take a look at this year’s crop.’

A veritable study of nonchalance, she picked up a pile of invitations set by her plate and sorted through them. She didn’t fool him for a moment.

‘Was there something you wanted to add?’

She put the cards down with a snap. ‘There are two girls whom you might wish to meet. The Mitchell sisters. Both outrageously lovely, reasonably well bred and exceedingly well dowered. I saw them at Lady Dobson’s musical evening last night.’

‘Lady Dobson?’ A chill invaded his veins. ‘Not exactly the cream of the ton, my dear. Not the sort of company I like to keep. And I assume by reasonably well bred you mean not of the peerage?’

His aunt grimaced. ‘Sally Jersey suggested I attend to take a look at them. She’d heard much about their beauty and accomplishments and requested my opinion. Both presented exceedingly well. Another pair like the Gunning girls, I would say.’

The Gunning sisters were still talked about in the drawing rooms of the ton. They had taken London by storm and married well above their station. ‘Not the sort of wife I seek.’

‘Then you are looking.’ She sounded so relieved, he did not have the heart to disabuse her of the notion. Aunt Mary was one of the few people whose feelings he cared about. Not that she usually got up in the boughs about anything. She certainly must be feeling her age if she was panicking about marrying him off. And she wasn’t entirely wrong to be concerned. It was time.

He sighed. ‘Do not expect me to attend events hosted by the likes of Lady Dobson.’ Her husband, a banker, had been knighted by the King for services rendered. Likely a personal loan or an inside tip on a profitable investment. Not a member of the nobility.

‘Certainly not. You know better than to ask. Mrs Durant has them in hand. After my endorsement you will meet them at all the best parties.’

‘Durant?’

‘Three years ago, her husband broke his neck in a steeplechase.’

Ah, yes. ‘I remember him. A reckless idiot. I do not recall a wife.’