Page 23 of The Risky Wager of a Masked Lady
By midday, Evan was feeling much more like himself. He’d enjoyed the bath to remove all traces of the horse stall from his skin, ate a rather small breakfast, then awoke from a long sleep with his stomach fairly aching for something more substantial to eat. By the time he was fed and presentably dressed, the hour was upon him to meet his lady mother for the ride he’d promised.
“Will you ever reach the age where it is not seemly for me to greet you as my handsome boy?” she asked with a very real smile, extending her hand and allowing Evan to help her up into the open carriage.
“Never, Mother. I won’t hear of it! I shall be your darling little boy for the rest of my life.”
“I said nothing about ‘darling,’ young man,” she teased with a stern look. “Handsome yes. Darling? Remember why you’re on the ride today!”
“Of course,” he said, bowing low. “I am your humble and repentant servant today… even if I am both handsome and darling!”
Lady Lanercost laughed heartily and swatted at Evan with her fan. “I had no idea my companion today would be such an imp! Get on with you, fetch your horse so that we may set out!”
They had barely left the front gates, his mother in her carriage and Evan riding a sleek black horse alongside it, when Lady Lanercost spoke to Evan, saying, “As usual and per your iron-clad decree, we are not permitted to discuss your marriage prospects…”
“Mother,” Evan interrupted with a warning tone that was almost close to a growl.
“but then we are permitted to discuss marriage in general terms. For example, if I were to inquire notwhenyou might marry, but atwhat ageyou thought a wealthy earl who’s already inherited his title might be suited for marriage, you could respond to that question, could you not?”
“I suppose I could,” he said dryly, looking about and avoiding his mother’s gaze. “And to that question, I would simply reply… whenever this earl is good and ready.”
“Ah, but society would reply that highborn young men of land and titles marry when their parents choose for them. Since you’ve no father to hold your inheritance over your head as a weapon, you’ll simply have to abide by your mother’s decision, don’t you agree?”
“Mother…” Evan said again, his growling even more pronounced. Lady Lanercost only smiled.
“You see, if you’d been at my dinner last night, it would have been unseemly to have this conversation in front of our guests. Since you’ve decided that going for a ride with me is a better use of your time, now we have all afternoon to discuss it!”
Ahead of them, the driver laughed before recovering himself. Evan chose to ignore it, but his mother laughed even louder.
“It’s quite all right, Boxer, I find it rather amusing as well!”
“Sorry, My Lady. It still wasn’t right, I won’t be hearing your conversation again, you have my word!” the driver called back before sitting up straighter and turning away.
“See what you’ve done?” Lady Lanercost whispered loudly to Evan. “You’ve gone and embarrassed our driver.”
Evan rolled his eyes, but still, he smiled. He’d known all along how his mother would trifle with him during this ride, and truth be known, he still preferred conversing with her like this to entertaining a ball room full of people from the ton.
“To be honest, Mother, I have actually given some measure of thought to marriage…”
“Anyone I know?” she interrupted, turning in her seat excitedly to face him. He ignored her eager expression and continued.
“and I’ve come to realize that my prospects are actually quite vast.”
“How do you mean?” his mother asked, frowning slightly and shielding her eyes from the sun with her fan that she might see his face more clearly.
“Well, I may be a lowly earl, certainly not in the same realm of power or prestige as the Duke of Sussex, for example. But as a man of both family and self-made fortunes, I’m a prime candidate to be swept up in the net of a noble family that has found itself in dire straits.”
“What kind of straits would that be?” she asked, innocent of his meaning.
“Oh, you know the type. A family from a good line with no fortune of their own, or a successful merchant who has vast property but no title. Even, dare I say it! A beautiful young daughter who has found herself ruined in the worst way.”
“How could you even consider such a thing!” Lady Lanercost whispered, the look on her face belying her upset.
“Think of it, there are auspicious matches to be made that would secure our family’s place, even if an indiscretion or two were part of the deal,” Evan explained, casting a quick glance to Boxer, who made a very good show of not listening. “In the right family with the wrong decision, I could very well marry up.”
“You are a most impish boy!” his mother cried out with laughter when she realized he was only speaking in jest. “You’d have stopped my heart with this conversation if I had not understood you were teasing me!”
“Yes, Mother. And it serves you right for meddling in my romantic affairs. Rest assured, I will marry someday, and you will live long enough to meet not only my bride but any little heirs that God favors us with.” Evan smiled down at his mother with genuine affection, and she was very pleased with the answer.
“Oh, dare I say it,” Lady Lanercost said behind her fan in a low voice, “but here comes a wonderful example of ‘all title, no fortune.’”
