Page 36 of The Duke's Inconvenient Bride
“Do you have any suggestions?” he asked Longley. “Perhaps a girl I’ve already met.”
Longley started to speak, but a knock at the door interrupted him.
“What is it?” Vaughan called.
The door opened, and Gladwell’s gaunt frame appeared.
“The Earl of Carlisle is here to see you, Your Grace.”
Vaughan caught Longley’s gaze, and a question passed between them. What on earth could the earl want? Everything was settled between them—albeit unhappily.
“I was just leaving,” Longley said, rising to his feet. “Perhaps I will see you at the club later, Ashford?”
“I might come by.” Particularly because he wanted to finish this conversation.
Longley departed.
“Show the earl in,” Vaughan said to Gladwell.
The butler nodded and excused himself. When he returned a moment later, the earl was in tow. Carlisle stepped inside, and Gladwell closed the door behind him.
“Lord Carlisle, I wasn’t expecting you,” Vaughan said. “Please have a seat.”
Carlisle sat on the chair that Longley had vacated.
He rubbed his hand on his pants leg. “I have a suggestion for an arrangement that might suit us both.”
He hadn’t met Vaughan’s eyes yet, which made Vaughan wonder whether Carlisle thought he might take the suggestion poorly.
“What’s that?” he asked.
Carlisle raised his eyes and seemed to take a steadying breath. “I feel terrible for the trouble my reckless daughter has caused. You expected a suitable bride and instead were landed with a scandal. I know nothing can make up for that, but I’d like to know whether you would consider marrying my other daughter, Lady Emma, instead?”
Vaughan’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”
“It’s most irregular of me to suggest it—I’m aware of that—but she is the same age as Violet, has a matching dowry, and is as well trained, if not more so, in household management.”
Vaughan simply stared. He didn’t know how else to respond.
His immediate reaction was to refuse and to tell Carlisle that he was insane. Based on the way the earl was still having difficulty meeting his gaze, that was exactly what he expected Vaughan to do.
He reached for the glass of brandy and gulped it, his eyes watering as it seared down his throat. Lord Carlisle’s lips twitched, but he didn’t comment.
“Give me a moment,” Vaughan said. “You’ve startled me, and I need to think.”
Carlisle nodded in understanding and turned away from Vaughan, possibly examining the walls and furnishings.
In all of his dealings with his peers, Vaughan had never heard of someone offering the intended bride’s sister to the jilted groom as some kind of consolation prize. Surely people would be appalled by what Lord Carlisle was suggesting. After all, if Vaughan had wanted to marry Emma, then he would have courted her originally.
He briefly allowed himself to consider Lady Emma as a prospective bride. Like her father had said, she was the right age to be wed, and she had no doubt been trained in the same ways as Violet. However, she was also more reserved, which wouldn’t suit his needs, as she may not take the lead when he was socially overwhelmed.
Emma was also, objectively, less beautiful than Violet, but she was still an attractive woman. Her looks were understated. The more one noticed her, the more appealing she became. He certainly wouldn’t be opposed to seeing her face on the pillow beside his.
However, Longley had told him that Emma wanted love, and Vaughan wasn’t prepared to give her love.
“What does Lady Emma think of this plan?” he asked Carlisle.
The earl’s lips pinched together, then released. “She has agreed to it.”
