Page 93 of Snowfall and the Duke
Bromleigh grunted. “Well, Durham is no Silver Duke yet. And Fiona is nearing forty, so…”
Camborne burst out laughing. “She is going to kill you if she learns you’ve given her age away.”
“I saidnearing—that is not the same as giving her actual age,” Bromleigh insisted. “Come on, the dinner hour is approaching. Gather your wives and meet me back at my townhouse. Cherish is eager to meet Ailis.”
“Will it just be the four couples?” Jonas asked. “Tonight is Ailis’s first time stepping out to atonaffair.”
“She’ll do fine. We are all friends. Fiona will be there, too. She and Cherish are inseparable, as close as two sisters. My nephew, Reggie, and his friend, Durham, may stop by. You and Ailis will get to meet them, Ramsdale. Then you can decide whether you want in on the wager.”
Jonas laughed. “All right, we’ll see.”
He told Ailisabout their discussion when picking her up from the Langford townhouse to escort her to the Bromleighs. “What do you think, Ailis? Will Fiona fall for a younger man?”
She pursed her lips. “I don’t know. It is quite a sensitive matter, especially for a woman approaching forty. I was turning thirty and believed I had lost all hope of ever marrying. Leap ahead ten years…and it must be a difficult choice for Fiona, evenif she does care for Durham. He is entering his prime and she probably feels like a fading star. Still, I like to think true love will always win out. What do you think?”
“I’ll reserve judgment. You’ll likely meet them all tonight and can make up your mind about them.”
She snuggled against him as they rode in the ducal carriage. “I’m just glad I have you.”
“Mutual.” He placed his hand over hers and gave it a light squeeze. “I love you, Ailis.”
“Oh, Jonas, I love you so much.”
He spent the rest of the ride kissing his wife in the carriage. They had long ago lost count of the number of kisses each had given the other, but it did not matter. Each kiss he gave Ailis came with a piece of his heart, and it was now big and open, with lots more to give.
They arrived at the Bromleigh townhouse and spent a most enjoyable evening among friends. Seeing his fellow dukes with their wives, Jonas now understood how each in turn had lost his heart. Cherish could not have been a better match for Bromleigh. Nor could Eden have been more perfect for Lynton. Jocelyn had tamed the untamable Camborne, and that was quite an accomplishment.
Bromleigh’s cousin, Fiona, was there, as were his nephew, Reggie, and the unsuspecting Durham.
Jonas glanced at Ailis, knowing she was studying them all. “What do you think, love?” he asked in a whisper as the ladies were about to leave the men to their ports.
“Oh, I don’t know. Too soon to tell. But if they are meant to be, then I wish them a snowfall…and we shall see what that brings.”
Well, Jonas doubted there would be a snowfall in July. This was when they were all to meet again, for Bromleigh and his wife had invited them to a summer house party at Cherish’schildhood home, Northam Hall, which was near Brighton and neighbored Fiona’s estate.
Ailis, ever the romantic, would not miss it for the world.
As for her wish for a snowfall in July?
Why not?
And add ten kisses.
Miracles could happen.
THE END
