Page 2 of Bargaining for the Barrister
“Blast,” Ian muttered under his breath.
“What is it?”
Ian held up his hand to silence him, leaned forward, and whispered, “My mother announced this morning that she’s started a musical club. I forgot how thin the walls are on this side of the house. We will have no peace now.”
Paul smothered a laugh. “But the countess is not even musical. Why would she want to start a club to support it?”
“I had the same thought. Prepare your ears, for they might never recover.”
“Why don’t we move to the library. A concert of distressing noises would only magnify my current state.” Paul shifted to stand, but Ian waved him back to his seat.
“And be caught by my mother? Two things could happen if she sees me. She’ll either insist we join her club or forget about her music and reproach me again with another one of her never-ending lectures. Neither one is appealing. No, we must suffer where we are.”
Paul opened his mouth to object when another voice started speaking from the other room.
“Welcome, dear friends.” The words were muffled, but it was easy to identify the speaker as the countess, Lady Kellen. “I have invited you all today on a very urgent matter.”
Ian scoffed and whispered, “When was music ever an urgent matter?”
“Is it the music for our next ball? Our local ensemble is sorely lacking.”
Paul squinted. “Is that Mrs. Jackson?”
Ian nodded but slipped a finger to his lips when Paul spoke a little too loudly.
“No, this is far more dire than even that. It concerns this next generation... our children. As you know, my son has sworn off marriage. He will not take a wife, no matter how I press him.”
Ian folded his arms and nodded as if to agree with his mother.
“My Paul is in no hurry to marry either.”
Paul froze at the mention of his name. He had not expected to hear his mother’s voice before his return to the house, nor would he have expected her to join a musical club. He hadn’t seen her since the holidays, but he hadn’t planned for this to be their reunion.
“He won’t even pay a call on a woman until he has made his fortune,” she continued. “I believe he works harder than anyone, but I have yet to see proof he has made much monetary progress. I fear, with such ambitions, he will be too old to enjoy a family. Only a woman will settle his drive for money.”
Humiliation and a tinge of anger pushed him to stand and step closer to the wall. He didn’t know what this had to do with music, but if he was being discussed, he wanted to hear every word. Ian followed suit.
“If you think you are in trouble with your sons, you should try marrying off a daughter,” Mrs. Manning said.
Paul thought of Lisette—a veritable angel and childhood friend. She would marry, all right, but not until their friend, Miles Jackson, asked her.
Mrs. Manning continued. “It doesn’t matter how pretty or talented she might be; my Lisette will not accept a single offer. She’s a sweet child, and she does try, but at one and twenty, she is nearly on the shelf!”
His mother spoke again. “They aren’t exactly disobedient children, but they are decidedly obstinate when it comes to marriage. This is the real reason Lady Kellen and I called this meeting today.”
Paul and Ian locked eyes. The ire and panic in Ian’s face surely reflected his own. His mother had been in on this scheme, then? It was too absurd to believe.
Mrs. Manning’s laugh reminded him of Lisette’s airy one. “And here I thought our town might finally be showing an appreciation for the arts.”
“We will continue to meet under the guise of our musical club,” Lady Kellen said, “but we will be performing a different sort of art. The art of matchmaking.”
Several spoke at once, and it was too hard to decipher their words.
Paul shook his head. “This won’t end well.” He firmly believed in a person’s right to choose their own spouse. His experience in courts of law had further testified why this was the best course of action. He’d seen everything from a rare case of divorce to disturbing marriage settlements to abuse and even murder. No, his mother wouldn’t go along with this matchmaking scheme. She couldn’t have known the whole of it, or she wouldn’t have agreed. He was sure of that.
Lady Kellen quieted the room on the other side of the wall with a few repeated attempts to speak. “Ladies, please be patient while I explain our plan. We have all meddled in the past, and thank heavens we did. Mrs. Jackson, you and your husband are perfect examples of how a little encouragement can help two people fall in love. If a mother did not exert guidance, her child would have no future at all. I know a few of you harbor misgivings about arranged marriages, and I do not blame you. We all desire our children to have a love match, whether there is love at the beginning or it develops over time. We must do what we can to preserve the traditions of marriage and family, to provide us the opportunity to be grandmothers, and to preserve our estates with future heirs.”
“Here, here. It is a mother’s duty to ensure her children are married well.” Paul thought it was Lady Felcroft talking, but he could not be sure. Did Tom know his mother felt so strongly about this?
