Page 13 of Empowered By the Earl (Second Sons of London 3)

“I seem to remember a good many of them have claimed your attention over the years.”

“I plan to keep it that way for some time. Yes, I will go and partake of the Season next year. I will need to take my seat in the House of Lords and I do want to get to know my fellow peers. As for women? The Season will give me the perfect opportunity to find willing widows I can service.” He grinned. “Or bored wives who have provided an heir and now look for more adventure than their husbands can give them.”

He placed the glass of lemonade on the table between them. “No, I will enjoy myself for a good five years or more. By then, I should be ready to plant roots and shackle myself to some eager bride and get my heir and, hopefully, a spare.”

“I hope you are wrong, Owen. I am not one to meddle in your affairs—”

“But you think Adalyn is?” he interrupted.

Ev laughed. “She might wish to. She will introduce you to any woman you wish to know. Addie is acquainted with simply everyone in Polite Society. It wouldn’t hurt for you to listen to her advice regarding a wife.”

“As I said, that is several years down the road. For now, I am going to enjoy having a title and no worries about money. I will attend your little house party and be kind to and flirt with all the ladies Adalyn invites. But I have no desire to become betrothed any time soon.”

Ev set down his glass and stood. “I will take my leave—but come for dinner tonight. Drinks in the drawing room at half-past six. I insist.”

He rose. “Thank Adalyn for the invitation. I will see the two of you this evening.”

“Actually, there will be three of us. Addie’s cousin, Louisa, has come for a visit,” Ev explained.

Dread filled Owen. A scheming Adalyn—and now her cousin conveniently comes to visit?

“Isn’t the Season still going?” he asked lightly.

“It is. Louisa had tired of it, though, and Addie longed for a visit from her cousin. The two of them and Tessa are extremely close.”

“This cousin is unmarried, I assume.”

“She is. And she is a lovely woman. A year younger than Addie and Tessa.”

That meant this cousin was a spinster. Owen recalled that Adalyn was five and twenty. So Cousin Louisa was unwed and bored with the Season. Most likely, it meant she was receiving no offers at her advanced age and wished to escape town and the flurry of the end of the Season engagements. As much as he liked both Adalyn and Tessa, Owen was not eager to meet their cousin.

Much less be paired with her by the matchmaking Adalyn.

“I don’t know, Ev,” he began.

His friend glowered at him. “You will come to dinner because my duchess wants you to do so. You will be nice to Louisa because she is a lovely young woman. For goodness’ sake, Owen, I’m not asking you to wed Louisa. Merely come and have dinner with us. Yes, she will be at the house party, along with several other unattached ladies and gentlemen. You should be so fortunate as to have a woman of Louisa’s charms be interested in you.”

“That’s quite a speech, Ev. All right, I will come for dinner this evening. I will even be nice to this spinster cousin. But tell Adalyn in private before I arrive that she is not to push Louisa and me together. My plans are to enjoy life after years at war. And that includes making love to a good number of women for quite an extended time.”

Ev looked at him with disgust. “You always have done as you wished, selfish as it might be. I hope you don’t realize what a gem Louisa is—and that she has no regard for you. Because she deserves better than you.”

Owen’s jaw dropped as Ev stormed off.

They had disagreed in the past over things but never really fought before. Seeing Ev leave after such harsh words made Owen’s stomach sink.

This is what marriage did to a man. It changed him. Ev was already different from the friend he remembered, thanks to wedding a strong-willed woman. It was apparent Ev thought every man should be married and as besotted with their wives as he was. As Spence was.

He had visited Spence and Tessa for a long weekend a month ago. It had been wonderful reuniting with his old friend and meeting Spence’s countess. Spence had welcomed Owen with open arms and Tessa had been friendly and encouraging. Yet the bond between the pair was obvious, just as it was with Ev and Adalyn. They were still his friends—with limits, it seemed.

It made Owen all the more certain that he did not want a wife, especially one that he loved. He didn’t want to invest that much of himself in a woman. His motto had always been to enjoy female company when he could before moving on. A wife was the last thing he wanted in his life. Already, so much upheaval had occurred in these last several months. He didn’t want or need a woman in his life. Though he might at one point have experienced a bit of jealousy at the closeness Ev had with Adalyn, he could see now it was actually detrimental.

Marriage was the last thing on his mind. He would make that perfectly clear to Adalyn and anyone else who tried to steer him toward matrimony.

Owen would go to dinner at Cliffside tonight and tolerate this cousin. He would do the same with the other females at this silly house party that Adalyn was planning.

He would remain true to himself—and hope the distance between Ev and him would eventually close.

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