A Deceptive Wager (Marriage by Design #3) - Ruth Ann Nordin Page 0,4
liked on gentlemen. He had been blessed with male beauty. Still, it didn’t make her inclined to anticipate marrying him. Looking at a gentleman was far different from having to spend her life with one.
“I’m sure everything will be all right,” Emilia said. “If I can fall in love with Benjamin, anything is possible.”
Maybe. Or maybe not. Kitty wasn’t all that hopeful her marriage would be anything like the kind of marriages her friends had. They had love matches, and they had both wanted to get married. Granted, Emilia hadn’t wanted to marry Benjamin, but she had wanted to get married. It wasn’t all that surprising that Emilia ended up falling in love with him since he treated her so well.
Kitty’s situation was different. Neither she nor Aaron wanted to get married, but her awful brother forced the union. She doubted her marriage would end up being anything like Lilly’s or Emilia’s. And that gave her a terrible sense of foreboding about the whole thing.
***
Aaron turned from the chessboard. “I’m not in the mood to play a game today.”
Mr. Roger Morris took another one of Aaron’s pawns off the board and set it on his side of the table. “Well, you’re playing miserably, so I’m not surprised.”
Aaron got up from the table and poured another glass of brandy. He downed the entire glass in one gulp. Maybe coming to White’s had been a bad idea. There was far too much liquor in the place, and he was so restless that he kept going back for more of it.
Resisting the urge to pour another drink, he returned to Roger and plopped into the chair. Then he slammed the glass on the table and crossed his arms. “The more I think about how Lord Halloway duped me, the angrier I get.”
Roger put the pawns that had tipped over back up. “Yes, I can tell. But you could have done worse. Kitty is Lilly’s friend. She’s nothing like your mother. You won’t have to worry about her acting inappropriately.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “No lady can be trusted. Some just hide their transgressions better than others.”
“That’s not true. Some are good. What your mother did was terrible, but you can’t say that all ladies share her sins. That’s not fair to them.”
“Of course, I can say all ladies share her sins because they all do the same things she did. Or still does. I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”
“I know you want me to feel sorry for you, but my sympathies go to Kitty. She isn’t the lady you’re assuming her to be, and my wife isn’t, either. Lilly would never take a lover.”
Aaron couldn’t believe how naïve his friend was. “Even after all Lilly put you through, you insist on seeing what you wish was true.”
“That’s not fair. Lilly was a virgin when we consummated the marriage.”
“I was talking about the way she continually rejected your affections, chose another gentleman to get engaged to, and then decided she had to have you once you stopped chasing after her like a hopeless puppy. Had you kept pursuing her, she never would have taken an interest in you. Now that she has you, it’s only a matter of time before she does take a lover.”
Roger’s expression turned hard. “Just because you’re miserable, it doesn’t give you the right to be nasty.”
“I’m merely stating the truth. My father believed my mother would be faithful to him if he just catered to her whims long enough. I don’t blame you for being misguided. You want to see the best in people, so you’ll do whatever it takes to justify their actions.”
“I’ve had all I can take of this.” Roger rose to his feet. “When you find yourself in a better mood, I’ll be happy to talk to you. Until then, keep your misery to yourself.”
Aaron watched him in disbelief as he left White’s. Was the truth really so hard for Roger to accept that he couldn’t at least consider it? Aaron shook his head then set the chess pieces back where they belonged on the board. He had just finished placing the last piece down when Lord Edon came over to him.
“Do you want to join the wager?” Lord Edon asked.
“If it has anything to do with Lady Richfield, I’m not interested,” Aaron replied.
“No, this has nothing to do with her. I would never endorse a wager as foolish as that. Any gentleman who thinks he can conquer her lacks intelligence.”