“Oh?” Jack’s smile was making Ned uneasy.
The smile grew broader. “You want to consolidate your position in Clarissa’s affections, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Ned admitted, somewhat cautiously.
“Well, I’m pleased to announce that a situation has arisen which calls for a knight-errant to rescue a fair damsel from the unwanted attentions of a dastardly knave. And as the fair damsel is Clarissa, I suspect you had better polish up your armour.”
“What!”
It took another ten minutes to explain all to Ned’s satisfaction and by then Jack had been sidetracked. “You told all this to Sophie?” he asked, fixing Toby with a disbelieving stare.
Toby looked guilty. “I couldn’t avoid it—she threatened to speak to Mama.”
Jack looked disgusted. “Meddlesome female,” he growled, and he didn’t mean Lucilla.
&n
bsp; “I pointed out that we needn’t worry until the gala. If Papa returns before that, there’ll be no reason for Sophie to worry at all.”
Jack nodded. “Well, don’t tell her anything more. We can take care of it—and the fewer complications the better.”
Toby nodded, entirely in agreement.
“But how, exactly, are we to take care of it?” Ned’s expression was grimly determined.
Succinctly, assisted by helpful suggestions from his inventive brother, Jack laid their campaign before them.
By the time he’d finished, even Ned was smiling.
* * *
“ARGH!” JACK STRETCHED his arms above his head, then relaxed into his chair. “At last I think I see the light.”
Harry grinned. “Think Ned can pull it off?”
The brothers were once more alone, Ned and Toby having taken themselves off with some vague intention of keeping a watchful eye on Clarissa during her afternoon’s promenade in the Park.
“Think?” Jack replied. “I know it! This performance should land Clarissa firmly in his arms, relieving Sophie of further anxiety on the point and myself of the charge of overseeing that youthful romance once and for all.”
“Has it been such a burden?” Harry drained his tankard.
“Not a burden, precisely. But it hurts to watch one of us succumb so young.”
Harry chuckled. “Well, at least neither of us fell young, and I don’t think you need worry about Gerald.”
“Thank God. At least I have the excuse of being the head of the family—it’s expected, after all.”
“Rationalize it any way you want, brother mine; I know the truth.”
Jack’s blue eyes met Harry’s green ones across the width of the table. Their gazes locked, then Jack sighed. “Well, at least with Ned safely settled, I’ll be able to give my full attention to a certain golden head. And with Horatio Webb’s help, I’ll conquer her stubbornness.”
“Let me be the first to wish you happy.”
Jack glanced at Harry and realized his brother was serious. He smiled. “Why thank you, brother mine.”
“And I’ll give you a warning, too.”
“Oh?”