“Are you serious, Ambrose?” Jeffrey finally asked, his merriment now containing itself, as he noticed Totnes still looked somewhat skeptical. “You think thatLadyPhoebe— a lady, interested in a fine marriage to a marquess — would risk her entire future by taking up such an endeavor? And besides that, do you believe that I would make such a woman my marchioness?”
“Now I do,” said Ambrose accusingly, “For that is exactly the path you have chosen.”
“Oh, Ambrose, I really wish we wouldn’t do this here, in front of everyone.”
“Do what?” Ambrose asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Allowing all to know of our family matters — of your wish to bring about my disgrace, in hopes that you would then no longer be off to see to your own estate. I am aware your greatest dream is to be rid of me so that you yourself could become marquess.”
“Though I would have to kill you in order to do so,” Ambrose answered wryly, giving Jeffrey pause for a moment, until he smiled.
“Well, if anything should happen to me, we now have a roomful of witnesses who can speak to your intentions.”
He chuckled as though it were all a joke, though his body was tense. Is this truly how his brother felt about him? He knew they were not on the best of terms, but this was going rather far, was it not? This was the one part of his plan that truly bothered him — though he would have to deal with his relationship with his brother following this encounter.
Jeffrey noticed Ambrose had begun to perspire slightly as he gave a tight-lipped nod. “Perhaps we best speak in private,” he finally agreed, and Jeffrey now waved him away.
“Ah, no, we’ve started this now, and the men are interested to learn of the ending, are you not?” he asked them all, and the men nodded. Of course they were interested. Even the nearby footman was looking on with rapt attention.
There was a pause for a moment and Jeffrey waited, as everything rested on what happened next.
“To add an opinion from outside of the Worthington family,” Clarence finally said from the corner, as nonchalant as ever. “Lady Phoebe could hardly be running a newspaper with her frequent social engagements.”
“I hardly ever see her at a party,” retorted Totnes, clearly much more inclined to believe Ambrose’s words.
The Duke shrugged. “She’s not much for those events, I’m told. But she spends a great deal of time with her closest friends. They walk daily, take tea together. I have become rather acquainted with their social calendar as I have taken an interest in one of Lady Phoebe’s closest companions, though I shouldn't like to name her until we have determined the seriousness of our relationship.”
“Oh?”
Jeffrey wasn’t sure who asked the question. This was new gossip, and not only did it have the desired effect of providing credence to Phoebe’s innocence of what they accused her of, but it also distracted the men. Jeffrey would have laughed if had been in private — or with Phoebe. For clearly the men were as interested in the gossip of the day as the readers ofThe Women’s Weekly.
“Yes,” the Duke said as though his words were of no consequence. “She would have known if such a lady was running something like a newspaper.”
Jeffrey nodded and sighed as though his next piece of news irked him slightly. “And it seems that my mother and sisters have taken a great liking to the paper. At first, of course, this greatly vexed me. However, now I am finding that when the five of them are occupied in reading of the latest fashions and gossip as written about within this publication, they are far less likely to disturb me while I read my morning news at the breakfast table. And that is something which I am not perturbed about in the slightest.”
The Earl of Totnes stood now, though his gait was slightly unsteady as he walked around the table. “So you believe that we should allow this publication to stand because you like to drink your coffee in peace?”
“It’s not just coffee,” said Jeffrey. “Has there not been a time when you wish the women in your life left you alone?”
Totnes stopped for a moment to consider that, and while it took a few moments for Jeffrey’s words to seep into his alcohol-laden brain, after a time his angry countenance changed into one that showed promise of being agreeable.
“So there are a few editorials of women voicing their opinions,” Clarence said, and Jeffrey could have leaned across the table and kissed his friend for not only complying with his wishes, but going far beyond. “What does it matter? It is not as though they can actuallydoanything about it. As long as men maintain their power within parliament — and they always will — the woman have what they have always had, simply their words. Just this time it’s on paper. I say, gentlemen, that we waste no more of our efforts on this fruitless pursuit and leave the women to do as they please. Do you agree?”
There were some murmurings around the table as the men both argued and conversed amongst themselves until finally a few “ayes” came forward, and Jeffrey had to work to maintain his composure.
Mutterings reached him, primarily from Totnes and Torrington, of course, but this was the power of a duke such as Clarence — his opinion mattered more than most, and when he spoke, people listened.
“This is ridiculous!” Ambrose burst out from his end of the table, and Clarence turned, ever so slowly, to look at him with all of his ducal authority etched into his face. He raised an eyebrow at Ambrose, as though challenging him to continue his line of thought. Ambrose, unfortunately, was not quite as perceptive as he should have been, for words continued to spew forth. “You are all taking the word of a man besotted! Come, should we not, at the very least, pay a visit to this establishment to determine just whether or not my brother is a liar?”
There was a pause, as they all waited for Jeffrey’s response to his brother’s challenge.
“Go ahead,” he said with a flippant wave of his hand. “I’m done with this business. Go, Ambrose, do as you please.”
Ambrose nodded and stood, looking around to determine if any would follow, and finally Totnes began to totter after him, beckoning Torrington to accompany him.
Once the three of them had departed, Jeffrey breathed deeply, knowing they would find nothing, that this was finally near to over. As the others began to move onto other matters, Jeffrey found a seat next to his friend.
“Thank you, Clarence,” Jeffrey said in a low voice, and Clarence shrugged, as though it weren’t that much issue.
“I never much liked Totnes,” he said, throwing back his drink. “It was a good excuse to get under his skin, if nothing else.”
He laughed then, and Jeffrey felt fortunate that he was a friend of the Duke’s, for he would not want to be on his bad side.
“And I must say,” Clarence continued, in a much lower voice now as he looked around to ensure the rest of the men were no longer listening. “You have found yourself quite a woman. I always thought I preferred a woman I could control, but now I am wondering if perhaps it might be more fun to find a woman with something more to her than a giggle and a smile.”
Jeffrey simply raised his glass to Clarence in a toast, as he sat back with some satisfaction and now contemplated what the future might now hold.