said, before turning to the servant who had admitted them and ordering breakfast for them both before leading the way to the library, a large room lined with bookshelves and containing a reading table and a couple of deep leather armchairs either side of the fireplace. ‘I may be old-fashioned, but I would rather find a wife I could care for and who cared for me. Emily has no feeling for me at all but, with my uncle’s death, my aunt was deprived of her chance to be a duchess and so she is determined on her daughter fulfilling the role. She will hound me to death as soon as she hears of my grandfather’s edict.’
Richard sprawled morosely in one of the chairs and Martin, always at ease in his friend’s company, sat opposite him. ‘Then there is no alternative, my friend—you must mix with Society as one of the eligibles and hope for the best.’
‘The best,’ Richard echoed. ‘Oh, that I could find such a one.’
‘A great deal depends on your expectations, Dick. Tell me, what attributes will you be looking for in a wife?’
Richard gave a short bark of a laugh, as if considering such a thing had never crossed his mind, though he had been thinking of little else since the interview with his grandfather. ‘Let me see. It goes without saying she must come from a good family, or Grandfather will never sanction her. Beautiful? Not necessarily, but she must have a pleasing face, a certain style and presence, so that I can be proud to have her on my arm in public. She must be able to converse intelligently; I should hate anyone vacuous or missish.’
‘An educated wife…that might be asking for trouble.’
‘A little education does no harm, but I wouldn’t want a blue stocking; they are always trying to score points. She must want and like children because the whole object of the exercise is to beget an heir and I do not hold with women who have babies and then hand them over to nurses and governesses to rear.’
‘That’s quite a list.’
‘I haven’t done yet. I would expect her to be considerate towards those beneath her and tenderhearted when they are in trouble, but not soft, not easily gulled. She must enjoy country pursuits because I shall wish to spend much of my time in Hertfordshire on the estate. Not a hoyden, though. Don’t like hoydens above half.’
Martin was smiling at this catalogue of virtues. ‘What about a dowry?’
‘Most important of all she must not be a fortune or a title hunter. In fact, it would be a decided advantage if she had her own fortune.’
‘Why? You are a pretty plump in the pocket already.’
‘I know, but if she has her own fortune, she will not be marrying me for mine, will she? I want someone accustomed to wealth so that she will fall easily into my way of living and not be overawed by it. Besides, I will not be truly wealthy until I inherit and, for all his protestations to the contrary, my grandfather is fit as a flea.
‘It would be better if my wife could afford all the extravagant fripperies she needs without my having to go to him for an increase in my allowance. If she is already independent, she would not fetter me with extravagant demands. She would be prepared to let me go my own way in return for being able to lead her own life, within certain decorous limits, of course.’
‘Do you know, I am sure I heard you say you were not interested in taking a mistress.’
‘I should like to keep the option open.’ He spoke so pompously that Martin burst into laughter. ‘You may laugh,’ Richard told him. ‘You aren’t constrained by other people’s expectations.’
‘It is your own expectations which are the more demanding, old fellow. Such a paragon of virtue does not exist.’
‘More’s the pity.’
A footman came to tell them that breakfast was ready and they got up to go to the small dining room, where a repast of ham, eggs, pickled herrings, boiled tongue and fresh bread was laid out for them.
‘Then you do agree that you must be seen in Society?’ Martin queried, watching Richard fill his plate. His problem seemed to have had no effect on his appetite.
‘I have no choice.’
‘Well, do not sound so reluctant, you will never attract your paragon like that. You must be agreeable and well turned out and…’
‘I know, my friend, I do not need a lecture on how to conduct myself.’
‘Then we’ll start this evening. Mama has arranged a little gathering at home and I promised to attend. It is very early in the Season, but she assures me there are to be several young ladies up for their first Season and a one or two of the competition too, I’ll be bound.’
‘Then I had better do something about my wardrobe. Everything I had before I went into the army is far too tight.’
‘That’s hardly surprising,’ Martin said laconically. ‘You were little more than a boy when you left and a man when you returned.’ He looked critically at his friend’s large frame. ‘Not a small one, either. Do you wish me to accompany you?’
‘No, of course not, I am perfectly able to choose clothes. I’ll meet you at Jackson’s at four. There will just be time for a short bout before dinner at five.’
Martin laughed. ‘Do you expect to have to fight for your lady’s hand?’
Richard smiled. ‘No, but it is always a good thing to maintain one’s ability to defend oneself.’
‘Oh, come, Dick, you have no enemies, a more affable man I have yet to meet.’
‘It would be a fortunate man who managed to go through life without acquiring a few enemies,’ Richard said.
‘Name me one.’
Richard needed time to consider. He was indeed fortunate that he was popular and well-liked by his peers and the men he had commanded, except for those who had flouted the tight discipline he maintained as an officer. ‘There was Sergeant Dawkins,’ he said, remembering the man he had had courtmar-tialled for looting, something Wellington had expressly forbidden.
The offence had been exacerbated by the fact that the goods the man had stolen had come from a Portuguese family who were allies. His defence, which had not been upheld, was that the family had been consorting with the enemy. The sergeant had been flogged and dishonourably discharged. Left to find his own way home from Lisbon, he had threatened Richard with revenge.
‘That threat was made two years ago and in the heat of the moment,’ Martin said. ‘You surely do not think he meant it?’
‘No, of course not, the poor fellow likely never made it back to England. He probably settled down in the Peninsula with a Spanish señorita. You asked for an example and I gave you one.’
‘Point taken. But I hope you will rid yourself of your aggression and ill humour against Gentleman Jackson in the boxing ring this afternoon and present yourself in my mother’s drawing room at seven this evening, in a sweet temper, ready to act the agreeable.’
‘Have no fear, my friend,’ Richard said, as both men left the table. ‘I shall be a model of the man about town.’
Sophie and Charlotte had arrived at Lady Gosport’s in Denmark Place
