He traced his way back to his house and was surprised to find his mother had arrived. He offered her his cheek to be kissed. “I didn’t think you were going to be here until tomorrow.”
“And that is exactly what I said, but after having a rather mediocre luncheon, I discovered I would much rather continue on.” She wrapped her hands around his arm. “Please tell me you have had the time to think about a new wardrobe.”
“I sent a note to Weston this morning, asking if he could wait on me.”
One dark brow rose. “Weston?” He nodded. “A very good choice. Much better than that other man. What was his name, Nagey or something like that?”
“Something like that.” Nate escorted her up the stairs. “I decided I no longer cared for his styles.”
His mother inclined her head. “I think Weston will do an excellent job.”
“I believe he will as well.” Nate just had to live through the fittings. To think that once he had reveled in that sort of activity.
The door opened and Hulatt bowed. “My lady, I am glad to see you safely arrived.”
“Thank you, Hulatt. I am glad to be here. Please inform Cook that there will be one more for dinner.” She turned a stricken look at Nate. “Dear me. I should have asked if you are dining in this evening.”
“I am.” He would make the round of his clubs, but not until after he’d refurbished his wardrobe. Despite how he normally dressed, he could not look like a provincial in Town.
“Good. I shall see you at seven. Or had you planned to dine earlier?”
“Seven is fine.” He’d have to get used to Town hours again and might as well begin now. “If you will excuse me, I have to see what Chetwin has brought me.”
“Of course, my dear.”
He walked down the corridor to his secretary’s study and entered. “I trust nothing of import occurred in the past day.”
“No, my lord, just the normal correspondence. I have sent out one of the London footmen to research charities and hope to have something soon.” He held up a card. “This arrived for you before I left. It is an invitation from a Lord Fallows inviting you to a small gathering.”
Fallows was one of the gentlemen Nate had been friendly with before. Even after he had been banished to the country, every year an invitation was sent to his London house. Had Fallows even known Nate wasn’t in Town? One would think that after he had stopped responding to the invitations, the invitations would have stopped as well. He wondered if the man still spent his time drinking and gambling. “Send my regrets. In fact, the only events I plan to attend are the ones chosen by my mother.”
Chetwin’s eyes widened. “You are really going to look for a wife?”
He took a breath. “I am. Drat”—he knew he’d forgotten something—“I must speak with my mother.”
She was probably going to think he was mad, but whether or not he found the lady he was looking for, she needed to know what he wanted in a wife. Otherwise, this would all be for naught. Nate strode to the hall and took the stairs two at a time, then turned down a corridor to the rooms his mother had taken after his father and older brother had died.
He knocked on the door, and her maid opened it.
“My lady, it is his lordship.”
“Tell him to come in.”
The rooms had been redone in his mother’s favorite colors, pink and white. The windows looked out on the side garden, which faced south. His mother was sitting on a small sofa and a tea tray had been placed on the low table in front of it. “Fotherby, I thought you had work to do.”
“There was nothing pressing, but I realized that as soon as people know we are here, we will begin receiving invitations. And we have never discussed what I want in a wife.” He didn’t quite know how to bring up the lady he’d assisted. There was always the chance his mother knew her family. He might as well just say it. “While I was at the workhouse, fetching Miss Odell and her baby, I discovered that there are charities that save children. That is something I would be interested in. Do you know any of them?”
“Please stop looming over me and have a cup of tea. We shall address the requirement of a wife first. Then I shall give some thought to the charities.” He selected a chintz-covered chair, and she handed him a cup. “What do you want in a wife?”
“I want her to be practical and not pretentious, and”—he wanted to say “courageous,” but how to explain that?—“and be equal to me.” He’d seen that in the Odells and some other couples. “But not stuffy or too serious.” He wanted her to love him, not who he was. He’d heard Merton had found that and was happier for it.
“Well, that is an interesting combination.” She sipped her tea. “Do you want beauty and grace?”
A pair of light eyes—he wished he knew the color—under long, thick, black lashes passed through his mind. “Some beauty. I do like the combination of black hair and light eyes. I suppose most ladies are graceful.”
“Yes, most are.” His mother turned to her maid. “Bring me my pocketbook.” Once it was handed to her, she began making notes. “Is there anything else?”
He thought about the lady again. “Someone not in her first Season. I want someone who has maturity, if not in age, then in behavior.”
Mama drew her lips under as she wrote again. “Very well. I shall see who is here for the Season.” She put the pocketbook on a side table. “Do you know anyone who meets these criterion?”
Nate felt heat rise in his neck. “I did, in a loose meaning of the term, meet a lady.” He supposed he’d now have to tell his mother where. “When Mr. Odell was in speaking with Miss Bywater—although she is now Miss Odell—I saw a lady in need of assistance.”
His mother pursed her lips. “And you were able to render it?”
“Yes.” Damn, he never should have said anything.
“You are certain she is a lady?”
“Absolutely certain.”
Her brows rose. “And would this have anything to do with searching for a charity?”
“Er. Yes.” He downed his tea. “I believe she is working for a charity.”
“You do know that if she is working, she will not have a dowry.” Mama’s face was a mask, and he wished he knew what she was thinking. Still, he did not think she disapproved.
“That does not matter to me. What I want is a lady of character and compassion.” After all, he was the one who would have to live with her.
She met his gaze and seemed to study him for a long few moments. Finally she nodded. “Very well. I shall make inquiries. I hope for your sake that she is a lady.”
“She is a lady.” He almost growled the words. He did not have to hope at all. He, like everyone else, knew when a female was a lady. Nate rose. “I am well acquainted with the breed. I’ll see you in the drawing room.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Merton arrived home from seeing about the man she had shot as Henrietta was taking off her gloves. Even if the blackguard deserved to have a hole put through him, she did not like the idea she might have killed a man. Taking a life was rarely a good thing. Although there were times it was necessary. Strangely, she had not had the delayed reaction she thought she would. It bothered her a little that she had few if any sensibilities about the ruffian or the incident in general. “What did you discover?”