One Wicked Season

VI. Friends and Acquaintances

Levi paced around his bedchamber, one of the twenty-five in the Everard House; his hands on his hips, his head bent.

A list.

How the bloody hell could he come up with a list of gentlemen for Tori?

He could hear Standbury calling him home.

But he couldn't, not when his sister and her friend were determined to make a fool of themselves that would most definitely lead to detrimental consequences.

A groan that almost sounded like a growl escaped his throat as he rushed out the door.

He found Margaret reading a letter in her small study that was connected to her bedchamber. Only Levi and the other brothers knew why she needed one. As a member of the League of Founders, it was paramount that she had her own space to write secret missives to secret individuals. Their mother and the twins might think she was spending most of her time locked in the study knitting or sewing flowers on cloths, but they were wrong. If they only knew what Margaret was up to.

And even though they knew what she was part of, Levi and his brothers had very little knowledge of what she was truly involved in. When she joined the League three years ago, they respected her decision warily because of many reasons. For one, she did not ask for their permission.

The League was involved in many dangerous missions, and most of them involved matters the government of the Town could not—or refused—to handle themselves. But apparently, his sister was not too busy because she was taking an entirely different mission, one that involved husband hunting for a friend.

"Can you not ask Nick or Max to do it instead?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

Margaret gently folded the paper in her hands, slowly relaxing her serious mien. A smile crept up her face. "No, brother."

"Why me? I did not decide to go back to Wickhurst for this. We just had a lovely, chaotic dinner. My estate is waiting for me. I need to go home. Nick and Max can help you."

Margaret sighed. "Max makes many people uncomfortable with his cynical air. And should he ever allow himself be bothered, he would grab the first man he sees without consideration just to get the task done. And Nick will merely spend most of his time chasing skirts. Those two are useless. And do not think we never tried to ask them."

"You did?"

"Of course!"

"And they refused?"

"Adamantly."

He blinked in surprise. He understood why his brothers refused, but for them to have not considered helping at all was quite unbelievable. "They did not even offer a suggestion?"

"Of course, they did," Margaret said, looking at him. "You."

He gritted his teeth.

"They said it is about time you take on responsibilities after escaping most of them for three years. And I agree. For one, you left the twins to Ralph, of all people, and I have to step in to help him if you must know."

Levi rubbed his hands on his face. Then an idea came to him. "The twins! They have matched many couples from servants up. Should I remind you of their recent project in the names of our very own Ben and Agatha?"

Margaret shook her head, strays of black hair swaying at both sides of her face as she did so. "The twins are too romantic and idealistic. Tori does not need romance. She needs a husband."

"And when are marriage and romance a separate matter? Was I too far gone from society to have missed it?"

"You know very well most marriages do not have romance, and you know very much about romance not leading to marriages." He stiffened because he saw a flash of something cross his sister's eyes.