A Marriage Most Inconvenient (Inconvenient Matches Book #1)

Chapter 47: Ben

'I have been thinking of getting remarried.'

Benedict choked on his soup. Why was a sentence like that delivered so casually? Benedict cast a questioning glance at his mother who had invited him to luncheon at her London residence. They had been, somewhat tenuously, rebuilding their relationship. 'Truly? After all this time? You've been widowed a good six years. And let's not act like you were altogether very fond of your first husband.'

'Really. That American has had the most unfortunate influence on you,' Lady Amelia shifted uncomfortably in her chair. 'A question like that ought to be put forth with more subtlety than a charging bull.'

'Apologies.' Ben resisted a smile, excitement fluttering through him. His wife; his dear, beloved woman was due to arrive in a few hours. By God, he had missed her so much that he had arranged for her to travel from Dover instead of Plymouth so that it would give her an excuse to come stay with him for a few days. It would not have been possible to see her off if she had left from Plymouth. 'Is it a recent development? Has anyone shown any interest?'

'A few here and there, over the years. More recently, the Earl of Ridgely and-'

'He's eighty if he's a day.'

'He is eight-and-sixty.' She said defensively, taking a purposeful sip of her soup.

'Doesn't look it.'

'Horrid boy. This is all your wife's doing.' She cut him a stern look, but Ben could have sworn he had seen a glimmer of affection in it. 'There is also the Marquess of Lindsey, who has attempted to pay calls once or twice, but I have not yet admitted him.'

'Ah, he's the one who got divorced, yes?' Ben's brows furrowed in disapproval. The Marquess had skirted the edge of respectability for years since his divorce. He'd even lost his seat in Parliament because of it. He'd been so removed from English Society for the last twenty years that Ben had forgotten about him altogether.

'Yes.' She grimaced. 'We knew each other in our youth and he has been hinting that he would be open to renewing our acquaintance. I am reluctant, obviously.'

'Well, entirely your choice, Your Grace. I will dower you sufficiently, if that is what you mean to ask.'

'No, I was in fact not asking for that,' her tone implied that she found his behavior to be far too forward once more. 'I just wished for you to know.'

Ben nodded awkwardly at his mother's attempt at bridging the gap between them. They ate in a slightly uncomfortable silence that could only exist when two equally stiff people attempted to change their ways. His mother spoke again.

'I worry for your sister, Rothbury.'

He had been wondering about her absence from luncheon, himself. She was in London as Benedict had implored Needham to rally behind their cause in Parliament.

'What has happened? Is she alright? Is the babe-?!'

'Physically, she is well. Otherwise, I am not so sure. It could just be the pregnancy, but she has been acting so strange of late. She was talking about separation the other day. Separation! Can you imagine it? And that man nigh worships the ground she walks on.'

'What?'

'And now, she has fled back to Bath, without so much as a word. I had to ask her butler,' his mother continued indignantly. 'If rumor is to be believed, it is because Needham has been paying marked attention to a certain opera singer as of late.'

'Really? Needham?'

'She need only put up with it until she gives him an heir, with any luck this child will be a boy. And after that, she is free to live as she pleases. No need for husband and wife to live in each other's pockets. But she has always been sentimental, that one.'