Chapter 20
Victoria took her seat next to Avis on the sofa. All her friends were in Avis’s salon, except Sophie. Victoria waited to tell her friends of the awful news until Avis finished pouring the tea. “We have a very large problem, ladies,” she finally announced.
“What is wrong now?” Avis asked, handing a cup to Jennette.
“Ancroft is proposing to Miss Littlebury this afternoon.” Victoria took the next cup of tea from her friend.
“What?” Elizabeth exclaimed. “How did this happen?”
Victoria explained what happened at the Middleton ball. “Anthony believes Miss Littlebury compromised Ancroft on purpose to get the proposal.”
“You mean become the next duchess,” Jennette commented with a shake of her head. “That little bitch.”
“So what do we do now?” Victoria asked.
Avis leaned back against the velvet sofa. “There is not much we can do. If they are officially betrothed, Ancroft is bound by the contract to marry her. Miss Littlebury’s father would most likely sue for breach if Ancroft breaks the engagement.”
“There has to be something we can do,” Elizabeth cried. “I cannot let her marry Nicholas. Not when Sophie is so perfect for him.”
“And she is carrying his child,” Victoria whispered.
“Oh, my,” the other women said with a gasp.
“Are you certain?” Jennette asked softly.
Victoria nodded. She could not tell the ladies that her husband had told her that information without disclosing Anthony’s relationship with Sophie.
A loud commotion from the hall forced all their heads to turn. Victoria smiled seeing Anthony surrounded by the husbands of her friends. Even after five months of marriage, just seeing her husband enter the room caused her heart to leap.
“I believe we may have figured a way out of this mess for Nicholas,” Anthony announced as the men walked into the room.
Avis laughed. “So, now that you all have been matched by Sophie you are determined to see Ancroft properly matched, too?”
Selby kissed Avis on the forehead and then sat on the arm of the sofa. “No, it’s just that Nicholas would be far better off with Miss Reynard than Miss Littlebury. The poor girl would never be able to handle tea with you four.”
“Very true, Banning,” Jennette replied before leaning against her husband.
“So what is your way to help my cousin?” Elizabeth asked.
“Mr. Edmund Heston,” Anthony said.
Victoria glanced about the room to see if any of her friends recognized the unfamiliar name. Only Elizabeth seemed to nod.
“He is the second son of Viscount Ellington, is he not?” Elizabeth questioned.
Anthony smiled at her. “Yes, he is. He fought with Wellington. And received a scar on his chin.”
“Oh,” Victoria said, then related the information Sophie had given Anthony about the other man in Miss Littlebury’s life.
“So, all we have to do is get them together,” Jennette commented. “It shouldn’t be that difficult. If they are meant to be together, they won’t be able to keep their hands off each other.”
“Are you certain?” Blackburn asked his wife.
All the women laughed.
Jennette patted her husband’s hand. “My darling, I don’t believe any of us made it to our marriages as innocents. That is the power of a perfect match.”
Elizabeth’s husband looked over at her. “You seriously believe Miss Reynard was responsible for our courtship?”