“A long time from now, I expect. Fanny does have considerable resources at her command,” the duke mused.
Jeremy frowned. “If you say so.”
The duke inhaled, studying him closely again. “You don’t know what it means to have great wealth, do you? Not really. You’ve heard people talk, but you don’t truly comprehend just how large a fortune she has at her command.”
Jeremy shrugged. “I never had any real money until I met Fanny. I mean, Lady Rivers.”
“No need to apologize.” The duke sat forward. “Put the first coin that Fanny gave you on your palm.”
Jeremy dug in his pocket for his lucky shilling. The coin he’d earned for escorting her to her carriage the day they’d met had felt important to keep…but not anymore.
The duke smiled. “I knew you’d still have it.”
Jeremy squirmed again. Did it make him appear pathetic? “Do you want it back?”
“No, I want you to imagine many more, until your hand is completely covered.”
Jeremy did. He’d be a wealthy man indeed if he had all that. “It’s more than I could ever earn in my life.”
The duke sat forward even more. “Now, I want you to look around the room and put piles of money on every surface. Then add more and more and more, until all the furniture is covered. Can you do that?”
“Yes. It’s a king’s ransom.”
“Now imagine the room full to the ceiling. That is how much wealth my daughter has at her disposal, I suspect.”
Jeremy gulped. “You suspect?”
“Well, Fanny doesn’t have to confide in her poor old father when she’s a great deal smarter than I am. But don’t tell her I said that. She’d preen for days.”
Jeremy shook her head. “She probably would, too.”
“Wealthy and smart Fanny may be, but giving to others is not necessarily enough to satisfy her anymore. In short, she needs a family.”
“She has a family.” The Westfalls were a family unlike any he’d ever met. They were always sticking their noses into each other’s concerns. They fought and made up and laughed and loved each other. It made Jeremy envious, to be honest. He’d never have that.
“And we all love her dearly, but I’ll put this plainly. My daughter needs her own family. She needs someone to pass her extraordinary wealth and talents to one day. She needs a husband she can trust with her heart and fortune, who can lure her away from her ledgers and make her remember she has other interests. Someone who can steal her away to sit in the sunshine or stay in bed with her on a rainy day. A man who will let her return to her responsibilities without bitterness or resentment of her intelligence. In short, my daughter needs not a man to take over her fortune, but a partner for a more balanced life.”
“There are many who would marry her. Someone of her class would do.”
The duke waved his hand about as if brushing the suggestion away. “Son, the way you feel about my daughter, and overlook the importance of her money, is very rare. I’ve only ever known of one man before who didn’t feel threatened by her fascination for business and finance.”
“She should marry him,” Jeremy suggested bitterly.
“Fanny did. The late Lord Rivers let her have her head in all matters that interested her, even when society dictated that such passions in women be repressed. Fanny made him a very rich man before he died. He adored every inch of her, body and mind, yet he couldn’t give her children, and he died before his time.”
Jeremy sat in silence a moment. “You’ve rocks in your head if you think we’d make a good match. How do you know she even wants children?”
“She didn’t want dance lessons either until her sister took them.” The duke confessed with a laugh. “I admit, on the surface, it seems a tad unequal an alliance.”
“I’ll say,” Jeremy agreed.
“Money is the only obstacle,” the duke countered. “And agreements can be drawn up to protect and limit your access to her funds, if need be.”
It would be another document Jeremy wouldn’t understand. “I’m illiterate.”
“Something you’ve managed to conceal from her, I suspect.” The duke sighed. “Fanny’s fear is being desired for only her money. Yours is being known.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jeremy protested.