Barely a Bride (Free Fellows League 1)

Marrying Alyssa meant joining her family, however briefly.

Unfortunately, it also meant suffering the chaperonage of an angry Lady Tressingham. At least until the wedding.

Griffin exited his carriage before it rolled to a complete stop in front of the blue door of Number Three Grosvenor Square. He bounded through the wrought-iron gate and up the steps to the front door.

The door opened to his knock, and Needham allowed him entrance. “Lord Tressingham is at his club, sir. But Lady Tressingham is awaiting you in the lesser salon.”

“I’m not here to see Lord Tressingham,” Griff answered. “I’m here to escort Lady Alyssa to Lady Harralson’s soiree. Where is she?”

“She’ll be down directly,” Needham answered.

Griff glanced at the long case clock standing in the curve of the entryway beneath the stairs. “I expected her downstairs before I arrived.”

“Quite, sir,” Needham replied. “Lady Alyssa is ready. But she has been instructed to remain upstairs until Lady Tressingham sends for her.”

“I’ll wait here for Lady Alyssa,” he said. “Please inform her of my arrival.”

“But Lady Tressingham—” Needham began.

“May join us here any time she wishes,” Griff interrupted. He’d had enough private interviews with parents for one day. “Otherwise, my parents, Lord and Lady Weymouth, will be happy to serve as chaperones on the way to Lady Harralson’s.”

“Lady Tressingham won’t be pleased,” Needham warned.

Griff smiled. “Something tells me that nothing I do will please Lady Tressingham at the moment. That being the case, I’ve decided to suit myself. And Lady Alyssa.”

“Very good, sir.” Needham bowed.

Griff paced the entrance hall while he waited for Alyssa to come downstairs. He didn’t venture anywhere near the lesser salon, but it didn’t take long for his future mother-in-law to find him.

“I asked Needham to tell you that I was waiting in the lesser salon.”

Griff turned from his perusal of a collection of blue and white Chinese porcelain to find Lady Tressingham standing in the entryway. “He relayed the message,” Griff said calmly. “I chose to ignore it.”

“How dare you!”

Griff looked her in the eye. “I dare, Lady Tressingham, because I’ve endured enough of your tirades and temper tantrums for one day. I’m here to escort your daughter to Lady Harralson’s. As far as I am concerned, you’re accompanying us for the sake of appearances.”

“I am accompanying you because I’ve no wish to see my daughter compromised and her reputation ruined,” Lady Tressingham informed him icily.

“Then you’ve no need to worry,” Griff retorted, “because neither do I.”

“That’s what you say now,” she argued. “I wonder if you would say the same thing if I allowed you and Alyssa to share a darkened, closed coach without me.” She glared up at him. “This sudden wedding will set tongues to wagging, and you can bet that certain ladies in the ton will be shaking their heads and counting the months when your first child is born.”

Griff snorted in contempt. “Most of the ladies in the ton to whom you refer are rather weak in mathematics. I doubt they can count that high, for it’s likely they never had to do so before their own children were born. And you, Lady Tressingham, may rest assured that when my eldest child comes into the world, it will be a full nine months after his parents’ wedding.”

“I don’t trust you,” she said flatly. “Not where Alyssa is concerned.”

“That’s your prerogative,” Griff replied. “But what I’m saying is true, nonetheless. I may only be a viscount, but I’m entirely capable of keeping my word and controlling my desire—even where your daughter is concerned.”

“Why did you offer for her?” Lady Tressingham demanded. “Why ruin her life when she could have been a duchess? You’re not in love with her.”

“Neither is His Grace,” Griff reminded her.

“Perhaps you’re right,” she admitted, “but he won’t break her heart.”

“And you think I will?” Griff pinned Lady Tressingham with his sharp gaze.

“I know you will,” she replied. “The minute you leave her and ride away to join your regiment.”