Free Miss George's Second Chance by Heather Boyd

Sir Peter will be in a rush for matrimony. He’s had ample opportunity in distant fields and is still unwed. But Melanie and even Miss Pease looked him over last night as if he were made of gold. I can only conclude that Melanie will add him to her list of candidates for her hand and Miss Pease will become a frequent caller to Cavendish Place in the hope of running into him.”
    Julia giggled. “I do hope Miss Pease leaves off her perfume the next time Sir Peter sees her. The scent she’d drenched herself in made his eyes water and set him to sneezing. Lilac. The poor man suffered.”
    Well, that explained where the scent that clung about his person came from but not how. If he’d only dined with her, he must have seen her again that night. Had he escorted her home and … well, she didn’t want to picture anything further.
    “That was very kind of you to draw him toward the open doorway for fresher air, though Melanie thought you shamelessly forward,” Teresa warned in a low voice.
    “Nonsense.” Julia caught up Imogen’s hand. “I was only doing what Imogen would have done should she have been present. I could not abandon him while his defenses were down.”
    Imogen shook her head. “You make it sound as if you are at war, Julia.”
    “Life is war. Have you forgotten what it is like to be pursued for your connections or your dowry alone? Imagine Sir Peter’s appeal now. Rich, titled, available.”
    Imogen laughed. “No, I’ve not forgotten, but what happens to him is his business and not mine.”
    Julia released her hand. “Then Melanie will consult her list, judge him the most worthy, and win by fair means or foul so she may shove her title in our faces. You know what she’s like.”
    “Does Melanie really have a list?” Imogen tried valiantly to shake off her distress at Peter married to Melanie Merton. Last year Abigail had plotted to make Melanie Peter’s wife but Imogen hadn’t believed it a good match then and still didn’t. Melanie might be well dowered, but she wasn’t kind. She would make his life a misery and last year, Imogen’s proposal had spared him the connection. This time though, Peter was on his own. Worry seized her and she clenched her hands together. “Who else is on the list? Anyone we know?”
    “Mr. Radley is on it,” Teresa said quickly.
    Julia groaned. “My brother had better not fall prey to her fraudulent charms. Imagine what my life would be reduced to if we were related. Oh, the horror.”
    For a moment, Imogen considered asking where Walter might be on the list but then she discarded that thought. Melanie would never have considered Walter. Her brother was safe. “Do you think Mr. Radley might be interested in Melanie?”
    “Who knows with Linus,” Julia grumbled. “He keeps his interests very close to his chest. I’ve never detected one kind thought he’s had for a woman. We are not close siblings.”
    Imogen sat up straight, distressed by what she was hearing but unable to take part fully in the discussion because she could hear one thing and miss the expression that went with it. Julia could be making fun for all she knew. Imogen really didn’t know much of what went on between her neighbors anymore. “Well, let’s hope Mr. Radley has enough sense to avoid her snares and traps.”
    “Let us also hope Sir Peter will do the same,” Julia added, “and remembers where his best chance of happiness lies.”
    “Sir Peter will make the right choice without any interference,” Imogen replied quickly. She had to stop her friends from plotting her second engagement to Peter. He deserved a wife who could be his equal in all things rather than a millstone about his neck.
     
     

 
    CHAPTER NINE
     
    Women, wine and wagers. That was usually the topic of conversation when Peter and his friends played cards. The comfort he found in the gathering settled his decision to return to Brighton and leave greater society behind. This was as near to content as he’d ever