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rsadelleOne of my bingo squares is Regency romance. I wrote most of the story, but never quite finished it (although the missing parts are in the middle, so it does have an ending). I also never quite got all of the Regency stuff down, so historical/fake historical details and address may be all wrong.
"What you need," Pete said, tossing a card onto the table, "is a husband with an income."
"I've avoided it this long," Mike said. "I've no intention of getting married now."
"Marriage isn't all bad," William said with utter calm. He too, discarded a card.
"You can say that," Mike said, "because you fell in love with your husband." He looked across the table at Patrick, who studied his cards intently, seemingly oblivious to the adoring look William was turning on him. Knowing Patrick, it was entirely possible that he was actually oblivious. "And you," he said to Pete, "compromised a girl and had to marry her."
"And look at how well that turned out," Pete said. In truth, it had turned out well for Pete; he had a wife he adored and an infant son he doted on. "I can introduce you to some eligible young men of good income."
Mike found himself the uncomfortable subject of Pete's scrutiny.
"Perhaps the Jonases. They have three sons who are all out this season. They're merchants," Pete said dismissively, despite the fact that although he had the title, most of his money came from business interests, "but respectable and quite wealthy." He tapped a finger against the table. "The oldest is already twenty-one and not yet married. It's quite the talk of the town. You could do yourselves both a favor and marry him."
*
Mike did not precisely remember agreeing to Pete's plan, but he found himself standing before an older couple and their three sons at a ball later that week.
"Mr. Jonas. Mrs. Jonas." Pete shook the father's hand and bowed over the mother's. "May I present my good friend Michael, the Earl of Carden."
"So very nice to meet you," Mrs. Jonas said. She held out her hand, and Mike bowed over it, then shook Mr. Jonas's hand. "Our sons," she said, "Kevin, Joseph, and Nicholas."
Kevin, Mike remembered, was the oldest, and the one Pete thought he should court. "Mr. Jonas," Mike said to him, "may I have the pleasure of a dance?"
Kevin looked startled, but recovered nicely. "Of course, Lord Carden."
Mike led him out onto the floor where they joined other couples in moving through the patterns of the dance. Mike had done his best to avoid just this, so he was out of practice. Kevin, however, danced beautifully.
"You dance well," Mike said.
"Thank you," Kevin answered. "My brother Joe is a fan of dancing, and often encourages Nick to play piano for us to dance."
"Does Nick not dance then?"
"He is the best piano player," Kevin answered.
Mike preferred not to attend balls simply to avoid this kind of dull conversation. But if he was going to at least attempt Pete's plan, it was an unavoidable necessity.
"And what are you the best at?"
Kevin flushed and looked demurely away. "I'm sure my talents are not so interesting."
The dance took them away from each other, and Kevin's flush had faded by the time they came back together. Mike didn't attempt further conversation, and neither did Kevin.
*
With Pete's encouragement ringing in his ears, Mike called upon the Jonases a proper three days later. A maid ushered him in and took his card to the family. Mike looked around the hallway while he waited. There were perhaps a few too many unfashionable crosses for his liking, but nothing like the lurid garishness he'd expected from his years of overhearing gossip about merchants and their taste.
The maid returned, and took him into a parlor that was also entirely properly decorated. Mrs. Jonas presided over the room, with Joe and Nick on either side of her on the sofa. Kevin was in one of the room's chairs, and a fourth boy, much younger than the other three, sat on a stool before the unlit fireplace, bent over a sketchbook.
"Lord Carden," Mrs. Jonas said, "how kind of you to call on us."
"Not at all," Mike said, bending over her hand. "I am glad to see you again." He nodded at her sons. "Good morning."
"Good morning," they all echoed very properly.
"I don't believe you've met our youngest son," Mrs. Jonas said. "This is Frankie. Frankie, say hello to Lord Carden."
The boy in front of the fireplace looked up from his book. "Pleased to meet you." His tone was entirely correct, but Mike still got the idea that he would much rather return to what he was doing.
"It's very nice to meet you, Frankie."
Introductory pleasantries taken care of, Mike sat in the chair across from Kevin and accepted a cup of tea from Mrs. Jonas. That initiated another round of pleasantries, none of which consisted of any substance.
Mike preferred not to pay calls to people other than his intimate friends for the very reason that he found such pleasantries deadly dull. The whole ritual of polite conversation held nothing of interest for him. Despite that, he was fully capable of carrying on such a conversation, and he did so while taking every possible opportunity to speak to Kevin. If he were to be stuck in this courting ritual, the least he could do was do credit to his name.
The only excitement came as Mike was halfway through his cup of tea and the door opened to admit a bookish man approximately his own age.
"Mr. Ripley," Mrs. Jonas said, "we didn't expect you to join us."
"I apologize, ma'am, but Franklin is supposed to be at his lessons."
Mrs. Jonas directed a very stern look at her youngest, who was doing his best to seem invisible. Mike pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. His mirth must have been visible, however, because Kevin smiled at him and seemed to share it.
Frankie heaved an appropriately dramatic sigh as he carefully closed his sketchbook and packed his pencils away.
Mike was almost sorry Frankie wasn't yet of marriageable age, although Kevin's sympathetic smile for his younger brother did make Mike feel more positively inclined toward the brother he was supposed to be courting.
*
Mike continued to call on the Jonases at socially appropriate intervals. He learned of Nick's deeply competitive nature, Joe's easygoing cheerfulness, and Frankie's distaste for his lessons and tutor alike. Kevin was, as any eldest child of marriageable age, perfectly correct in both speech and behavior, and yet he was also indulgent of his brothers' personalities, and always seemed genuinely pleased to see Mike.
On one afternoon, Mike was escorted not to the parlor he had grown to know quite well, but to the lawn behind the house. Mr. and Mrs. Jonas were seated at a table covered with the remains of a light lunch, and the four boys had paired themselves off on either side of a badminton net; Joe and Nick on one side and Kevin and Frankie on the other.
Frankie abandoned the game at Mike's arrival, and dashed across the lawn toward him. "Lord Carden," he called indecorously, "you must be on my team and Kevin will play with Joe." He quieted to a more seemly volume as he reached Mike. "Nick is no fun."
"Certainly," Mike said, "if your brothers are agreeable."
They, too, had abandoned the game to greet Mike. There was a lovely flush blooming on Kevin's cheeks. Mike found himself smiling at Kevin in genuine pleasure.
Mike engaged in the requisite pleasantries with the family, and then let Frankie's excitement turn their attention back to the badminton net.
Mike shrugged off his coat and draped it over the back of a chair. He rolled his shirtsleeves up, and glanced up in the middle of it to find Kevin watching him. Then, noticing Mike's attention, he looked away. Mike let himself smile at the attention, and then took Nick's racket from him and followed Frankie to the lawn on one side of the net.
*
After playing badminton with Kevin and his brothers, Mike arranged to run into the Jonases in the park and invited Kevin to take a turn around the path with him. Kevin seemed to enjoy it, turning his face up to the sun and smiling at the trees around them.
[This was going to be something about how Kevin likes the outdoors and misses living in the country, to which Mike replies that he owns a country estate.]
*
[There probably needed to be more stuff here-ish. It definitely needed more of why Mike would like Kevin.]
*
One morning when he went calling, Mike arrived at the Jonas household to find it in an uproar. The maid who'd answered the door was clearly unsure what to do with him, and he was still standing in the entryway when Kevin came out of the parlor and stopped short.
"Lord Carden," he said.
One useful thing Mike had learned from Pete was that sometimes the direct approach was best. "What's going on?"
"Frankie has gone missing." Kevin wrung his hands together. "He's often tried to escape his tutor, but today he managed it and no one knows where he's gone." He looked sincerely distressed. "Where could he have gotten to?"
Had he been in other company, Mike would have been tempted to use language not suitable for Kevin's ears.
"I might know," he said. "I'll look, and let you know."
Kevin's hand on his arm stopped him from leaving. "I'm coming with you." He sent the maid to fetch his coat and ducked back into the parlor. Mike heard raised voices, and then Kevin came back with flushed cheeks and grabbed his coat.
Mike had walked, but they hired a hansom cab around the corner. Mike gave the driver the address before sitting properly across from Kevin.
"Where do you think he's gone?" Kevin asked.
"I'm afraid," Mike confessed, "that I told him about where I used to go when I escaped my tutor as a boy. Nowhere horrible," he hurried on at Kevin's shocked look. "We're nearly there."
Kevin followed him out of the cab and to the building, where Mike paid for two tickets that let them into the theater proper. Mike scanned the crowd.
"There." He pointed to the front where Frank was laughing amidst a collection of other children. He could feel Kevin sag against his shoulder for the briefest of moments. Then Kevin was starting forward, and Mike grabbed indecorously at his arm. He snatched his hand back when Kevin turned, but stepped close enough that he could speak to Kevin without disturbing those around them. "Let him stay. The show is nearly over, and he's having fun."
Kevin nodded shortly, but he stayed where he was.
The play was one Mike had seen before, and while he normally found it quite amusing, Kevin's tense presence at his side left him uninclined to laugh.
As soon as the actors took their bows, Kevin pushed through the crowd and grabbed Frankie's arm, Mike barely keeping up with him.
Frankie grinned up at them. "Lord Carden, this is great fun."
"Yes," Mike said, "but you've frightened your parents and brothers."
Frankie's face fell. "I didn't mean to."
"Come along," Kevin said. "It's time to go." He again led the way through the crowd, so quickly that Mike was glad to arrive at the street where Kevin had to stop.
Mike stepped out into the street to hail a cab. He came back and put his hand on Kevin's arm. He was sure he felt the pressure of Kevin leaning into his hand, but then Kevin moved away and pulled Frankie back toward him, as if shielding himself from Mike.
"Thank you, Lord Carden," he said, painfully formal, "but I believe we can find our own way home."
A cab had already stopped for them, and Mike would have handed them up, but Kevin again drew away from his touch. The most Mike could do was close the door behind them and watch them drive away.
The day hadn't gone quite as he hoped.
*
Mike waited a sensible two days before attempting to call on the Jonases again, only to be told that they were not at home. He was sure he saw the parlor curtains twitch as he left, but he resolved not to let it bother him and take the maid at her word.
When he received the same treatment on two more occasions, he had to admit that he was purposefully not being allowed into the house.
"We used to get into all kinds of trouble," he said to William. "And it was never cause to turn away callers."
"Mmm." They were at their club playing billiards, and William didn't say anything for the length of time it took him to decide upon his shot. "Our families were already respectable, not clawing their way up."
Mike laughed without mirth. "I don't think they're clawing. I think they're up."
William sighed. "Michael, I will never understand your refusal to see the realities of society. They are unlanded merchants. Their wealth has opened doors for them, but there are those who will never forget their origins."
Mike was stung on Kevin's behalf. "Then they should want landed gentry to pay court to their son."
"Not if he's going to cause scandal." William patted Mike's shoulder on his way around the table. "Attend some social events. They're all out this season; you're bound to encounter them sooner or later."
*
It was the "later" portion of William's advice that Mike feared. He had come to appreciate the Jonases, as much for Kevin's gentle blush as for Frankie's spirit.
He did as William suggested, however, and started accepting invitations to events the Jonases were likely to attend.
It was at a ball thrown by someone he knew only by reputation - Mike thought perhaps the parents had been acquainted with his own parents - that Mike finally saw Kevin again. Kevin was surrounded by a group of young men Mike recognized as more his contemporaries in age. Zac Efron was among them, and Mike knew from experience that he had most likely brought the others over.
Mike caught Kevin's eyes across the room, and Kevin turned away from him, toward Efron.
Mike's breath caught in his throat. He was not supposed to care about Kevin's good regard, beyond whether or not he would agree to marriage, and yet he found that he did.
*
Mike had to wait another week before he encountered Kevin again, this time unencumbered by Efron and his crowd.
Mike was careful to approach him at a moment when there was no one around him and no way for him to evade Mike without appearing rude.
"Mr. Jonas."
"Lord Carden." Kevin's speech was as clipped as Mike had ever heard it.
"May I have the pleasure of your company for a dance?"
Kevin's lips pressed together, and Mike could tell it pained him to be rude, even as he said, "No, Lord Carden, I don't believe you may."
If Kevin had slapped him, it would have hurt less.
Mike stepped closer, to keep Kevin from leaving. "Is this because of Efron? Are you really allowing him to pay suit to you? He's a fool."
There were spots of color high on Kevin's cheeks. "Mr. Efron is a perfectly respectable gentleman. And he doesn't want to marry me simply for my inheritance."
Mike's presence did nothing in that moment to stop Kevin; he stepped neatly around Mike.
Mike felt like a fool. He should never have listened to Pete. He should never have courted Kevin. He should have retired to his home in the country and done his best to turn it into something that could provide an income.
While he was moving toward somewhere he could find something to soothe his suddenly aching throat, he heard someone speak Kevin's name, and slowed his stride to eavesdrop shamelessly. He quickly learned why his tutor had always told him not to; the voice that spoke Kevin's name continued on to say, "Efron is certain to make an offer, if he hasn't already."
Mike changed direction toward the door and retired to his club, where he partook of an intemperate amount of wine.
*
Upon returning to his rooms later that evening, Mike tossed his cravat onto his dressing table and sat down heavily at his desk. He found a piece of his best writing paper and scrawled across it:
*
Mike woke up late with a sore head and a sinking feeling about the letter he'd written the night before.
There was a note waiting for him, his name across the envelope in an unfamiliar hand.
It was the first time Mike had been allowed back into the Jonas houe since Frankie had escaped his tutor, and it was comfortingly familiar.
Mike made polite conversation with the family, all of whom were polite in response. Nick was a bit cool toward him, but Kevin's gentle warmth and bashful smile more than made up for it.
"Perhaps," Mike suggested to Kevin after he'd finished his cup of tea, "we could take a walk around the garden."
"I would like that," Kevin said, and he rested his hand in the crook of Mike's elbow.
The garden was properly in sight of the house, and they walked along the paths slowly.
"I've no intention of marrying Mr. Efron," Kevin said as they took a turn in the path.
Mike's heart leapt into his throat. "Does that mean you are amenable to my suit?"
Kevin's hand tightened on his arm, just a bit. "Yes," he murmured. "I find that I have developed an affection for you as well.
They stopped walking, and Mike turned to face Kevin directly. "If it were not improper I would ask for your hand today." Mike pressed Kevin's hand between both of his, hoping to impart his deepest sincerity to him.
"We are out of sight of the house," Kevin said.
Mike looked around and saw that they'd reached a small area where the rose bushes hid them from the windows of the house. He pressed his lips to Kevin's in a soft, sweet kiss. Kevin made a small noise when Mike pulled back.
"Come," Mike said, putting Kevin's hand back on his arm and leading them once more onto the path. He felt lighter than he had in months. "I won't compromise you and have us married in scandal."
"What you need," Pete said, tossing a card onto the table, "is a husband with an income."
"I've avoided it this long," Mike said. "I've no intention of getting married now."
"Marriage isn't all bad," William said with utter calm. He too, discarded a card.
"You can say that," Mike said, "because you fell in love with your husband." He looked across the table at Patrick, who studied his cards intently, seemingly oblivious to the adoring look William was turning on him. Knowing Patrick, it was entirely possible that he was actually oblivious. "And you," he said to Pete, "compromised a girl and had to marry her."
"And look at how well that turned out," Pete said. In truth, it had turned out well for Pete; he had a wife he adored and an infant son he doted on. "I can introduce you to some eligible young men of good income."
Mike found himself the uncomfortable subject of Pete's scrutiny.
"Perhaps the Jonases. They have three sons who are all out this season. They're merchants," Pete said dismissively, despite the fact that although he had the title, most of his money came from business interests, "but respectable and quite wealthy." He tapped a finger against the table. "The oldest is already twenty-one and not yet married. It's quite the talk of the town. You could do yourselves both a favor and marry him."
*
Mike did not precisely remember agreeing to Pete's plan, but he found himself standing before an older couple and their three sons at a ball later that week.
"Mr. Jonas. Mrs. Jonas." Pete shook the father's hand and bowed over the mother's. "May I present my good friend Michael, the Earl of Carden."
"So very nice to meet you," Mrs. Jonas said. She held out her hand, and Mike bowed over it, then shook Mr. Jonas's hand. "Our sons," she said, "Kevin, Joseph, and Nicholas."
Kevin, Mike remembered, was the oldest, and the one Pete thought he should court. "Mr. Jonas," Mike said to him, "may I have the pleasure of a dance?"
Kevin looked startled, but recovered nicely. "Of course, Lord Carden."
Mike led him out onto the floor where they joined other couples in moving through the patterns of the dance. Mike had done his best to avoid just this, so he was out of practice. Kevin, however, danced beautifully.
"You dance well," Mike said.
"Thank you," Kevin answered. "My brother Joe is a fan of dancing, and often encourages Nick to play piano for us to dance."
"Does Nick not dance then?"
"He is the best piano player," Kevin answered.
Mike preferred not to attend balls simply to avoid this kind of dull conversation. But if he was going to at least attempt Pete's plan, it was an unavoidable necessity.
"And what are you the best at?"
Kevin flushed and looked demurely away. "I'm sure my talents are not so interesting."
The dance took them away from each other, and Kevin's flush had faded by the time they came back together. Mike didn't attempt further conversation, and neither did Kevin.
*
With Pete's encouragement ringing in his ears, Mike called upon the Jonases a proper three days later. A maid ushered him in and took his card to the family. Mike looked around the hallway while he waited. There were perhaps a few too many unfashionable crosses for his liking, but nothing like the lurid garishness he'd expected from his years of overhearing gossip about merchants and their taste.
The maid returned, and took him into a parlor that was also entirely properly decorated. Mrs. Jonas presided over the room, with Joe and Nick on either side of her on the sofa. Kevin was in one of the room's chairs, and a fourth boy, much younger than the other three, sat on a stool before the unlit fireplace, bent over a sketchbook.
"Lord Carden," Mrs. Jonas said, "how kind of you to call on us."
"Not at all," Mike said, bending over her hand. "I am glad to see you again." He nodded at her sons. "Good morning."
"Good morning," they all echoed very properly.
"I don't believe you've met our youngest son," Mrs. Jonas said. "This is Frankie. Frankie, say hello to Lord Carden."
The boy in front of the fireplace looked up from his book. "Pleased to meet you." His tone was entirely correct, but Mike still got the idea that he would much rather return to what he was doing.
"It's very nice to meet you, Frankie."
Introductory pleasantries taken care of, Mike sat in the chair across from Kevin and accepted a cup of tea from Mrs. Jonas. That initiated another round of pleasantries, none of which consisted of any substance.
Mike preferred not to pay calls to people other than his intimate friends for the very reason that he found such pleasantries deadly dull. The whole ritual of polite conversation held nothing of interest for him. Despite that, he was fully capable of carrying on such a conversation, and he did so while taking every possible opportunity to speak to Kevin. If he were to be stuck in this courting ritual, the least he could do was do credit to his name.
The only excitement came as Mike was halfway through his cup of tea and the door opened to admit a bookish man approximately his own age.
"Mr. Ripley," Mrs. Jonas said, "we didn't expect you to join us."
"I apologize, ma'am, but Franklin is supposed to be at his lessons."
Mrs. Jonas directed a very stern look at her youngest, who was doing his best to seem invisible. Mike pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. His mirth must have been visible, however, because Kevin smiled at him and seemed to share it.
Frankie heaved an appropriately dramatic sigh as he carefully closed his sketchbook and packed his pencils away.
Mike was almost sorry Frankie wasn't yet of marriageable age, although Kevin's sympathetic smile for his younger brother did make Mike feel more positively inclined toward the brother he was supposed to be courting.
*
Mike continued to call on the Jonases at socially appropriate intervals. He learned of Nick's deeply competitive nature, Joe's easygoing cheerfulness, and Frankie's distaste for his lessons and tutor alike. Kevin was, as any eldest child of marriageable age, perfectly correct in both speech and behavior, and yet he was also indulgent of his brothers' personalities, and always seemed genuinely pleased to see Mike.
On one afternoon, Mike was escorted not to the parlor he had grown to know quite well, but to the lawn behind the house. Mr. and Mrs. Jonas were seated at a table covered with the remains of a light lunch, and the four boys had paired themselves off on either side of a badminton net; Joe and Nick on one side and Kevin and Frankie on the other.
Frankie abandoned the game at Mike's arrival, and dashed across the lawn toward him. "Lord Carden," he called indecorously, "you must be on my team and Kevin will play with Joe." He quieted to a more seemly volume as he reached Mike. "Nick is no fun."
"Certainly," Mike said, "if your brothers are agreeable."
They, too, had abandoned the game to greet Mike. There was a lovely flush blooming on Kevin's cheeks. Mike found himself smiling at Kevin in genuine pleasure.
Mike engaged in the requisite pleasantries with the family, and then let Frankie's excitement turn their attention back to the badminton net.
Mike shrugged off his coat and draped it over the back of a chair. He rolled his shirtsleeves up, and glanced up in the middle of it to find Kevin watching him. Then, noticing Mike's attention, he looked away. Mike let himself smile at the attention, and then took Nick's racket from him and followed Frankie to the lawn on one side of the net.
*
After playing badminton with Kevin and his brothers, Mike arranged to run into the Jonases in the park and invited Kevin to take a turn around the path with him. Kevin seemed to enjoy it, turning his face up to the sun and smiling at the trees around them.
[This was going to be something about how Kevin likes the outdoors and misses living in the country, to which Mike replies that he owns a country estate.]
*
[There probably needed to be more stuff here-ish. It definitely needed more of why Mike would like Kevin.]
*
One morning when he went calling, Mike arrived at the Jonas household to find it in an uproar. The maid who'd answered the door was clearly unsure what to do with him, and he was still standing in the entryway when Kevin came out of the parlor and stopped short.
"Lord Carden," he said.
One useful thing Mike had learned from Pete was that sometimes the direct approach was best. "What's going on?"
"Frankie has gone missing." Kevin wrung his hands together. "He's often tried to escape his tutor, but today he managed it and no one knows where he's gone." He looked sincerely distressed. "Where could he have gotten to?"
Had he been in other company, Mike would have been tempted to use language not suitable for Kevin's ears.
"I might know," he said. "I'll look, and let you know."
Kevin's hand on his arm stopped him from leaving. "I'm coming with you." He sent the maid to fetch his coat and ducked back into the parlor. Mike heard raised voices, and then Kevin came back with flushed cheeks and grabbed his coat.
Mike had walked, but they hired a hansom cab around the corner. Mike gave the driver the address before sitting properly across from Kevin.
"Where do you think he's gone?" Kevin asked.
"I'm afraid," Mike confessed, "that I told him about where I used to go when I escaped my tutor as a boy. Nowhere horrible," he hurried on at Kevin's shocked look. "We're nearly there."
Kevin followed him out of the cab and to the building, where Mike paid for two tickets that let them into the theater proper. Mike scanned the crowd.
"There." He pointed to the front where Frank was laughing amidst a collection of other children. He could feel Kevin sag against his shoulder for the briefest of moments. Then Kevin was starting forward, and Mike grabbed indecorously at his arm. He snatched his hand back when Kevin turned, but stepped close enough that he could speak to Kevin without disturbing those around them. "Let him stay. The show is nearly over, and he's having fun."
Kevin nodded shortly, but he stayed where he was.
The play was one Mike had seen before, and while he normally found it quite amusing, Kevin's tense presence at his side left him uninclined to laugh.
As soon as the actors took their bows, Kevin pushed through the crowd and grabbed Frankie's arm, Mike barely keeping up with him.
Frankie grinned up at them. "Lord Carden, this is great fun."
"Yes," Mike said, "but you've frightened your parents and brothers."
Frankie's face fell. "I didn't mean to."
"Come along," Kevin said. "It's time to go." He again led the way through the crowd, so quickly that Mike was glad to arrive at the street where Kevin had to stop.
Mike stepped out into the street to hail a cab. He came back and put his hand on Kevin's arm. He was sure he felt the pressure of Kevin leaning into his hand, but then Kevin moved away and pulled Frankie back toward him, as if shielding himself from Mike.
"Thank you, Lord Carden," he said, painfully formal, "but I believe we can find our own way home."
A cab had already stopped for them, and Mike would have handed them up, but Kevin again drew away from his touch. The most Mike could do was close the door behind them and watch them drive away.
The day hadn't gone quite as he hoped.
*
Mike waited a sensible two days before attempting to call on the Jonases again, only to be told that they were not at home. He was sure he saw the parlor curtains twitch as he left, but he resolved not to let it bother him and take the maid at her word.
When he received the same treatment on two more occasions, he had to admit that he was purposefully not being allowed into the house.
"We used to get into all kinds of trouble," he said to William. "And it was never cause to turn away callers."
"Mmm." They were at their club playing billiards, and William didn't say anything for the length of time it took him to decide upon his shot. "Our families were already respectable, not clawing their way up."
Mike laughed without mirth. "I don't think they're clawing. I think they're up."
William sighed. "Michael, I will never understand your refusal to see the realities of society. They are unlanded merchants. Their wealth has opened doors for them, but there are those who will never forget their origins."
Mike was stung on Kevin's behalf. "Then they should want landed gentry to pay court to their son."
"Not if he's going to cause scandal." William patted Mike's shoulder on his way around the table. "Attend some social events. They're all out this season; you're bound to encounter them sooner or later."
*
It was the "later" portion of William's advice that Mike feared. He had come to appreciate the Jonases, as much for Kevin's gentle blush as for Frankie's spirit.
He did as William suggested, however, and started accepting invitations to events the Jonases were likely to attend.
It was at a ball thrown by someone he knew only by reputation - Mike thought perhaps the parents had been acquainted with his own parents - that Mike finally saw Kevin again. Kevin was surrounded by a group of young men Mike recognized as more his contemporaries in age. Zac Efron was among them, and Mike knew from experience that he had most likely brought the others over.
Mike caught Kevin's eyes across the room, and Kevin turned away from him, toward Efron.
Mike's breath caught in his throat. He was not supposed to care about Kevin's good regard, beyond whether or not he would agree to marriage, and yet he found that he did.
*
Mike had to wait another week before he encountered Kevin again, this time unencumbered by Efron and his crowd.
Mike was careful to approach him at a moment when there was no one around him and no way for him to evade Mike without appearing rude.
"Mr. Jonas."
"Lord Carden." Kevin's speech was as clipped as Mike had ever heard it.
"May I have the pleasure of your company for a dance?"
Kevin's lips pressed together, and Mike could tell it pained him to be rude, even as he said, "No, Lord Carden, I don't believe you may."
If Kevin had slapped him, it would have hurt less.
Mike stepped closer, to keep Kevin from leaving. "Is this because of Efron? Are you really allowing him to pay suit to you? He's a fool."
There were spots of color high on Kevin's cheeks. "Mr. Efron is a perfectly respectable gentleman. And he doesn't want to marry me simply for my inheritance."
Mike's presence did nothing in that moment to stop Kevin; he stepped neatly around Mike.
Mike felt like a fool. He should never have listened to Pete. He should never have courted Kevin. He should have retired to his home in the country and done his best to turn it into something that could provide an income.
While he was moving toward somewhere he could find something to soothe his suddenly aching throat, he heard someone speak Kevin's name, and slowed his stride to eavesdrop shamelessly. He quickly learned why his tutor had always told him not to; the voice that spoke Kevin's name continued on to say, "Efron is certain to make an offer, if he hasn't already."
Mike changed direction toward the door and retired to his club, where he partook of an intemperate amount of wine.
*
Upon returning to his rooms later that evening, Mike tossed his cravat onto his dressing table and sat down heavily at his desk. He found a piece of his best writing paper and scrawled across it:
DearHe sealed it, put Kevin's name across it, and went downstairs to send it to be delivered before he could think better of it.Mr. JonasKevin,
Yes, it is true I originally thought to court you and not some other because of the financial advantages such a marriage would bring me. However, I have since developed a most true and unsettling affection for you and would prefer no other.
I beg of you to let me continue to plead my suit, and not to marry Efron.
Yours if you'll have me,
Michael Stephen Carden
*
Mike woke up late with a sore head and a sinking feeling about the letter he'd written the night before.
There was a note waiting for him, his name across the envelope in an unfamiliar hand.
Lord Carden,*
We request the pleasure of your company for tea at 4 o'clock this afternoon.
Denise Jonas
It was the first time Mike had been allowed back into the Jonas houe since Frankie had escaped his tutor, and it was comfortingly familiar.
Mike made polite conversation with the family, all of whom were polite in response. Nick was a bit cool toward him, but Kevin's gentle warmth and bashful smile more than made up for it.
"Perhaps," Mike suggested to Kevin after he'd finished his cup of tea, "we could take a walk around the garden."
"I would like that," Kevin said, and he rested his hand in the crook of Mike's elbow.
The garden was properly in sight of the house, and they walked along the paths slowly.
"I've no intention of marrying Mr. Efron," Kevin said as they took a turn in the path.
Mike's heart leapt into his throat. "Does that mean you are amenable to my suit?"
Kevin's hand tightened on his arm, just a bit. "Yes," he murmured. "I find that I have developed an affection for you as well.
They stopped walking, and Mike turned to face Kevin directly. "If it were not improper I would ask for your hand today." Mike pressed Kevin's hand between both of his, hoping to impart his deepest sincerity to him.
"We are out of sight of the house," Kevin said.
Mike looked around and saw that they'd reached a small area where the rose bushes hid them from the windows of the house. He pressed his lips to Kevin's in a soft, sweet kiss. Kevin made a small noise when Mike pulled back.
"Come," Mike said, putting Kevin's hand back on his arm and leading them once more onto the path. He felt lighter than he had in months. "I won't compromise you and have us married in scandal."