The Emerald Viscountess

~14~

"Miss Sharma?"

"Miss Edwina Sharma," Anthony corrected, as he and his brother were both reclined, receiving their daily shave. "Not the sister. Miss Edwina will suffice. It is only out of the greatest love of my family that I aim to choose a bride with my head and not my . . . heart," he explained, grimacing at just saying the word 'heart'.

"Did Miss Edwina return your affection?" Benedict asked.

Anthony let out a heavy sigh. "Not yet. She would have done if not for-"

"The sister," Benedict drawled. "She's rather thorny, I take it?"

"Indeed. Though she need not trouble me; every rose does have its thorn, after all."

"And is Lord Price acting as a thorn in your side, Brother?" Benedict asked teasingly, referring to Eleanora.

Anthony sat up and looked at him, reacting a little too quickly. "Whatever is that to mean?"

"Nothing at all," Benedict answered, continuing his teasing. "You are merely reading in between the lines, that is all."

"Lord Price is of no trouble to me, Brother," Anthony stated bitterly, settling back into his reclining position. "Though he didn't have the dignity to visit Eleanora in person, I am willing to give him the careful and calculating chance, for Nora's sake. She deserves the perfect husband; and I, the perfect wife."

That morning, Eleanora was flushed in the face from embarrassment. It was not from Lord Price sitting next to her on the sofa in the drawing room; if anything, she felt the opposite of embarrassed in his presence. The embarrassing factor was Anthony looming over the two. Granted, she did give him the permission to chaperone her time with her suitors, which was a decision she now regretted.

"Price, I have a bone to pick with you," Anthony confronted, sitting across from the two, munching on heures d'oeuvres that the kitchen provided. He narrowed his eyes at the man.

"I beg your pardon?" Price asked, exchanging a look with Eleanora.

"Why hadn't you come to visit Nora when you gifted her the harp? Surely you don't believe her to be so naive and shallow as to only focus on the gifts, and not the intention behind it," Anthony accused.

"Anthony!" Eleanora said, putting her head in her hands.

"I assure you, Bridgerton, I would have done anything to see Miss Fitzwilliam in person in all her beauty," Price answered, calmly, the polar opposite to Anthony's interrogative state. "You see, as I've explained to Miss Fitzwilliam at the Queen's ball, I was short on time, as I was outside of London sorting out my own personal matters."

"And what matters would those be?" Anthony asked curtly. He continued munching on his food without taking his eyes off the lord.

"Lord Price, you do not have to pay any attention to him," Eleanora assured. "Please, do not feel obligated to answer his ridiculous questions."

"It is quite alright," Lord Price laughed. "I was settling matters over my late parents' estate. It's a lovely residence out in the country."

"Your parents have passed?" Eleanora asked, resisting taking Lord Price's hand. "I am not sure if you have been keeping up with Lady Whistledown, but she has disclosed that my parents, too, are dead."

"I have been reading Whistledown, occasionally," Price answered truthfully. "And, Miss Fitzwilliam, if it relaxes you of your worries, I do not mind at all of your age or your marriage history. I only care for your personality and what you are passionate about in life."

Those words were music to Eleanora's ears. She turned to Anthony with a beaming smile, immediately making the mistake of hoping he would return the same look.