Cavendish Brothers 02 - To Enchant an Icy Earl (10 page)

Never mind the fact that they were
brothers. Danby didn’t seem overly fussed about that aspect of
their relationship.

Throughout the remainder of the Little
Season, Danby had invited (if his summonses could be termed as
such) both couples to take supper at his townhouse at least once a
week. During those visits, he’d insisted the two men air their
grievances, and he’d browbeaten them both into actually listening
to what the other had to say. It had been a long process—and an
increasingly pained one—but in time, they’d begun to forge a new
sort of brotherly relationship.

Perhaps not quite like the
relationship Calista would have expected, given the closeness
between herself and her siblings, but far more civil than what
she’d first witnessed between the two men to that point.

Another benefit for Calista had come
from those visits, as well. Wesley always brought his dear wife
Abby with him. It was not uncommon for Danby to send Abby and
Calista to the drawing room so he could berate their husbands
without hurting their feminine sensibilities, and so the two women
had become bosom beaus.

Calista hadn’t had a friend apart from
her sisters since Valetta Norton had run off to Gretna Green to
become Lady Ellis. Until she and Abby were thrust into one
another’s company in such a way, she hadn’t realized how dearly she
missed such a thing.

After the political season had ended,
Wesley and Abby had returned to Yorkshire to the estate Danby had
provided them, and Calista had gone with Tristan to Blacknall
Manor. Despite the many miles separating them, Calista and Abby had
taken up a regular correspondence. For that matter, she was now
writing to Devlin and Louisa, and to both Miranda and Penny, who
were with their new husbands as well. She had only been at
Blacknall for a fortnight, and was still learning her new position
within her husband’s home, when Calista had received her first
letter from Georgie.

Suddenly, even though the
circumstances of her life had changed dramatically, she seemed less
alone than she had in a great long time.

Now she and Tristan were mere minutes
away from Danby Castle. Abby and Wesley would be here, as would all
of Calista’s siblings and their new spouses—and all of Abby and
Louisa’s siblings and cousins.

She’d heard there were more than a
fair few of them—the cousins, that was. Danby seemed intent upon
gaining even more than there already were, by using his usual
tactics to encourage the cousins into marriage.

Having so many people around should
ease any lingering tensions between Tristan and Wesley. Or so she
hoped. Even if her hopes proved unfounded, there should be plenty
of gentlemen present who could prevent the two from causing one
another any permanent physical harm.

That was what she’d been reminding
herself through their entire journey to Danby Castle.

But now, as it loomed ever larger on
the horizon, a churning had started in her stomach and she couldn’t
seem to make it stop. Calista fidgeted on the bench, trying to calm
herself before their arrival. It was no use, however.

Tristan turned to her. “What’s wrong?
You know Danby. There’s nothing to fear.”

The carriage rolled to a stop. She
shook her head, not sure how to voice her concerns or even if she
should do so at all. Then the driver came around, opened the door,
and set down the steps.

With a frown and a crease on his
forehead, Tristan exited the carriage and then turned to aid
Calista in doing the same. Just as her feet hit the cobbled drive,
cacophony descended upon them from every direction.

A man raced down the walk toward them
with Abby close behind him. “He can’t make me!” he shouted over his
shoulder. “I wouldn’t care if he was the bloody King of England, he
can’t force me to get married.”

At the same time, another man who had
to be the brother of the first, they looked so similar, mounted a
horse and took off in the direction of a forested area to the east.
Nearly a dozen other men and women stood off to the side,
watching…and holding their hands over their mouths to hide their
laughter.

“
Really, Robert,” Abby
called—and yet the man called Robert did not slow in the slightest.
“I promise you, marriage is far from the worst thing that could
ever happen to you.”

“
You haven’t even met the
chit,” he responded, whirling around on Abby with blazing eyes.
“How would you know?”

Only moments later, Wesley Cavendish
followed his wife out into the courtyard to join the gathered
crowd. Even still, it was Tristan who pushed his way forward to
join Abby and Robert in the middle.

“
I’ll thank you to watch
your tongue in the presence of my wife, Goddard,” he said in that
tone he always used—the seemingly calm presence hiding a passion
few would ever know. “And I would advise you to listen to your
sister.”

“
But Danby thinks he can
force me to marry…well, she’s pretty enough, all right. I’ll give
her that.” Robert Goddard drew a hand over his face, as though it
would clear his thoughts. “But she’s a
lady
, my lord. And you know as well
as anyone that I am the furthest thing from being a gentleman
you’ll ever meet.”

Throughout their conversation, Calista
had been moving ever closer to them—as had the others gawking in
the courtyard, until they formed a loose circle around Abby,
Robert, and Tristan.

Tristan caught Calista’s eye and
winked at her. He never winked. He must truly feel comfortable, or
he would never be so playful.

“
I’ll have you know,”
Tristan said to Robert Goddard, though his eyes never left Calista,
“that sometimes the unlikeliest of matches are the
best.”

“
I would second that,”
Wesley Cavendish said from behind his brother.

“
And
I
would add,” Abby said firmly, “that
it is inadvisable to attempt to thwart Danby. You’ll never manage
it. Trying to do so isn’t worth the trouble.”

Calista could only smile to herself.
Danby and Tristan were far too alike in that regard. And she
couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly if she’d tried. It wasn’t worth
the trouble to try to stop those men.

The reward of allowing them to have
their way was far too great.