Billie made a sound that might have been a snort. He wasn’t sure. But it was certainly in her nature to find amusement in his rapidly dwindling patience with his mother.
“You know all of the young gentlemen better than I do,” Lady Manston continued. “Are there any we should avoid?”
All of them, George wanted to say.
“And are there any we should particularly look out for? That Billie may plan to set her cap for?”
“That I may – what?”
Billie must truly have been startled, George thought. She dropped three slices of bacon on the floor.
“Set your cap, darling,” Lady Manston said. “It’s an expression. Surely you’ve heard it.”
“Of course I’ve heard it,” Billie said, hurrying over to take her place at the table. “I don’t, however, see how it applies to me. I did not come to London to look for a husband.”
“You must always be looking for a husband, Billie,” Lady Manston said, then turned right back to George. “What about Ashbourne’s son? Not the oldest, of course. He’s already married, and as delightful as you are,” – this, she said over her shoulder to the still-aghast Billie – “I don’t think you could snag the heir to a dukedom.”
“I’m fairly certain I don’t want to,” Billie said.
“Very practical of you, my dear. It’s quite a lot of pomp.”
“So says the wife of an earl,” George remarked.
“It’s not at all the same thing,” his mother said. “And you didn’t answer my question. What about Ashbourne’s son?”
“No.”
“No?” his mother echoed. “No, as in you don’t have an opinion?”
“No, as in no. He is not for Billie.”
Who, George could not help but note, was watching the mother-son exchange with an odd mix of curiosity and alarm.
“Any particular reason?” Lady Manston asked.
“He gambles,” George lied. Well, maybe it wasn’t a lie. All gentlemen gambled. He had no idea if the one in question did so to excess.
“What about the Billington heir? I think he —”
“Also no.”
His mother regarded him with an impassive expression.
“He’s too young,” George said, hoping it was true.
“He is?” She frowned. “I suppose he might be. I can’t remember precisely.”
“I don’t suppose I have any say in the matter,” Billie put in.
“Of course you do,” Lady Manston said, patting her hand. “Just not yet.”
Billie’s lips parted, but she appeared not to know what to say.
“How could you,” Lady Manston continued, “when you don’t know anyone but us?”
Billie put a piece of bacon in her mouth and began to chew with impressive force. George suspected this was to stop herself from saying something she’d regret.
“Don’t worry, my dear,” Lady Manston said.
George took a sip of his tea. “She doesn’t look worried to me.”
Billie shot him a grateful look.
His mother ignored him completely. “You will get to know everyone soon enough, Billie. And then you can decide with whom you wish to pursue an acquaintance.”
“I don’t know that I plan to be here long enough to form opinions one way or another,” Billie said, her voice – in George’s opinion – remarkably even and calm.
“Nonsense,” Lady Manston said. “Just leave everything to me.”
“You’re not her mother,” George said quietly.
To which his mother raised her brows and said, “I could be.”
To which both George and Billie stared at her in openmouthed shock.
“Oh, come now, you two,” Lady Manston said, “surely it can be no surprise that I have long hoped for an alliance between the Rokesbys and Bridgertons.”
“Alliance?” Billie echoed, and all George could think was that it was a terrible, clinical word, one that could never encompass all that he had come to feel for her.
“Match, marriage, whatever you wish to call it,” Lady Manston said. “We are the dearest of friends. Of course I should like to be family.”
“If it makes any difference,” Billie said quietly, “I already think of you as family.”
“Oh, I know that, dear. I feel the same way. I’ve just always thought it would be wonderful to make it official. But no matter. There is always Georgiana.”
Billie cleared her throat. “She’s very young yet.”
Lady Manston smiled devilishly. “So is Nicholas.”
The look on Billie’s face came so close to horror George almost laughed. He probably would have done if he hadn’t been fairly certain his own face held the same expression.
“I see that I have shocked you,” his mother said. “But any mother will tell you – it’s never too early to plan for the future.”
“I would not recommend mentioning this to Nicholas,” George murmured.
“Or Georgiana, I’m sure,” his mother said, pouring herself yet another cup of tea. “Would you like a cup, Billie?”
“Ehrm… yes, thank you.”
“Oh, and that’s another thing,” Lady Manston said as she put a splash of milk in Billie’s teacup. “We need to stop calling you Billie.”
Billie blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
In went the tea, and then Lady Manston held the cup out and said, “Starting today we will use your given name. Sybilla.”