All three girls nodded.

“To prevent such an occurrence, you made sure I had no time in the capital during which to meet any such lady.”

Again three definite nods.

“But you know I need a wife. You understand that I have to marry?” Not least to secure the title and the entailed estate, given he was the last male Tregarth.

“That’s obvious,” Belinda informed him. “Aside from anything else, you’re never going to manage the social obligations adequately on your own, and Mama can help only so far. Once we wed, she’ll live with us, so you should marry as soon as possible so your countess can learn the ropes.”

“Besides which,” Annabel put in, “you having the right lady as your countess will make it much easier for us to make our come-outs properly. We’re now titled ladies, and poor Mama is going to have a time of it if she has to manage our come-outs on her own.”

“And, of course,” little Jane continued, her voice lighter than the other two, “there’s the fact you need to sire an heir, or else when you die the estate will revere…” She stopped, frowned.

“Revert,” Gervase supplied.

She thanked him with a serious little nod. “Revert to that disgustingly fat, dissolute reprobate, the Prince Regent.” She met Gervase’s gaze. “And no one would want that.”

Gervase stared at her, then glanced at the other two. Clearly he didn’t need to explain the facts of his life-familial or social-to them. “If you understand all that, then you must see that in order to find the, as Annabel put it, right lady to be my countess, I need to go to London-”

He broke off as all three vehemently shook their heads. It wasn’t just the action, but the look in their narrowing eyes, and the set of their firming lips and chins, that stilled his tongue.

“No,” Belinda stated. “No London ladies. Now that you understand our position, you must see that we can’t allow you to simply swan off and search by yourself in London.”