The Viscount Who Loved Me {Dreamnotfound}

Off To The Races

"Lord Lumley. At the top," Lady Hannah Rose comments judgementally as she reads the list George had given her of possible suitors for Fundy. The sweet smell of tea cakes and warm drinks filling the mid morning air as they lazy around the morning room. "Is he not something of a dandy?"

"I would use the term gallant," George corrects from where he holds his dog, Newton on his lap.

"Is that what you look for, Fundy?" Lady Rose asks as she turns to look at George's brother.

"If George believes in him, so do I," Fundy says as he squares his shoulders beside George.

"I see you've left off Lord Puffy," the dowager points out as she finishes reading the list. "An oversight on your part, my dear?"

"Lord Puffy is quite adept at conveying false first impressions," George sneers.

"What did you hear?" Lady Rose asks carefully.

"He stated rather clearly that he seeks a partner only to fulfill his duty," George informs them with a shrug. "And does not believe in love at all,"

"And you find this unusual?" Lady Hannah Rose asks with a raised brow. "Most marriages of the ton are, in fact, mere matters of business, my dear. Matters that have been working for centuries," the lady points out. "It is the true love match that is quite rare,"

"You know what it is you are looking for, Fund," George says despite the dowagers words. "You must not forget it," he moves his hand to rest on his brother's shoulder. "Lord Lumley will turn the viscount into a distant memory,"

"Mister Davidson?" Quackity asks as he parries forward towards Dream. Sabres in hand as they fence in the morning sun, their brother Sam standing to the side.

"Mister Fundy Davidson," Dream corrects "Not the brother," Dream clarifies without being questioned. "Mister Fundy will suffice,"

His brother raises his eye brow at the use of the word suffice. Their family is known for being notorious in love match marriages. Their older brother and their own parents relationships being evidence of that.

"It is only out of the greatest love of my family that I aim to choose a partner with my head," Dream explains. "And not my...heart,"

Quackity chuckles at the insinuation, leaving his left open for Dream to lunge toward and strike with his sabre. "Does Mister Fundy return your affection?" Sam asks as takes position.

"Not yet," Dream informs him. "He would have done if it were not for—"

"The brother," Sam and Quackity say at the same time as they roll their eyes.

"He is rather thorny, I take it?" Sam asks as he looks to Quackity for his opinion before beginning the bout.

"Indeed," Dream answers for him, lunging forward.

"I am certain," Quackity rolls his eyes once again.

"Though he need not trouble me," Dream points out as he clears Sam's defences easily. "Every rose does have its thorn, after all,"

Later that afternoon, George found himself behind his brother within the warmly lit drawing room, his younger bother conversing with Lord Lumley, when chatter begins to grow outside of the room in the hall. "Excuse me a moment," George says quietly before making his way to the doorway.

"Mister Davidson, am I to be kept at this threshold all day?" A gentleman asks as soon as he steps out of the doorway.

"Lumley's already had an inordinate amount of time with him," another behind him points out, the long line of gentlemen nodding in agreement.