Julia Justiss - Convenient Proposal To The Lady

Unique and impressive indeed!

He’d like to ask her what she intended to do with those excellent sketches. Ladies did not produce items for sale, but he could try persuading her into gifting him one. He’d give it pride of place on his library wall—a memento of a most unusual lady.

Then he spied her hurrying across the meadow—and felt again that rise of anticipation.

Spotting him, she made her way over, sketchbook and pastel box in hand. There was not, he noted with a frown, any maid trailing in her wake.

‘Sorry to be late, Mr Tawny,’ she said as she reached the shelter of the trees. ‘I almost couldn’t get away.’

He gave her a severe look. ‘Where is Molly?’

‘Just gone down for breakfast. I couldn’t be cruel enough to drag her away from that, especially since, as you’ve discovered, she hates accompanying me to sketch. Besides, I was coming to meet you, so I knew I’d be in no danger.’

‘You might meet someone else coming or going. I trust you now believe there might be danger in that?’

Her expression turned exasperated. ‘It was just as you predicted. Not only did Quinlen and Rossiter continue their attentions, Lord Denbry made straight for me when he arrived, despite the fact that there were several more beautiful ladies in the room. Just in case any of the three had suddenly developed some malady affecting their vision, I conducted myself through charades and the evening activities as the most shy, backward ingénue on the face of the planet! In spite of that, their attentions continued unabated.’ She paused, chuckling. ‘They must have been praying for the evening to end. I know I was; trying to act like a bashful ninny is far more exhausting than I anticipated.’

‘Did none of the other guests notice the marked change in your behaviour?’

‘Since I generally participate as little as possible in these gatherings, they don’t know how I normally behave. Though initially, my mother was alarmed! But after I assured her I was only trying to follow her advice, deferring to the gentlemen, she couldn’t really protest the behaviour,’ she ended with another chuckle.

How those gold-flecked eyes mesmerised when she was amused, Ben thought, once again fighting the urge to take her in his arms. ‘A case of being careful what you wish for.’

‘Perhaps.’ Her amusement fading, she said, ‘In particular, I watched Denbry, for the others deferred to him. I even told him at the outset that I had not received a good account of his character from my brother.’

Surprised that she would almost...bait the man, Ben said, ‘To which he replied?’

‘He protested that, as he and my brother had always been rivals, Harleton was unlikely to give him the best report. Then added a great deal of claptrap about how he’d outgrown his misspent youth and now was ready to settle down—with the right lady, of course. That bit of rubbish accompanied by ardent looks and much flattery.’ She twisted her lip in disgust. ‘A great rake, suddenly reforming his womanising ways? Are there truly any females who would believe such nonsense?’

‘That the love of one special lady might convince a man to change his character? It is a romantic notion, you must allow. It would depend, I think, on how persuasive the gentleman was.’

‘And how naïve and sheltered—or desperate, the female?’ she said, her bitter tone making him wonder about her own experiences. Had some rake led her on, then betrayed her, when she was young and naïve?

‘So you do believe now that they are trying to entice you.’

A flush heated her face. ‘Humiliating as it is to acknowledge, I’m forced to admit it must be true.’

Angered again on her behalf, he said, ‘Fortunately, they have no idea they are dealing with a lady far different than the slighting description they received. Now that you know what they are about, you can simply ignore them.’

Her expression hardened, something—indignation?—sparking in her eyes. ‘Yes, they are dealing with a female far different than what they expected—not that my performance last night gave any indication of it. But I don’t intend to ignore them; I intend to continue giving Denbry all the encouragement he needs to believe his scheme will succeed.’

‘You’re going to encourage him?’ Ben asked, frowning. ‘Why in the world would you do that?’

‘What if I had been the sort of anxious, desperate-to-marry female they envisioned? Why should Lord Denbry be able to target the virtue of some innocent maid, callously ruin her life—and walk away, completely untouched? Knowing what he intended, I can’t just...let him go and do nothing!’

Beguiling as it was to fantasise about a warrior princess, it was disturbing in the extreme to consider she might actually act like one. Alarmed, Ben said, ‘I strongly advise you to do just that! Were he to discover that you’d been playing him for a fool, he’d be furious. You know what sort of man he is! Regrettable it might be, and certainly unfair, but gentlemen hold most of the cards in this game; there are any number of retaliatory actions he could take to besmirch your character. All he need do upon his return to London is put it about—very discreetly, of course—that you’d allowed him to take liberties with your person as you walked alone in the garden and your reputation would be in shreds. It wouldn’t be as dramatic as the ruination he planned—but it would limit your ability to secure a suitable marriage almost as effectively.’

‘Perhaps—but don’t I invite that sort of retaliation, regardless of what I do next?’ she argued back. ‘If I were suddenly to shun him, he would be forced to admit he’d miscalculated my character—or his own attractiveness to females. Either result would show him up in front of his friends, who have all witnessed the marked attention he paid me. Wouldn’t that outcome be just as likely to spur him to some retaliation?’

Swallowing the oath that observation prompted, Ben paused, irritated that he’d hadn’t foreseen that possibility himself. She truly was needle-witted! Much as he’d like to dismiss her concern, the damnable fact was, she was right.

Before he could devise a safer way to counter that threat, she said, ‘Since there’s a good chance he’s going to make a run at ruining me in any event, instead of retreating in submissive, helpless fashion, why shouldn’t I at least take advantage of the opportunity to administer a lesson of my own?’

‘Administer a lesson?’ Ben echoed, truly aghast now. ‘Dam—Heaven forfend! What crack-brained notion have you taken into your head?’

‘Well, I would very much like to shoot him—if I were a man and he had impugned my honour, I’d be able call him out, wouldn’t I? I am an excellent shot, by the way. But since, regrettably, he’d only laugh at a challenge issued by a female, I shall have to take a different path. I intend to seem to go along with his plan, letting him “entice” me to the point of an elopement. I shall insist I dare not leave Dornton Manor with him, but will slip away after dark and meet him instead at some inn. I’ll beg him to hire the horses and a coach for a dash to the border—or wherever it is he plans to carry me off—and wait for me there. Only instead of a silly, eager female running into his arms, he’ll receive a message, reproving him for his dishonourable intentions and expressing the hope that he will not, in future, try to lead some other unfortunate young woman to her ruin.’

‘Don’t do it,’ Ben said flatly.

‘Why not? How does it put me in any more danger than I stand in now? I’ve already walked in the garden with him, alone, so he’d easily be able to return to London and impugn my reputation in the manner you described. No matter how angry he might be, he wouldn’t go as far as to try to make off with me by force—there’s that law against kidnapping you mentioned. Nor would he try to physically assault me—there are statutes against that, too. He may be venal, but I do not think he is stupid.’