boast. Why boast to him if you did not wish to thumb your nose at him? And why wish to thumb your nose at him if he had not hurt you at some time in the past? What did he do to you?”
“He went away to war,” she said, “while I stayed at home to raise my younger sisters and brother after our father died. We had an understanding before he left, though, and that sustained me through years that were often difficult, even bleak. And then word came through a letter to his mother that he had married inSpain .”
“Ah,” he said. “This paragon of devotion is one of the scarlet-clad officers who are dazzling all the ladies, is he?”
“Yes,” she said.
“And the man to whom you expected to be betrothed?” he asked.
“He also has behaved toward you in a dastardly manner?”
“I cannot in all conscience accuse him of that,” she said. “He offered for me three times over the past five years. I refused all three times, though we were still friends and told each other at the end of last Season that we looked forward to meeting again this year. I arrived in town very recently and therefore neither saw the announcement of his engagement nor heard of it. I came here this evening, expecting …
Well, never mind.”
She was beginning to feel very uneasy, not to mention ridiculous.
What she had intended to be a very vague explanation of her earlier panic had turned into a rather detailed and very humiliating confession.
“You waited too long in both instances,” he said. “With both gentlemen. Let it be a lesson to you.”
She fanned her cheeks more vigorously. She deserved that harsh and unsympathetic judgment. Though it was very typical of a man to take the part of other men. It must be her fault that she had lost both Crispin and the Marquess of Allingham.
But he was perfectly right to think so, of course. She need not feel so indignant or so abject. She had not been abandoned by either man.
She had made them wait too long.
It was humbling to see oneself through the eyes of a man.
“And does the dashing, faithless officer know the identity of the gentleman to whom you expected to be betrothed this evening?” Lord Sheringford asked.
“Oh, no,” she said. “I was not that indiscreet. Thank heaven.”
One must be thankful for small mercies, she thought. How truly dreadful it would have been if…
“Then there is a simple solution to all your woes,” the earl said. “You may introduce me to your officer as your betrothed, and at the same time demonstrate to the other man that you were not waiting for him to offer for you yet again.”
Oh, he really was quite outrageous. Yet there was still no glimmer of humor in his eyes, as she saw when she turned her head sharply to look into them.
“And what would you do tomorrow,” she asked, “when you discovered my brother and brothers-in-law on your doorstep, demanding to know your true intentions? And what would I do when I came face-to-face with Crispin tomorrow or the day after? Tell him that I had had a change of heart?”
He shrugged.
“I would inform your fierce relatives that my intentions are entirely honorable,” he said. “And you could continue to thumb your nose at the officer.”
“I do thank you for the gallant offer,” she said, laughing and wondering how he would react if she chose to take him seriously, poor man. “And I thank you for your company during this set. It has been amusing. But I must go now and—”
She was given no chance to finish. The hand belonging to the arm that was propped against the back of the sofa moved to rest firmly on her shoulder, and his face dipped a little closer to hers.
“One of the scarlet uniforms is approaching,” he said, “draped about the person of a large red-haired officer. Doubtless your erstwhile lover.”
She did not turn her head to look. She closed her eyes briefly instead.
“You had better do as I have suggested,” Lord Sheringford said, “and present
“He went away to war,” she said, “while I stayed at home to raise my younger sisters and brother after our father died. We had an understanding before he left, though, and that sustained me through years that were often difficult, even bleak. And then word came through a letter to his mother that he had married inSpain .”
“Ah,” he said. “This paragon of devotion is one of the scarlet-clad officers who are dazzling all the ladies, is he?”
“Yes,” she said.
“And the man to whom you expected to be betrothed?” he asked.
“He also has behaved toward you in a dastardly manner?”
“I cannot in all conscience accuse him of that,” she said. “He offered for me three times over the past five years. I refused all three times, though we were still friends and told each other at the end of last Season that we looked forward to meeting again this year. I arrived in town very recently and therefore neither saw the announcement of his engagement nor heard of it. I came here this evening, expecting …
Well, never mind.”
She was beginning to feel very uneasy, not to mention ridiculous.
What she had intended to be a very vague explanation of her earlier panic had turned into a rather detailed and very humiliating confession.
“You waited too long in both instances,” he said. “With both gentlemen. Let it be a lesson to you.”
She fanned her cheeks more vigorously. She deserved that harsh and unsympathetic judgment. Though it was very typical of a man to take the part of other men. It must be her fault that she had lost both Crispin and the Marquess of Allingham.
But he was perfectly right to think so, of course. She need not feel so indignant or so abject. She had not been abandoned by either man.
She had made them wait too long.
It was humbling to see oneself through the eyes of a man.
“And does the dashing, faithless officer know the identity of the gentleman to whom you expected to be betrothed this evening?” Lord Sheringford asked.
“Oh, no,” she said. “I was not that indiscreet. Thank heaven.”
One must be thankful for small mercies, she thought. How truly dreadful it would have been if…
“Then there is a simple solution to all your woes,” the earl said. “You may introduce me to your officer as your betrothed, and at the same time demonstrate to the other man that you were not waiting for him to offer for you yet again.”
Oh, he really was quite outrageous. Yet there was still no glimmer of humor in his eyes, as she saw when she turned her head sharply to look into them.
“And what would you do tomorrow,” she asked, “when you discovered my brother and brothers-in-law on your doorstep, demanding to know your true intentions? And what would I do when I came face-to-face with Crispin tomorrow or the day after? Tell him that I had had a change of heart?”
He shrugged.
“I would inform your fierce relatives that my intentions are entirely honorable,” he said. “And you could continue to thumb your nose at the officer.”
“I do thank you for the gallant offer,” she said, laughing and wondering how he would react if she chose to take him seriously, poor man. “And I thank you for your company during this set. It has been amusing. But I must go now and—”
She was given no chance to finish. The hand belonging to the arm that was propped against the back of the sofa moved to rest firmly on her shoulder, and his face dipped a little closer to hers.
“One of the scarlet uniforms is approaching,” he said, “draped about the person of a large red-haired officer. Doubtless your erstwhile lover.”
She did not turn her head to look. She closed her eyes briefly instead.
“You had better do as I have suggested,” Lord Sheringford said, “and present
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