had
bewitched him.
"I came here tonight to warn you that a disaster is imminent."
"May I inquire as to the nature of this disaster, Miss Ballinger?"
She turned her head to give him an unhappy look. "There has been a dreadful mistake, my lord. You
apparently paid a visit to my uncle this afternoon?"
"I did." Surely she had not pulled this stunt just to tell him she was going to reject his proposal, Harry
thought, seriously alarmed for the first time.
"Uncle Thomas misunderstood you, sir. You see, he thought you were offering for me, rather than my
cousin. Wishful thinking on his part, no doubt. He has been fretting about my spinster status for ages.
Feels he has a duty to see me wed. In any event, I fear he has already sent the notices off to the papers. I
regret to inform you that the announcement of our betrothal will be all over town tomorrow morning."
Harry jerked his gaze away from the satin roses and glanced down at the highly polished toes of his
Hessians. In spite of the growing heaviness in his groin he managed to keep his voice free of any
inflection. "I see."
"Please believe me, my lord, it was an honest mistake on my uncle's part. I questioned him carefully and
he was quite certain you meant to offer for me. You know how he is. He lives in a different world most of
the time. He can remember the name of every one of his ancient Greeks and Romans but he can be
distressingly vague about the names of the members of his own household. I expect you can understand
that."
"Hmmm."
"Yes, I thought you would. You no doubt suffer the same problem. Now, then."Augusta swung around,
her cloak sweeping out behind her like a dark velvet sail. "All is not lost. It will be difficult for both of us
tomorrow when the news bursts upon the world, but never fear, I have a plan."
"God help us," Harry said under his breath.
"I beg your pardon?" She pinned him with a glare.
" 'Twas nothing, Miss Ballinger. You said something about a plan?"
"Precisely. Listen closely, now. I know you have not had much experience with schemes and such due
to your interest in scholarly matters, so you must pay strict attention."
"I assume you have had experience with this sort of thing?"
"Well, not this sort of thing precisely," she admitted, "but with schemes in general, if you see what I
mean. There is a knack to carrying out a good scheme. One must be bold. One must act as if nothing at
all is out of the ordinary. One must be calm at all times. Do you comprehend me, my lord?"
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"I believe so. Why don't you go over your plan briefly so that I can get the general outline of it?"
"Very well." She frowned intently and studied a map ofEurope that hung on the wall. "The thing is, once
the notice of our betrothal is in the papers, you cannot honorably withdraw your offer."
"True," he allowed. "I would not think of doing so."
"Yes, you are quite trapped. But I, on the other hand, can exercise a lady's privilege and cry off. And
that is what I shall do."
"Miss Ballinger—"
"Oh, I know there will be a lot of gossip and I shall be called a jilt, among other things. I may have to
leave town for a time, but that is neither here nor there. In the end you will be free. You will have
everyone's sympathy, in fact. When the storm has died down, you may ask for my cousin's hand, as you
had originally intended."Augusta looked at him expectantly.
"That is the whole of your scheme, Miss Ballinger?" Harry asked after a moment's thought.
"I fear so," she said in a worried tone. "Does it seem a bit too simple, do you think? Perhaps we could
elaborate on it somewhat and make it more clever. But on the whole, I am inclined to believe that the
simpler a scheme is, the easier it will be to carry it out."
"Your instincts in such matters are no doubt better than mine," Harry murmured. "Are you so very
anxious, then, to get yourself unbetrothed?"
She flushed a
bewitched him.
"I came here tonight to warn you that a disaster is imminent."
"May I inquire as to the nature of this disaster, Miss Ballinger?"
She turned her head to give him an unhappy look. "There has been a dreadful mistake, my lord. You
apparently paid a visit to my uncle this afternoon?"
"I did." Surely she had not pulled this stunt just to tell him she was going to reject his proposal, Harry
thought, seriously alarmed for the first time.
"Uncle Thomas misunderstood you, sir. You see, he thought you were offering for me, rather than my
cousin. Wishful thinking on his part, no doubt. He has been fretting about my spinster status for ages.
Feels he has a duty to see me wed. In any event, I fear he has already sent the notices off to the papers. I
regret to inform you that the announcement of our betrothal will be all over town tomorrow morning."
Harry jerked his gaze away from the satin roses and glanced down at the highly polished toes of his
Hessians. In spite of the growing heaviness in his groin he managed to keep his voice free of any
inflection. "I see."
"Please believe me, my lord, it was an honest mistake on my uncle's part. I questioned him carefully and
he was quite certain you meant to offer for me. You know how he is. He lives in a different world most of
the time. He can remember the name of every one of his ancient Greeks and Romans but he can be
distressingly vague about the names of the members of his own household. I expect you can understand
that."
"Hmmm."
"Yes, I thought you would. You no doubt suffer the same problem. Now, then."Augusta swung around,
her cloak sweeping out behind her like a dark velvet sail. "All is not lost. It will be difficult for both of us
tomorrow when the news bursts upon the world, but never fear, I have a plan."
"God help us," Harry said under his breath.
"I beg your pardon?" She pinned him with a glare.
" 'Twas nothing, Miss Ballinger. You said something about a plan?"
"Precisely. Listen closely, now. I know you have not had much experience with schemes and such due
to your interest in scholarly matters, so you must pay strict attention."
"I assume you have had experience with this sort of thing?"
"Well, not this sort of thing precisely," she admitted, "but with schemes in general, if you see what I
mean. There is a knack to carrying out a good scheme. One must be bold. One must act as if nothing at
all is out of the ordinary. One must be calm at all times. Do you comprehend me, my lord?"
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"I believe so. Why don't you go over your plan briefly so that I can get the general outline of it?"
"Very well." She frowned intently and studied a map ofEurope that hung on the wall. "The thing is, once
the notice of our betrothal is in the papers, you cannot honorably withdraw your offer."
"True," he allowed. "I would not think of doing so."
"Yes, you are quite trapped. But I, on the other hand, can exercise a lady's privilege and cry off. And
that is what I shall do."
"Miss Ballinger—"
"Oh, I know there will be a lot of gossip and I shall be called a jilt, among other things. I may have to
leave town for a time, but that is neither here nor there. In the end you will be free. You will have
everyone's sympathy, in fact. When the storm has died down, you may ask for my cousin's hand, as you
had originally intended."Augusta looked at him expectantly.
"That is the whole of your scheme, Miss Ballinger?" Harry asked after a moment's thought.
"I fear so," she said in a worried tone. "Does it seem a bit too simple, do you think? Perhaps we could
elaborate on it somewhat and make it more clever. But on the whole, I am inclined to believe that the
simpler a scheme is, the easier it will be to carry it out."
"Your instincts in such matters are no doubt better than mine," Harry murmured. "Are you so very
anxious, then, to get yourself unbetrothed?"
She flushed a
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