Chapter 6
CLARK
“ N o.”
The single word bounced around my skull, echoing for just long enough for me to wonder if I had heard it at all.
“Pardon?” I stammered.
“No, thank you,” Miss Sharp corrected. She stared up at me, her deep brown eyes round and innocent, as if she hadn’t just committed a wild impertinence and unforgivable social blunder.
“You will not dance with me?” I asked. I was even more fascinated by her than I had been a few seconds before. Horrified, but still fascinated. “The next dance, or not at all?”
“Not at all,” she clarified with a thoughtful look.
“I’m withholding all of my dances in the hopes of securing a different partner.
We have already established, quite clearly, I believe, that you and I would not make a suitable match.
I shouldn’t like to waste my dances on a gentleman who has already assured me he would never be my husband.
” Her posture lowered into a hasty curtsy. “Good evening, Mr. Campbell.”
Before I could say another word, Miss Sharp skirted past a trio of ladies and disappeared down the staircase.
I remained where I stood at the railing, too surprised to move a muscle.
Was this how she had rendered Colin that night at Lady Benton’s party—speechless and confused?
I rarely felt so befuddled, especially at the hands of a lady.
After a few seconds, Miss Sharp reappeared on the dance floor. I watched her move through the crowd in her ivory gown. I scoffed to myself as she easily located an older woman with a large feather in her hair on the outskirts of the room.
So she hadn’t lost her chaperone after all.
It seemed that not only was Miss Arabella Sharp a fortune hunter, but she was a liar as well.
I shouldn’t have noticed or cared, but she looked angelic in her white gown with her hair arranged high on the crown of her head, even if her actions would suggest otherwise.
In the sunlight that morning on Milsom Street, her hair had looked a deep chocolate brown, but tonight in the candlelight, it looked nearly black.
She stole a quick glance up to the balcony again.
When she caught me watching her, a flush darkened her cheeks.
I thought of the wide array of expressions I had witnessed on her face that evening.
Her eyes were exactly the sort that couldn’t be trusted.
I had felt each of her gazes to my center, sharp and inquisitive. She certainly lived up to her name.
Her rejection had been just as sharp. She hadn’t even bothered to be polite, besides adding a ‘thank you’ to the end of her second no. My task was impossible. Colin would have to find a different way for me to repay his debt. I was now absolutely certain that Miss Sharp would never court me.
As I observed the dance floor, I caught sight of a young gentleman approaching Miss Sharp.
Was this Sir William? Colin had described him as average height, with blond hair, a slouching posture, and overly long coattails.
He had also mentioned something about an excess of fobs and always offering his handkerchief to ladies who hadn’t asked for it.
The gentleman fit the description through and through. Even as I reviewed the details in my mind, he extended a white handkerchief in Miss Sharp’s direction. She smiled warmly—almost bashfully—and accepted his offer. I narrowed my eyes and added ‘actress’ to her list of qualifications.
Fortune hunter, liar, actress.
What else could I discover about her simply by watching from the balcony?
As the next set began, Sir William led Miss Sharp to the center of the floor and joined the line of dancers.
With me, she had been cold and unsmiling, but now she was grinning like a cat before its kill, dancing with enough enthusiasm to make it clear that she hadn’t rejected me out of anything but spite.
With a sigh, I turned away from the railing.
My head hurt already, and I hadn’t even been at the ball for more than an hour.
My nerves had been tested all evening, even before I encountered Miss Sharp, as I had been approached by a number of Colin’s acquaintances whose faces I didn’t recognize.
It would endanger Colin’s reputation if I continued to interact with his connections.
But if I returned home too soon, Colin would think I hadn’t tried hard enough to charm Miss Sharp.
But she clearly hadn’t wanted to be charmed.
Not by me, anyway.
As she danced, she laughed at something Sir William said. The poor man had no idea of how false it really was. Vexation rose in my throat, and I suddenly sympathized with Colin’s plan. I had no qualms about being deceptive if Miss Sharp was going to be the same.
I may have been pretending to be someone I wasn’t, but at the moment, so was she.
After enduring one more hour at the ball, mostly keeping to the balcony, I sneaked through the front door of Colin’s townhouse.
In the safety of the entrance hall, I released a long breath.
My shoulders were still tight, my neck sore from how tense it had been all evening.
Was this how Colin felt all the time? I rubbed the back of my neck and tugged away my cravat.
It was a relief not to smell starch every time I breathed through my nose.
I had seen light from the study window, so I started toward it.
Colin was surely awaiting the news of all that had occurred that evening.
I had planned on telling him how impossible my task now seemed, but I stopped a few paces outside the door.
Would it be wise to make my failure obvious?
I did need his help finding clients, and the allowance would be useful as well. Giving up didn’t feel like an option.
“Colin?” I knocked lightly on the door before he called me inside.
He sat behind the desk, a half-empty cup of brandy beside his open ledger. The moment I entered the room, he leaned his elbows on the desk. “Well? Tell me everything.”
I laughed shakily. I couldn’t very well tell him that Miss Sharp had rejected my invitation to dance. I bit the inside of my cheek as I considered where to start. “I think I made progress, but it is too soon to tell.” There. That was honest enough.
Colin eyed me suspiciously. “Did you dance with her?”
“I tried.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Sir William beat me to it.”
Colin groaned. “How did you allow that to happen? If he develops an attachment to her, we’ll be too late to change his mind.”
“Why don’t we tell him what Miss Sharp told you? We might simply inform Sir William what Miss Sharp’s intentions are, and if he proceeds in his pursuit, then that is his own fault.”
“Where is the fun in that?” Colin asked with a scoff, taking a sip from his glass.
“Miss Sharp has proven that she will simply move on to the next unassuming gentleman. Besides, I quite enjoy being accounted for at social gatherings, yet not having to attend them myself.” His eyes gleamed with rare amusement.
I shook my head. “This is ridiculous.”
“You don’t enjoy it? Not even a little?” Colin jested more when he was on the verge of being drunk.
“I might enjoy it more once Miss Sharp learns her lesson.” I reached for Colin’s glass and took a sip from it myself.
He rose from his chair to snatch it out of my hand. “I’m glad we are on the same page. You must have seen the truth of her character this evening. She is quite devious, don’t you agree?”
Devious was putting it kindly. I wouldn’t admit that I was also intrigued by her.
I wouldn’t easily forget how befuddled her words had left me, nor how beautiful she had looked in her ivory gown.
But I nodded, staring blankly at the wall behind my brother as I struggled to envision a step forward in my quest. It seemed that Miss Sharp’s resistance to courting me centered on the fact that she believed me to be insincere.
After Colin’s rejection, she must have been thoroughly confused by my attention.
She wouldn’t easily fall into the trap as Colin had expected.
She was smarter than we had given her credit for.
So how could I convince her? The question lingered in my mind. There was no clear answer, but I knew exactly where I should start. With Miss Sharp, I needed to stop acting so much like Colin. He was dull and boring and didn’t know how to flirt.
I needed to start acting like Clark.