Chapter Six #2
“He is the most bullheaded, irritating, smug, unlikable man I have ever met! I cannot imagine his family finding any woman who would be willing to marry him. She would be letting herself in for a lifetime of—”
Francesca waited as Irene paused, groping for words. After a moment, she prompted, “Of what?”
“I cannot even imagine what it would be like,” Irene said grumpily. “My wits cannot stretch that far. He would be the most awful husband, demanding and infuriating and—” Once again she broke off, releasing her breath in a low noise of frustration.
“Goodness,” Francesca said mildly. “He must have said something terrible during your conversation. What was it?”
“Well…” Irene started, then paused, and finally went on.
“Well, it was not so much what he said as the way he said it. He has no manners whatsoever. And he accused me—me!—of disliking his honesty. He likes to hide his rudeness under the cover of ‘truth’ and seems to think that I should not take offense at what he says. Do you know that he accused me of being afraid to accept Lady Pencully’s invitation? Afraid!”
Francesca, taking in the dangerous sparkle in Irene’s gold eyes, replied candidly, “I cannot picture you afraid.”
“Of course not! I have never—Well, of course, I have been afraid in my life. Who has not? But I have never let anyone see it! I have never refrained from embarking on a course because I was frightened of what might happen.”
“I am sure not,” Francesca agreed. “But of course Lord Radbourne does not know you well enough to know your true nature.”
“Exactly. Yet he speaks as if he knows what I think. What I feel. It is absurd.”
“Well, he is not accustomed to polite conversation. No doubt it is the result of his unfortunate upbringing.”
Irene let out an inelegant snort at Francesca’s offering. “I have met stableboys with better manners than he. It is his personality. He could have been reared as a prince, and he would still behave like a boor.”
“Even so, I do not doubt that he will have little trouble finding a woman who is willing to put up with his manners,” Francesca said.
“Not someone like you, of course. But someone else who hasn’t the courage to keep him from riding roughshod over her as you would.
Or the wit to teach him how to act appropriately. ”
“No doubt,” Irene replied shortly.
“She will see only the advantages of the situation, the opportunity, and none of the dangers and drawbacks.” Francesca looked at Irene as she went on. “And of course, some women cannot resist the lure of a handsome man. His features are rather arresting.”
“I suppose.” Irene shrugged, adding, “If you like that sort of look. Personally, I find him too rugged. He is so large. And there is such a hard appearance to him. His cheekbones are so sharp, and his jaw is too square for true handsomeness. Do you not agree?”
Francesca nodded. “Yes, of course. Nor am I fond of brown eyes.”
“No, his eyes are green,” Irene corrected. “I find his coloring odd, for his hair and brows are black, and his skin is dark, so one would expect his eyes to be dark, as well. But his eyes are quite green. Not attractive at all.”
“You are quite correct.”
“And he wears his hair too long.”
“Most unfashionable.”
“The sort of hair you would expect a ruffian to have, not a gentleman.” Irene paused thoughtfully. “And he has a scar at the corner of his eyebrow. It quite detracts from his looks.”
“Really? I am surprised I did not notice.”
Irene nodded and pointed to her right eyebrow. “It is here, just before the end of the brow.”
“And he does not smile,” Francesca pointed out.
Irene looked away. “Well, I did see him smile once, and it was—” For just an instant her face softened. “It made him look quite different.” She shook her head. “But of course, one could not spend one’s life waiting for a smile every now and then.”
“No,” Francesca agreed. “I suppose not, even if it was a very special smile.”
“Yes.”
“And good looks are not that important, really,” Francesca continued, watching her. “It is superficial, after all, to choose a husband because he makes one’s pulse flutter.”
“Very true.” Irene released a little sigh and turned to look out at the buildings they were passing.
After a moment of silence, Irene said, “The worst thing about his invitation is that he and his aunt went to our house to invite me. Now Maura knows that I have been invited to Radbourne Park. She will be impossible if I do not go. She is desperate for me to marry and leave the house, and if I refuse to make a push to catch the earl, she will be furious. She will badger me night and day to change my mind. Worse, she will run Humphrey and Mother mad, trying to enlist their support.”
Francesca studied Irene. “Perhaps you should go to the party.” Hastily, seeing Irene’s scowl, she went on, “Do not fire up at me. Hear me out. Consider the advantages. You could get away from your sister-in-law for a week or more. And you could even take your mother with you, for I imagine that she would not mind a respite from the woman herself. It would appear to Lady Wyngate that you are following her wishes, so she would not harangue you. Just think of it, a blessed week of freedom, of being able to do as you like, no arguments—”
“If I am around Lord Radbourne, then I am sure there will be arguments,” Irene stuck in drily.
“No arguments with Lady Wyngate,” Francesca corrected with a smile. “And you do not have to become engaged to the man just because you pay a visit to the family seat. You simply return and say that you did not suit.”
“I would still have to be around him,” Irene pointed out.
“I am not altogether certain that I could be with him for so long without getting into a raging argument with him. That would scarcely brighten up the house party. Besides, I would feel awkward attending under false pretenses. If I do not mean to even consider him as a husband, I feel that I would be deceiving Lady Pencully and Lady Radbourne. It would be wrong to accept their hospitality in those circumstances.”
“Nonsense. However much his family may wish to marry him off, they can scarcely hope that each and every woman whom they invite would accept his proposal. They simply hope that he will be more appealing to a prospective bride if she is able to spend more time with him.”
“I cannot imagine why they should think that would help,” Irene said sarcastically. “I would think that the less time a woman spent with Lord Radbourne, the more likely she would be to agree to marry him. A few minutes in his company are enough to scare away even the most marriage-hungry female.”
“Well, perhaps if one spends long enough with him, one is able to get past the initial roughness. Or perhaps one might grow accustomed to his manner.”
Irene shrugged. “I suppose. But I am certain that will not happen to me. I cannot pretend that I am willing to consider him as a spouse.”
Francesca released a little sigh. “I am sorry. I would have enjoyed your company. Now I shall probably be surrounded by nothing but giggling young girls…and Lady Odelia.”
She pulled a face, and Irene had to chuckle.
“I am sorry, Francesca. Indeed, if it were nothing more than a week in your company, I think I would enjoy it. But it would be unfair to the Bankes—and even to Lord Radbourne.”
“What if—” Francesca straightened in her seat and reached out a hand, putting it on Irene’s arm. Her face became more animated as she leaned a little closer, saying, “What if you did not go under false pretenses? What if you stated clearly up front that you had no intention of marrying him?”
“I don’t understand. What would be the point of inviting me then?”
“To help me,” Francesca replied, a triumphant expression on her face.
“I would explain to them that you were adamant about not marrying Lord Radbourne—though I would, perhaps, couch it in a more general way than your intense dislike of the man. But you see, Lady Pencully wishes me to arrive a week earlier than the other guests and see what I can do about making Lord Radbourne more acceptable to a lady.”
“How do you intend to accomplish that?” Irene asked.
“Of course I cannot change his character. But I think there are things that we could do to make him more appealing to a less discerning lady than yourself.”
“Less critical, I believe you mean,” Irene countered, smiling to take away any sting from her words.
“Lady Odelia says his dancing is poor. We can practice with him on that, and it would be much easier with two of us. We can school him in etiquette and making social chatter and such.”
“Well, he certainly is in need of schooling in that regard,” Irene said. “Although there are those who would tell you that I am scarcely a good example of those qualities.”
Francesca shrugged. “Ah, but I am, and I shall use you for making blunt appraisals of his abilities and progress. He will have to be told what he is doing wrong, and I may rely on you for that, may I not?”
She cast a roguish little smile at Irene, who gave her a grin in return. “Yes, you may. I would be most willing to inform Lord Radbourne of his missteps.”
“There. You see how well we would work together? I think you really could be of value in improving his lordship. I realize that you would have to spend a fair amount of time in his company, but surely it would not be so bad as long as he was aware that you had no intention of marrying him. I shall make it clear to him, and to Lady Odelia, that he is not to importune you to change your mind.”