Chapter 2
Chapter Two
“Thank you so much for offering time with your daughter as a prize. It was an inspired idea, and I can’t imagine anyone else doing it.
I am very impressed, and I swear that I will take the utmost care of Lady Rose.
She will be safe in my hands. We must sit down together at some point as well, because I do like talking with people who think unconventionally.
I believe London could use a lot more of it,” Edmund said.
When he spoke, he made flourishing gestures with his hands, making the whole thing seem like a performance to Rose.
As reality set in, Rose could feel a mix of emotions coursing through her.
Her stomach was churning, and waves of nausea rolled through her mind.
Beads of sweat gathered upon her temples, and her breathing became ragged.
The weight of everyone’s curious gazes bore upon her, and while the auction continued, she sensed that people would be speaking about this and nothing else.
Her parents had utterly humiliated her, and all she wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
Thankfully, she had Lydia beside her. Lydia tugged at her arm and pulled her to the side of the room, offering some distance between herself and the others.
“I promise that I had no idea he was going to bid. Did you know that you were going to be one of the lots?” Lydia asked.
“Of course I didn’t,” Rose said sharply, her frustrations boiling over.
When Lydia recoiled, Rose shook her head and offered an apologetic look.
“This is not your fault, Lydia. I am sorry. This is all my parents’ doing.
Now I know why they were not intent on bidding on anything.
They did not come here to win a bid. They came here to offer me as one of them.
It is entirely awful,” Rose put her hand to her head and cringed.
The more she thought about this, the worse it seemed.
“There is no need to panic, Rose. My brother is not that bad, after all.”
“You have never been shy in being honest about his reputation.”
“Even so, he would never hurt a woman. While he is rather… frivolous about life, he is not a bad man. And he will at least keep you entertained for five promenades, although…” Lydia said, and Rose noticed that her features were pinched as well, and her eyes bore the mark of a woman who was not entirely happy with the situation.
“Although…?” Rose prompted.
Lydia dispelled the thought and placed her hand on Rose’s arm.
“It does not matter. What matters is that Edmund won the bid from Lord Whitcombe.”
“And why is that so important?” Rose asked.
Lydia had always been more interested in matters of the ton than Rose was.
She turned to look at Lord Whitcombe, who still looked annoyed.
He was a man of a stout body and strong features.
Thick whiskers framed his face. He checked his pocket watch so fiercely that he almost ripped it from the chain.
“He has a reputation for causing scandal. It has been rumored that a maid left his employ after carrying his child. And there are whispers that his old business partner was left penniless and now haunts the streets of France because Lord Whitcombe cheated him out of his fair share.”
Rose raised her eyebrows.
“I see. Then perhaps I have indeed escaped an awful situation and am now facing a mildly terrible one.”
“Why would your parents do this?”
“My father whispered that he had no choice. They still cling to the hope that I will get married, and now they are getting desperate. I dread to think what they will stoop to when this plan does not succeed.”
“Indeed,” Lydia said.
Rose tilted her head. “Is that all you have to say? Usually, you try to persuade me that my pessimistic attitude is unwarranted. Are you not going to tell me to keep my mind open for the possibility of love, no matter how remote?”
Lydia wore an amused smile.
“If it were any other man, then I might well be saying those very things. But this is my brother. He has just as little interest in marriage as you do. In that way, there could not have been a more perfect match. You need not fear, because there will not be a proposal awaiting you at the end of all this.”
“Good,” Rose said, although there was a flicker of uncertainty within her heart.
After all, she was used to suitors asking to spend time with her and turning them away.
She had never encountered a man who shared the same outlook as her.
Perhaps the five promenades would not be as bad as she first imagined.
They could mock the idea of marriage together.
Rose sighed. “I shall go through with the promenades if only to keep my family’s reputation intact.
It would be humiliating for my parents to go through all of this only to have me kick up a storm.
I do not want people to think that I am some unruly child who cannot keep her emotions in check. I am sure I can manage your brother.”
“You would not be the first woman to say such a thing,” Lydia murmured.
Rose pursed her lips.
“Be sure to tell him that if he has any notion of romance, he should forget it immediately. He might have won the auction, but he has just wasted his money because five promenades are all he is going to get, and once they are done, life shall return to normal.”
“I will make sure of it. I do intend to have words with him,” Lydia said.
“Now, if you will excuse me, I need a moment to steady myself, but thank you for your counsel. Once again, you have proven yourself to be a wonderful friend,” Rose said as she clasped Lydia’s hands tightly and offered a grateful smile.
Lydia moved away, and Rose attempted to calm her frantic and erratic emotions. There was little point in getting angry with her parents at the moment. There would be words in the future, she was certain of that, but this scheme of theirs would not bear fruit.
In a way, it was reassuring because it showed that she shared their mindset. She came up with schemes to escape marriage, while they came up with schemes with the opposite intent. Rose smoothed down her dress and calmed the quickened beat of her heart.
Then, a shadow fell over her as Edmund sauntered over, filling her vision, the suddenness of his appearance making her breath catch.
“My lady,” he said in a deep voice. Did he truly put emphasis on the ‘my’, or did it just seem that way to her?
“Your Grace,” Rose dipped her head.
Edmund smiled. “I have never been one for formalities, and since we are going to be spending so much time together, I hope that you will call me Edmund.”
“As you wish, Edmund,” Rose said, his name rolling gently off her tongue. “But perhaps we should save our conversation for the first of our promenades. It is improper for us to be alone here.”
She was still standing at the side of the room, which was where Lydia had pulled her.
They were separated from the wider crowd, and she was filled with the sense that they were on an island, drifting away from everyone else.
They might not have literally been alone, but she hoped the reminder would be enough to make Edmund go away.
Edmund chuckled and looked around, gesturing with a long arm.
“Alone? We are far from alone, but there are plenty of improper moments that go unnoticed.” He arched his eyebrows and leaned into her.
His words were accompanied by a smile, hinting at something dangerous and forbidden.
Taken at face value, they were harmless enough, but with that look in his eyes, they seemed like the devil’s work, and she could see that his reputation as a rake was well-earned.
How Lydia managed to bear him as a brother, Rose did not know.
“Perhaps for you, but some of us hold ourselves to a high standard of propriety.”
“Propriety, yes. I have heard that many times before. It’s something that so many people strive for, yet even the best of us can fall short. Believe me, I have seen it happen to someone for whom propriety was the most important thing in the world.”
“You shall find that it is important to me as well, and while you may have won the bid of five promenades, my time is all you have bought, nothing else.”
“Your time will prove to be more than enough, I am sure. I must say, you do speak boldly to a duke.”
“You are no ordinary duke. You may forget, Your Grace,” she used this expression pointedly, for it went against his wishes, “that I am firm friends with Lydia and she has told me all about you. I know you well already.”
Edmund pressed his lips together. “How unfortunate, because I do like curating an air of mystery around me. But you may find that there are things even my sister does not know. It is better to know a man yourself rather than rely on reputation, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I might, if that reputation were not so consistent across the board. I believe if I were to ask everyone in this room about you, they would tell me the same thing.”
“And what would that be?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. Now that they were so close, Rose couldn’t help but study the way his thick eyebrows slashed above his eyes, or how the corners of his mouth twitched, the expressions shifting upon his face. There was a light touch to his words.
“That you are a rake. That you do not take life seriously.”
“Mm, I imagine a lot of people would agree with that, but not all. However, I get the impression that you are a woman who likes to make up her mind for herself. I shall be intrigued to see if you hold the same opinion after we have spent time together.”
“I am sure I will.”
“And are you not interested in the opinion I hold of you?”
Rose tilted her head to the side, not wishing to give anything away because, in truth, she was intrigued now that he had raised the subject, but she did not wish to admit this.
“No, not at all. I wish to make my intentions plain, Edmund. You have won this lot, and I shall honor it, but as soon as the fifth promenade has concluded, we shall go our separate ways, and I doubt we shall ever see each other again.”
Edmund suppressed a smile.
“You should be an oracle with that gift, Rose. I look forward to our first promenade,” he said, angling his body toward her, closing her in, as though the rest of the room was disappearing and only the two of them remained.
Rose was not about to be cornered like that, so she raised her hand to push him away.
“I must return to my parents,” she said.
and moved past him. As she did so, her hand brushed against his chest. Rose could feel the hardness of his body beneath her palm and his warmth.
Before she could pull her hand away, he placed his upon hers, as though holding her close.
Her hand disappeared beneath his, and her breath caught in her throat as she stared into his hazel eyes.
“Let me make something clear to you. I would never force a woman into anything she does not wish, and I know from Lydia that you have no desire to marry. You have nothing to fear from me, Rose.”
But as his low voice rolled over her like a summer wind, as his hand clasped hers so close to his chest that she could feel the powerful thrum of his heart, she thought that she might need to be very afraid indeed.
She had never been this close to another man before.
“Then why bid at all?” she asked eventually, almost choking on the words.
“To save you from a terrible fate with Whitcombe. Too many women have already suffered under his company. It also serves my own purpose to stave off society’s insistence that I should get married. At least for the time being, I can conjure an illusion that I am taking steps to that end.”
“I see, so it’s entirely self-serving,” Rose said, beginning to pull away, although Edmund’s hand was still keeping her locked to him.
“Not entirely. There are benefits for you as well. Your parents are charming people, but they make no secret of their desire to see you courted. I imagine you have endured many of the same comments I have, and this might give you a respite from them. Besides, it might even be enjoyable. After all, you do not seem tiresome or boring, and while I have been accused of many things, those two words have never been used to describe me.”
Edmund gently peeled her hand away from his chest, but kept a hold of it.
She was acutely aware of the pressure of his fingers upon her skin, as well as the movement of his lips as he spoke.
There was something almost hypnotic about it, and despite her best intentions, she could not tear her gaze away from him.
The anger began to fade into reluctant acceptance as she saw the benefits. At least while this charade continued, she would not have to endure her parents’ anxieties. At least she would be able to say that she tried, and it might make her parents more patient with her.
“Until our next meeting, my lady,” he murmured, then he placed his seductive lips against the back of her hand in a soft kiss, before stepping away.
Rose was left stunned for a moment. She ran her hand over the one Edmund had kissed, but was she wiping the kiss away, or pressing it more deeply into her skin?
At least they were on the same page about marriage, she supposed, although having to see him on five occasions was going to be terribly inconvenient.
Hopefully, it would all be over soon, and then she could get back to waging her own private war for independence.