Chapter 1 #2
Daisy turned to glance in his direction, and what she saw unnerved her.
Baron Dulforth stood in a relaxed posture, with his hands tucked behind his back, as if he were enjoying the performance that was being enacted entirely for his benefit.
Daisy gulped nervously. She realized that the more she cowered in front of the Baron, the more that gleam in his eyes grew brighter. He was enjoying her fear.
She stood and squared her shoulders.
“How much does my father owe you?” she asked, willing her voice not to shake.
For the first time, he looked surprised. “How much? Why? Do you mean to use your pin money to pay me? I assure you, it won’t be enough.” He laughed contemptuously.
She lifted her chin. “If you tell me how much it is, I can tell you if I can pay it or not.”
Dulforth threw back his head and laughed raucously. “The only way you can manage to pay this debt is with your body.” He reached out, running a hand down her arm. “I’ll take your hand in marriage in lieu of payment, but I’m not one to buy a pig in a poke. I must sample the goods first.”
Daisy suppressed a shudder of disgust. Hastily, she jerked her arm out of his reach, but when she tried to step away from him altogether, her heel collided with the chair leg that supported her father.
Meanwhile, the Baron was not deterred by her obvious rejection.
Instead, he took a step closer to her. They were of a height, and that brought them nose to nose.
She could smell the cheroot he’d smoked after dinner, along with something more rancid on his breath.
She fought the urge to gag and steeled herself so she might not tremble.
I cannot show weakness.
She stared directly into his black eyes and said tersely, “How much does he owe you?”
The Baron’s upper lip curled as his eyes flicked up and down her form. “Want to see if you’re worth the price? Fine, I’ll tell you. He owes me five thousand pounds.”
She gasped, her knees going weak. “Surely not,” she whispered in horror.
The Baron gave her a smug smile. “Surely yes. Now, are you prepared to show me that you’re worth the bother of forgiving his debt, or shall I have it spread around just what a wastrel and scoundrel your father truly is?”
“It’s no matter of shame to be in debt. Half the ton would be in disgrace if gentlemen were condemned for borrowing coins from others,” she tried to counter, but her heart was racing.
She would not willfully give herself to this man, no matter what threats he laid at her feet, but it took every ounce of courage she possessed to stand her ground and come up with ways to defend herself and her father.
“Indeed, that’s so. But a man who fails to pay his gambling debts is a dishonorable man. A man with no honor cannot be trusted. You see the problem?” He feigned a look of commiseration. “I am only trying to help you.”
Daisy glared at him through her thick eyelashes. “Keep your help. I don’t need it. I shall find a way to pay the five thousand pounds, and you will leave us alone.”
Dulforth spread his hands in mock surrender. “I would like nothing more than to get my money back, but you and I both know it’s impossible. Surrender to your fate, Lady Daisy, and give yourself to me.”
Daisy sidestepped to avoid the Baron as well as her father’s chair. Protectively, she crossed her arms over her chest. “No. I-I’ll find the money.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You have no dowry, and your father is a rolled-up, jug-bitten scapegrace. Where do you propose to get this money?”
“I don’t care what I have to do to get it. I will never marry you.”
“Will you not?” He raised both eyebrows, showing his amusement at her predicament. “We shall have to see about that.”
“I-I need…” Daisy floundered. She sent a look at her father, hoping he might insert something here, and offer to help, but he continued to sit in the chair, utterly stupefied and fairly oblivious to the events unfolding around him.
“Time.” She finished her statement belatedly but with gusto. Nothing else had occurred to her, so she clung to the idea ardently.
“But of course.” Baron Dulforth took a step back and spread his hands wide, as if to indicate that he was willing to negotiate.
“I shall be generous and give you time.” He lowered his chin slightly so that he might stare directly in her eyes.
The depths of those dark orbs were unfathomable, and it was only Daisy’s unshakeable will that kept her from turning away and breaking eye contact.
“I am not an unreasonable fellow, my lady. What I want, above all things, is to have my money repaid, but…”
“You will leave us alone? Both my father and I?”
“I will.” He nodded. “You have my word. While you attempt to raise the required funds, I will give you space.”
He took another step away from Daisy and her father, proving that he meant what he said.
Daisy watched him closely. She knew better than to breathe a sigh of relief.
What is the catch?
They had not yet decided how much time the Baron would grant Daisy or her father to get their affairs in order and pay the debt, so she stood stock still and waited for him to continue.
The Baron’s eyes drifted toward Daisy’s father for a moment, then they darted back to hers.
“However, if you fail to repay my generosity and persist in this notion that you will never marry me, then I’m afraid that every gossip rag in the city will get news of just what kind of dun territory your father finds himself in. ”
Frustration pooled low in her abdomen. “How can you revel in my father’s failures? Have you no sense of propriety? He is supposed to be your friend!” Daisy tried because she felt as if she must say something.
Dulforth threw back his head and laughed before raking her with his eyes once more.
“Indeed, he is. So, I’m sure he’ll be happy for me to take his precious daughter off his hands.
After all, he will no longer need to dole out your pin money once you are wed to me.
Knowing you are well taken care of and no longer a burden on his own purse should provide him with an immense sense of comfort. ”
Daisy swallowed. Unfortunately, she could not be sure that her father would not be happy to sell her to his friend. He would persuade himself that he was doing her a favor or that it was for her benefit.
She stared at Dulforth, her eyes fixating on the bit of cabbage caught in the thicket of his mustache. She could not imagine surrendering herself to this man under any circumstances.
I shall just have to make sure I get the money.
“The physician is on his way,” the butler announced as he stepped back into the room.
Daisy looked at the servant and scrutinized his placid expression.
Just how much of my conversation with the Baron did he overhear?
She knew it did not matter if the butler eavesdropped, but Daisy sorely wished that he had stepped into the room earlier and saved her from enduring that horrid conversation.