Page 70 of The Undaunted
“Surely, if we were to marry, he would—”
“But we are not to marry,” Caroline said. “I am very sorry, but we are not.”
The man was extraordinary. He had not even asked her to marry, he’d just taken her acquiescence as a foregone conclusion and was talking of what would come after.
Mr. Landon looked deeply surprised to hear they were not to marry. “Do you intend to become a spinster then?” he asked.
“A spinster? No, I do not,” Caroline said, not having the faintest idea how he’d made that leap.
“Miss Upton,” Mr. Landon said, in a tone as if he were talking to a small child, “your reputation is in tatters. Who else would consent to marry you? I felt I was being rather liberal in overlooking—”
“Overlooking? You know perfectly well that none of that talk was true. You were there!”
“Ah, well, that hardly matters, does it? Talk becomes its own sort of fact.”
It was their turn to step out and dance La Victoria. As Caroline did so, avoiding Mr. Landon’s eye, she thought he could not be right. The dust had settled on those ridiculous rumors.
Even if they had not, she would never consent to marry Mr. Landon. She had just seen a side of him that he’d have been better served to keep well-hidden. She was grateful he had not, though. She was grateful to have seen it, as it would save her any regrets she might have in the future if she did indeed become a spinster. Better alone than with him, she was certain.
He had presented himself so pleasant, but there was a calculating meanness to him. She had been made certain that Mr. Landon would not have stopped to give Miss Upton the time of day, had she not been the daughter of Baron Dunn. Had she not held the keys to his new proposed horse business.
La Moulinets and La Visites passed by with no further comments. As the tours of Les Lanciers became more intricate as they went on, Caroline put her concentration on the fifth and final of them, named after the dance itself.
They had nearly completed the steps and Caroline was looking forward to getting away when Mr. Landon said, “Do not be too hasty in your decisions, Miss Upton. I will give you time to reconsider.”
“I thank you for the courtesy, but I do not require it,” Caroline said.
“Of course you do.”
*
As Richard wasbeing dressed, his thoughts came at him fast and furious. They piled in, one after the other, rapid fire. It was almost as if they’d all been hiding together behind a veil waiting to make themselves known. Now, the veil had been lifted and he knew his purpose. How stupid that he hadn’t known it all along.
Kingston had been roused from below stairs and had not made the slightest comment upon being informed that he would attend the regent’s ball after all.
Bramley, on the other hand, was a different matter. As Richard came down the stairs, the butler was to-ing and fro-ing as if he did not know what direction he should go in.
“Lord Bertridge,” he cried, “what about a carriage? Or should I send for your horse? It may rain so a carriage would be better, but then a carriage always takes longer. I’ve no plan in mind and it is very difficult to proceed without a plan! I must know the plan!”
“Get hold of yourself, Bramley,” Richard said as Kingston disappeared down the stairs to the servants’ hall to fetch a fresh neckcloth from the laundry. “It is not far; I will walk there.”
“Walk?” Bramley said, staggering and then steadying himself with a side table. “Alone at night through this Godforsaken town? There may be footpads and murderers lurking about. We are at the seaside, there may even be pirates out for a press-gang! Lady Easton would be vehemently against it.”
“By the time my aunt considers the idea, it will already be done,” Richard said, pulling on his gloves.
Bramley looked wildly this way and that as if the footpads, murderers, and pirates had surrounded the house. He raced past Richard and stood splayed across the front doors. “I cannot allow it. Lady Easton must be my guiding hand and she would not allow it. What would I tell her if you were to go missing? Or turned up dead!”
Richard had come to the end of his rope with Bramley, his temper slipping out of its box and slithering through him, pumping his blood ever faster.
“Do you not see what’s happened, you fool?” he shouted.
Bramley looked around the hall for what happened but appeared quite at a loss. “What has happened?”
“I’ve deceived myself all along. It is Miss Upton. She is an impossible lady.”
“You have said so many times, my lord,” Bramley said, bravely refusing to relinquish his hold on the door.
“Yes, well, she ismyimpossible lady!”
