Page 14 of Brazen

When Aunt Leana set the envelope on the desk without opening it, Mia exchanged a look of concern with Angeline. Their aunt was quite skilled at ignoring things she didn’t want to face.

“Now then, Mia, this is the perfect opportunity for you to marry a gentleman who will care for you,” Aunt Leana said.

Mia blinked. “Take care of me? I don’t need taken care of.”

“Your father would want this.”

“Would he indeed? He should have thought of that before he stole the duchess’s jewels.”

“He swears he is innocent,” Angeline said.

“I feel certain Father has never been innocent,” Mia said.

“Are you so very angry with him that you would think him guilty of a crime that isn’t in his nature?” Angeline asked.

“People do things all the time that aren’t in their nature. He knew full well we would struggle without him, yet he stole a necklace.”

“It is the legal fees that have done us in,” Angeline said in a gentle voice.

Mia sighed. “This is the very reason we want to see you well married, Angeline. You deserve more than spinsterhood, living in a cottage with Aunt Leana and I.”

“You deserve more than to end up living in a cottage with me,” Aunt Leana told Mia.

“But we agreed,” Mia said.

“We did,” their aunt agreed. “But a person of sense seizes opportunity. Now, you are an innocent. But that will have to change.”

Mia blinked. “I-I beg your pardon?”

“No, I don’t mean that,” she replied. “Just that you will have to entice him into, well, into seducing you.”