Page 76 of The Botanist’s Improper Bride

“I do.” Although Seraphina had been a child when her mother died, she could recall a time when her father wasn’t quite so proper. They all had their coping methods, and unfortunately his involved losing his sense of humor and focusing on the more serious aspects of life.

Letitia cleared her throat. “It’s a lovely day outside. Summer is certainly upon us.”

For the rest of the meal, they made casual chitchat. At one point, the butler brought in the post, and Mrs. Carruthers left to read through her correspondence in private. Letitia opened a letter of her own, and Seraphina moved closer.

The last traces of Letitia’s good humor evaporated.

“What is it?” Seraphina asked.

Letitia didn’t look up, but her teeth scraped over her lower lip and her grip on the paper tightened, crinkling the edges. “I asked a servant who knows her letters to keep me apprised of any gossip from the aristocratic houses.” She spoke quietly and darted a glance at her mother to make sure she hadn’t overheard. “She writes that word of your engagement to Mr. Emerson has already started spreading.”

Seraphina straightened. “I beg your pardon?”

Letitia nodded. “He must have moved quickly to let others know your father had accepted his offer in order to make it as difficult as possible for you to renege.”

“Well, I’m certainly not going to let it stand.” At this point, Seraphina had been left at the altar and suffered a broken engagement with a future earl. Being seen to break another betrothal surely couldn’t make the damage to her reputation much worse.

Perhaps it would be sensible to keep up the pretense until they’d found a way to make the blackmail threat disappear, but Trevor deserved better than for people to think she’d dropped him in favor of Mr. Emerson. Trevor was a much better man, and she couldn’t allow anyone to imply otherwise.

“Please excuse me,” she said to Letitia. “I’ll be back shortly.”

With a smile for the serving staff, she swept out of the room and returned to the guest bedchamber she’d been allocated. There was a writing desk near the window, and she went directly to it and wrote a polite but firmly worded letter informing Mr. Emerson that she would not, under any circumstances, marry him.

His reply arrived a scant two hours later.

Miss Dalton,

I won’t take you at your word, as I believe you might soon have reason to change your mind.

Sincerely,

Mr. Chester Emerson

She stared at the elegant script, her insides tightening as the meaning became clear. He was going to do something else to try to push her farther along the path to marrying him. Not knowing what that might be filled her with a cold, unshakeable sense of dread.

What terrible plan would he enact next?

CHAPTER 27

“We have a problem.”

Trevor stopped in the drawing room doorway, caught off guard. It was unlike Sylvestor to be so abrupt. He hadn’t even fully entered the room or closed the door yet.

“And, er, what is the problem?” he asked, slipping inside and shutting the door to ensure their privacy.

Sylvestor crossed the room, dark smudges beneath his eyes, and his complexion paler than usual. “Rumors are circulating that Seraphina has been seen unescorted in a downtrodden part of the city—I can’t remember where, specifically—speaking with a man of unknown identity.”

So, this was the approach Emerson had decided to take. Seraphina had warned him that she thought he had something up his sleeve, but she didn’t know what, and Trevor himself wasn’t one to guess.

Presumably, he’d started just enough of a rumor to show her that his threats were serious, and then he’d offer to step in and provide a reasonable explanation for her actions, thereby salvaging her reputation, if she agreed to his proposal.

“Trevor? Do you know who this fellow is?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

He slumped. “So, it’s true?”

“In a manner of speaking.”