Page 23 of In With a Chance

If it had been anyone else, Ernest would have presumed that was a flirtatious remark.

If she had not made it extremely clear that her loyalties—though apparently not her affections—were set elsewhere.

It was remarkable. Miss Gwendoline Chance was a woman with great passions, that much was clear; and yet none of them were roused by this Marquess of Ravenshurst, it appeared. She did not love him.

She does not love him.

Hope swelled within Ernest, and something else swelled too, but he wasn’t going to think about that.

Miss Gwendoline did not love Lord Ravenshurst, and that meant her affections were unattached, even if her hand was not.

And that meant he could—

Ernest managed to pull himself away just in time. No.

He could not offer Miss Gwendoline Chance anything; nothing compared to this heralded Marquess of Ravenshurst, anyway.

The Frasemere estate was distant from London with few attractions to it, and now that he came to think of it, he had few attractions himself. There was nothing he could offer her save hard work and childbearing—the title must have an heir, after all—and this other man could surely offer her riches and entertainment and the like.

But not love.

She was engaged. And he needed to be as well, as swiftly as possible.

But to another woman.

“—shouldn’t we, Gwen?” came a voice from a long way away.

Ernest blinked. He was seated not alone with Miss Gwendoline, as he wished to be, but at a table. A dining table. In a dining room. With other people.

“I said, we ladies will now retire,” Lady Pernrith was saying with a cordial smile. “Leave the men to their cigars and brandy.”

No. He didn’t want her to go.

Miss Gwendoline rose in a rustle of silk. “Yes, Mama.”

And then they were gone, and Ernest felt a deprivation he had not quite expected—and would have to resolutely ignore.

Miss Gwendoline Chance was not for him.

Chapter Five

September 9, 1841

“And this terrible cold seems to have settled in London,” the Marquess of Ravenshurst said politely.

Gwen wanted to scream. Scream! “Yes, I do believe you’re right.”

“It is certainly colder than I had expected,” Teddy said quietly, her cheeks flushing as she spoke.

“I am glad you both brought mufflers for our drive,” said Lord Ravenshurst seriously. “It would have been concerning if you had not. But you did.”

But we did.

Gwen tried to smile, she really did. She had tried to enjoy their afternoon together, even in the cold. The marquess’s barouche was elegant, and parading about in Hyde Park where everyone could see her in the Ravenshurst carriage with his coat of arms on the doors was most gratifying. Even taking Teddy along had not been too bad.

And yet… Oh, dear Lord, was she bored.

“Perhaps it will be warmer tomorrow,” said Lord Ravenshurst courteously as his carriage turned onto her street.