Page 19 of The Lady Tempts an Heir
He gave a single nod, not bothering to step back to keep a respectable distance between them. She didn’t mind.
“Why don’t you want to marry now, Mr. Crenshaw? You’re the right age; you’ve mentioned a desire for children.”
“I’d like to take my time and find the right woman. I want a union of mutual respect and affection, someone who can be a true partner to me instead of an ornament at my table and on my arm. An equal. I’m prepared to wait for such a woman.”
She parted her lips to respond, but no words wereforthcoming. Perhaps she was losing her grasp on reality, but the position of his wife suddenly seemed very appealing.
He did not seem to notice. “I need your promise not to share with anyone what I’m about to tell you. It could hurt someone whom we both care deeply about.”
He spoke so emphatically that she had to agree. “I promise.”
He nodded again and leaned back against the edge of her desk, bringing him to nearly eye level with her. His thigh pressed against her skirt. “Papa knows he stands no chance of getting me to agree to a hasty marriage, so he’s upped the ante. While he’s been working on that ill-advised Indian railroad plan, August has been working on a special project. She’s obtained permission and the promise of funding to become a major contractor on the Prince Albert Dock. Papa has decided that if I don’t cooperate, he’ll pull resources from her so that she can’t follow through with the project.”
It seemed so cruel and unfair that Helena brought a hand to her chest. “But that will crush her. Not only will it crush her, she’ll be a laughingstock. You know how many doubt her abilities as it is because she’s a woman. This will prove them all right, at least in their eyes.”
“I know. It’s why we can’t tell her, but I’ve come up with a plan. As it stands now, the project isn’t due to start until the spring. Papa believes that he can bring me to heel before then, which is why he’s insisted on a betrothal announcement by the end of the year. He wants me married soon after. To stop him, we need to accelerate the timeline of the project.” He spoke fervently but with a calm that said he knew exactly what he was doing. His confidence set her at ease. She understood why people listened to him. “If she can begin production by the first of the year, then when I don’t marry, it will be too late for Papa to pull his support. The investors will have bought in, and there will be toomany contracts at stake because the work will already have started.”
“This is why you need a temporary engagement?”
He nodded, his eyes lighting up with intrigue. “We can start a courtship over the next several weeks while I’m still in London. By Christmas we announce our engagement, privately to the family. I believe that will be enough to placate him. We can take our time setting a date and then drift apart over the ensuing months. It’ll all be perfectly believable, because I’ll be in New York, and you’ll be here. Once August has things up and running smoothly, we call off the wedding.”
She was so caught up in the idea of starting a courtship with him that it took her a few moments to process the rest of what he said, so she walked toward the windows to take some time. It was an ingenious plan, really. She would have been impressed if she wasn’t so worried about what the courtship might do to her. She wasn’t a debutante. She had been courted by men before her marriage. There were men now who had subtly made their interest known to her. It wasn’t the courtship that bothered her. It was thathewould be the man doing the courting. It was the extended time with him. Maxwell Crenshaw was like no other man she had ever met. No, that wasn’t right. On the surface, he wasn’t that different. No, that wasn’t right, either.
There were bound to be other men like him somewhere in the world, but she hadn’t met them. No one she had met was as unpolished and yet refined as he was. No one else wore the demeanor of a gentleman like a second skin, hinting at the existence of a wilder, more visceral man underneath. No one else made her feel when she was so determined not to feel.
As if he was afraid she would reject the proposition out of hand, he shifted behind her and said, “I know that there could be ramifications of our calling off the engagement. You can be the one to end things. We’ll come up with somesuitable reason, and if need be, I am prepared to come here and face public degradation to beg for your hand. It will be a harrowing scene where you can outright refuse. Hopefully, that will keep your reputation intact.”
The smile in his voice had her turning to face him. “You would do that? You would come here and humiliate yourself in front of all of London to protect your sister from finding out the awful thing your father is prepared to do?”
“My penance.” His lips curved in a smile, all evidence of his earlier anger evaporated. His eyes were back to being earnest and deep, but there was the look of a predator about him now. A man on the verge of getting something he wanted. That clench deep within her happened again.
“I don’t know if we can convince them of the ruse. Everyone knows that I have sworn off marriage for now.”
“We can,” he said with a cool confidence that would have been annoying had she not liked it so much, especially when his hot gaze landed on her lips.
They went dry, and she licked them before her fingers found their way to a strand of hair that had escaped the pins earlier. They were having this conversation, and she hadn’t even had a chance to tidy herself. “I’ll have to consider my reputation. If it reflects badly on the charity...”
“I don’t want to overstep, but I heard enough of your conversation with Lady Blaylock after dinner the other night to know that your home for young women is in jeopardy. I don’t know if she’s correct in her assessment, but I will be happy to help you find out.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we’re courting, and then engaged, let’s see if the donations come back. I will do my utmost to show my support for the venture and encourage others to do so as well. If we have to extend our engagement, say until you have the building secured and operations funded, then we extend it. Spring, summer, it doesn’t matter to me.” He shrugged.
He seemed so reasonable and agreeable about the wholething that she wanted to say yes. The fact that she very much wanted to know what it would be like to be courted by him shouldn’t figure into the matter. She would be doing this to help her friend. If it also helped her charity, then wonderful. If italsoassuaged her curiosity, then so much the better.
But what if she couldn’t withstand the full charm of Maxwell Crenshaw without losing herself?
“I would like some time to think about it before giving you my answer.”
He stared at her for so long that she thought he meant to offer an argument, but then he gave a curt nod. “I suppose it’s only reasonable. I’ve given you a shock.”
“It’s not every day that one is given such an interesting proposal.”
He grinned and pushed himself up from her desk so that she had to look up at him. “It’s beyond me why you’re still available for such an interesting proposal. Are Englishmen really so blind?”
That sounded like a compliment. She didn’t know how to manage compliments from him, because she was certain he wasn’t the type to toss them out casually. When he spoke them, they meantsomething. But what? He was leaving soon. There was no possible outcome of a flirtation between them that would lead to any sort of satisfying conclusion.
No, he had to be saying it to soften her toward him. “I’m disappointed. I didn’t think you were the type of man who would toss out sweet words simply to sway me. Do you not trust your skills as a negotiator?”
