Page 48 of Drowned in the Pleasure of a Devilish Baron
“Tell me, how do you find the managing of the vineyards in Italy? Surely it is a tricky business, managing things both here and there.”
Lord Ashton waved a hand, looking bored the instant his face turned from Sarah. “All of that is for my overseers to manage. It is no work of mine. I keep myself as limited as possible to the day-to-day work.”
“But surely you are always in need of another gentleman to aid you with the work that you do? Someone to ease your load?”
Lord Ashton folded his hands on the table in front of him. “I suppose such a thing would be helpful, particularly if the connection were there. I could hardly entrust such work to just any gentleman. We would need to be family…” he turned once more to Sarah. “Or nearly so.”
The reasoning behind her mother and brother being so insistent on this match suddenly became starkly clear to her. John hoped to become a part of the wine business, to hold one of the positions that only gentlemen of very high wealth could hold; one which required very little work with a great deal of profit. Such a thing could only be achieved for him through the marriage of his sister into a family with a business like Lord Ashton’s. John would suddenly be able to marry a much higher caliber of lady, granting him perhaps a title as well as wealth, and their mother could grow old in luxury. Sarah felt her heart grow cold.
If there is so much to be gained for them by this marriage, they will never allow me to marry Felix instead.
She would have to do all she could to drain his interest in her, to make herself appear as a poor prospect.
Throughout the rest of the dinner, Sarah considered how she might do just that. When the last of their plates were cleared, John stood.
“Lord Ashton, shall we retire for a cigar? I have had some brought in especially for you.”
But the gentleman turned his gaze to Sarah. “I would rather take a walk with Miss Marlow now, if you don’t mind.”
Lady Marlow stood and called for Rebecca. “Of course you should. Nothing like a constitutional following a fine meal.”
Rebecca handed Sarah a shawl, which she tied purposefully as close to her chest as possible, wanting the gaze of the Earl to have nothing but knotted fabric to linger on.
The three stepped out in the cool, dusky air of evening, Rebecca remaining five extra paces behind than she might normally, giving the two the illusion of privacy.
Sarah reluctantly placed her hand on his arm when offered, and they began to walk through the family’s small, ill-appointed garden.
“I would very much like to learn more about you, Miss Marlow,” he said, his voice warm.
“There is not much to know, My Lord. I am quite dull.”
He laughed. “I find that very hard to believe. You do not seem dull.”
She raised an eyebrow, unable to bite back the response that rose at once to her lips. “You do not know me at all, Lord Ashton. How could you possibly say that I do not seem dull?”
Rather than offend him, her fiery response seemed to delight him, and she regretted it at once. “My, my, I just knew that there was a bit of a cat behind that genteel lady’s mask.” He leaned down, so his lips were close to her ear, and she fought the urge to recoil. “I watched you all evening, dear Miss Marlow, and I could see the fight in your eyes even at your mother’s dinner table.”
She said nothing, returning to her decision to be as stolid and dull as possible.
“Now why should that be? Why should a lady be so quiet, and yet have so much fire in her eyes when she is only sitting down to dinner with her family and a gentleman guest?”
Sarah gritted her teeth and remained silent, even as he drew closer, bringing the overpowering scent of whiskey and a rich pomade.
“What secrets are you keeping, Miss Marlow? I am desperate to know.”
She drew back from him, but he only pushed further, his long sideburns now irritatingly tickling the top of her ear. The sensation made her speak before she could stop herself. “How can you say such intimate things when you have only known me for an evening? This pretend familiarity is unearned and rude.”
“Ah, but Miss Marlow, you do fascinate me. You are quite right, we have only known one another for a few hours. And yet, from our introduction you have caught my eye. There is something about you that is not quite…” he trailed off, and then leaned closer still, so close she could nearly feel his lips touching her ear. “Ladylike.”
Sarah jerked in shock at his words and pulled away, looking back at her chaperone.
Rebecca will just allow this? Isn’t this precisely why she is here? If Felix had come so close she would have been on us at once!
She turned a furious gaze on Lord Ashton. Etiquette or not, she would have to handle this herself if her chaperone would not.
“How dare you?” she snapped, pulling herself up to her full height, though that still left her a full two heads smaller than him. “I will not bear such an insult, and in my own home!”
Rather than looking shamefaced or even offended, Lord Ashton raised two hands and began to clap, a slow, maddening sound that served only to infuriate her.
