Page 16 of The Virgin in the Rake's Bed
“The title?” he said, and she nodded.
“They both have it in mind that if I marry well, they too shall benefit, not only financially but also by a title, though how that is to be achieved, I do not know,” she said, sighing and shaking her head.
“So, your father does not believe that a Baron is worthy of his attentions? Especially one that he believes will have scandal attached to his name,” Ian said, laughing.
It was clear that he was treating the entire thing as a game, despite the seriousness of the matter in hand. Catherine wondered if there was more to what he thought than he was letting on, and she wondered too what his feelings toward her really were. Had he ever noticed her before, and if so, had he noticed her in a romantic manner? She would have liked to ask, but even Catherine was not bold enough to do so, content instead to walk on his arm toward the lake, joking together about Rickard’s strange obsession with rank and title.
“I am sure it must be more trouble than it is worth. I know that Samantha and Rebecca find their titles tiresome, those endless expectations, and all the dreadful people they have to entertain. No, I would not feel deprived if I was never married into the aristocracy,” Catherine said, and Ian laughed again.
“Mine is, as your father so rightly points out, a rather minor title, and hardly one worth concerning himself with. To be a Baron is hardly to have the responsibility of say an Earl or a Duke. I have an estate, of course, and property in London, but first and foremost I am a businessman, and my business does not require of me a title to conduct it. I would gladly give up the responsibility,” he said, as they came to the lake, where small pleasure boats were being rowed back and forth, and children were shrieking with delight at the sight of model ships catching the breeze with their sails.
Catherine was curious to learn more about him, even though she knew that over familiarity would surely breed only deeper feelings. Still, she had a questioning nature, and when they had taken a seat by the water’s edge, beneath a weeping willow casting its dappled shade over them, she questioned him as to his past, hoping to learn a little more about his present.
“You were not the inheritor of your father’s title at first though, were you?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“No, that was my brother, Stuart. He was the elder, and thus the title belonged to him. I grew up with no expectation of anything but what I could make for myself, which is perhaps why I have continued to make a success of things,” he said, smiling at her.
“It must have been terrible for you to lose him,” Catherine said, her words trailing off as she wondered whether she had said the right thing.
She knew that his brother had died, but the circumstances of the affair, its exact details, were somewhat unclear. There had been a scandal, something hushed up, but she was not entirely sure of the details.
“You are right,” he replied, “though I do not dwell on the matter. It was a terrible tragedy for us all. There is no justice in a brother dead and a woman lying alongside him. Whatever my feelings against them, such was not a fate they deserved,” he replied, sighing and shaking his head.
These words puzzled Catherine, but she did not like to press the matter further. She could not help but admire his fortitude in the face of tragedy. He had suffered a terrible loss, and perhaps it was not surprising that Ian Bennet should so often shy away from the possibility of romance and matrimony. He had lost a brother and a lover and to have been hurt in such a way once was surely to wish never to be hurt again. Catherine had no desire to push her feelings on him, however strongly they now arose.
It had taken her quite by surprise to feel herself enamored in such a way. Catherine was smitten, infatuated, caught up in her own wistful passions – call it what may – she had allowed her feelings to get the better for her, and all out of gratitude to a man she had barely known until a few days previously. She was enjoying playing the part of a betrothed woman, acting out her fantasy with all the skill of an actress – and she knew precisely what Ian thought of actresses. He had a past, one which was not entirely clear, but Catherine knew one thing, and that was that her own feelings were very much real in the present.
“It has surely caused you much pain ever since,” she said, and he nodded, turning to her and forcing a weak smile across his face.
“But it is in the past, and now it is the present and the future that matters,” he said, glancing around him at those promenading before them, and shaking his head with a smile.
“They are all quite ridiculous, are they not?” Catherine whispered, pointing to a woman who walked with her nose stuck in the air and a plume of ostrich feathers in her hair.
“Quite ridiculous, yes, and ever so predictably so. They are caught up in a lie that happiness is achieved merely through courtship and marriage, a lie which is sold to them throughout childhood and then forced to reveal itself at their debut. If a woman is not married after her second season, she is considered a failure, and the man who does marry – though he may exist as a bachelor for a while – is viewed eventually as an eccentric. Marriage, we are taught, is the one and only goal of each individual, a sacred destiny and woe betide anyone who disagrees,” he said, shaking his head.
“I could not agree more,” Catherine replied, for she herself had been the victim of such expectation, an expectation which was now to be forced on her, whether she liked it or not.
Catherine had known that marriage was her destiny ever since she had been old enough to understand what marriage was. Her mother – though she had loved her dearly – had talked of it incessantly. It was as though her aim, after her own marriage, was to secure a marriage for Catherine, and thus see her purposes in this life complete. It made Catherine shudder to think so, and she had long since vowed that if ever she herself should have a daughter, that daughter would make her own choices in life, come what may.
“But unfortunately, as you yourself have discovered, we are all of us caught up in the lie which the rest of the ton delight in. We have no other choice but to conform, and to see ourselves as mere pawns in the great game of society,” he said, rising to his feet and offering her his arm again.
Catherine had quite forgotten the purpose of their liaison in the park, so caught up was she in listening to him speak. She felt so at ease in his company, and that at last here was a gentleman who truly understood her feelings, rather than attempting to make his her own. They were entirely in harmony on matters of matrimony, and, as it turned out, on many other matters, too.
“You were to teach me some of the finer points of seduction,” Catherine said, suddenly realizing after several hours of promenading that it was for that reason they had agreed to meet.
“Ah, yes, of course. I had quite forgotten. I was so very much enjoying our conversation,” he said, turning to her with a smile.
They had left the path surrounding the ornamental lake and were walking down a boulevard lined with poplar trees and beds of the most exquisitely scented roses, the perfume filling the air. During this time, Catherine had been aware of Jenny – her maid – following them at a discreet distance. It was the lot of women of her class to find themselves chaperoned, as tiresome as it was.
“But we can hardly do so with a chaperone in tow now, can we,” Catherine said, glancing around to where Jenny was standing watching some hundred yards further back along the path.
“We could give her the slip,” Ian said, his eyes taking on a mischievous glint.
Catherine blushed. She cared little for the conventions of the ton, with its unwritten rules and dictates. She was enjoying herself, enjoying the sense of fun and freedom which being with Ian Bennet afforded her.
“We could run from her?” Catherine suggested, and Ian nodded.
“She will catch us up, but we could hide in the shrubbery, lead her on a merry chase. What say you?” he asked, and Catherine smiled.
