Page 60 of Deceiving an Earl
Ellen thought it crass and vulgar.
“We’re not here to entertainyou, my dear.”
Ellen pulled away, hurt and surprised at this sudden change in him.
William put a hand on her arm, and his expression softened to regret. “Ellen, love, forgive me. I don’t know what’s come over me. That was rude and uncalled for and not true at all. You’re having an off night. We all have them. Let me take you home so you can get some sleep.”
She was somewhat placated, but his words did not ease her completely.
They bid their hostess goodbye and climbed into William’s carriage.
“Is it Philip?” he asked as they got on their way.
“Excuse me?”
“Philip and his antics keeping you up at night?”
“No.” It was thoughts of Oliver, reliving that moment at the side of the house while a ball took place on the other side of the wall. It was her constant thoughts ofwhat if? What if she had followed through with their plans and not married Arthur? What if she had stood up to her parents? What if she had thrown convention out the window and did what she’d wanted to do? How different all their lives would be.
“The boy needs a firm hand. He needs a strong male presence in his life,” Needham was saying.
They’d been over this before. William thought she was too easy on Philip, and maybe he was right. Maybe Philip did need a man to help him navigate this stage of his life. Lord knew that Ellen didn’t know how to make him into a man.
They pulled up in front of her home, and William helped her down to walk her to her door. He stopped a few feet away and turned her toward him.
“I truly am sorry for the beastly way I treated you,” he said. “Do you forgive me?”
He looked so forlorn that Ellen couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s already forgotten.”
Relief swept across his face. “I’ve been under stress lately, with work and such, but that is no excuse.”
“I understand.” And she felt bad for thinking less of him. He had so much pressure on his shoulders.
William took her hand in his and suddenly looked very serious. So serious that her heart started hammering and she suddenly didn’t want to be there anymore. Something told her to run, to escape.
“Ellen.” He cleared his throat. “I admire you greatly.”
“A-as I you,” she said through a tight throat.
“I believe we suit very well, and you would be an asset to my practice.”
Her brows came together in confusion. An asset to his practice?
“What I mean is,” he said. “The other doctors and their wives think highly of you and you fit in well with them and I just think that we should combine our forces and wed.”
He finished out of breath, as if he had to get it all out at once and left her standing there stunned. That was by far the strangest proposal of marriage she’d ever heard.
“William—”
“I botched that badly,” he said.
“It’s not that. It’s—”
“I know you have Philip and I can be the man to take him in hand and force him back on the right path.”
“Force him?”
