Page 56 of Nothing Compares to the Duke
He liked that he detected interest in her tone, though he wasn’t certain if it was the prospect of traveling as a pair or the thrill of the chase.
“We’re engaged, and Meg will accompany us. Shouldn’t we be seen together? Meg has been asking for a shopping trip to London. If you’re advising her, she’ll wish for you to come too.”
He wanted her to come, and he realized he was rambling but he couldn’t seem to temper his eagerness. He sounded like one of the inventors presenting before the Duke’s Den.
He held his breath as she considered the prospect. Something troubled her. He sensed her hesitation.
“Can it wait until after Friday?” she finally asked.
“Why?”
“There is another opportunity to be seen together.” She fussed with the chain of her necklace and pressed her lips together as if she wasn’t looking forward to telling him the rest.
“Which is?”
“Mama has planned for us to formally announce our engagement to the local families. A small affair. Shouldn’t take long.”
“What does she have in mind?” Mention of her mother and planning made him nervous. He expectedthe Yardleys to have an announcement printed inThe Times, but of course the viscountess would want to share the news among the county’s notable families.
Bella frowned, clearly dreading whatever she was about to say next.
“She’s planned a garden party. Tomorrow afternoon. At Hillcrest.”
“There’s no way out of it?”
“No. We knew there would be moments when we’d have to feign this engagement for the benefit of others. It will be all right.” She sounded confident and that was almost enough to put him at ease. “We can be convincing for a couple of hours.”
Convincing others that he desired Bella? Easy enough.
Persuading himself to keep his hands off her? Very likely impossible.
Chapter Thirteen
“At least you’ve no speech to present this time.” Louisa stood at the window watching servants prepare for the garden party. She loved parties almost as much as Rhys and had been brimming with excited energy all morning.
“That is a relief.” Bella sat at the desk in her sitting room feeling distinctly unrelieved and wondering if there was any reasonable way she could call the whole thing off.
Not just the party but the entire ruse of an engagement.
For the first time since she’d conceived the idea, she was certain she’d made a mistake. Since the moment Rhys walked into the billiard room, she wasn’t feeling like her new sensible self anymore. And rather than avoid him as she should have done, there was a good possibility she’d be spending part of every day with him in the foreseeable future.
She imagined ways she could forestall what was about to happen. Rhys would no doubt be willing to end the charade, but her parents would be embarrassed and disappointed. Again.
“He seems very at ease with this plan of yours.”
Bella didn’t need to ask. Rhys might have hated the idea of the garden party, but he was the one person who was always at ease or could at least pretend to be better than anyone she’d ever known.
“I think he enjoys parties the way I like working on a new puzzle.” Her wall of puzzles and plans beckoned her.Thatwas where her focus should be.
“You two know each other well. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince others that this engagement is in earnest.” Louisa came away from the window and took a chair across from Bella.
Bella had confided everything to her cousin and Louisa had been more than happy to be included as coconspirator.
“We’ll convince them.”
The party didn’t make her nervous. She’d helped her mother plan the event, knew who was coming, and had already decided what she would say when others questioned her about her decision to finally accept a proposal.
What Bella hadn’t counted on was finding herself straddling Rhys in the middle of his study and being unable to stop herself from touching him. And it had been intoxicating, not just the heat and hardness of his body beneath hers, but for once being the one in control. She’d always been a fool for him, but yesterday he had allowed her to do as she wished.
