Page 30 of The Dangerous Love of a Rogue
He’d not been deterred by her dismissal yesterday. He was more serious about choosing her than she had thought. It would be easier for him to court someone else.
‘What did he say, Mary?’ her mother enquired.
‘He is gushing, Mama.’ It was becoming too easy to lie.
Her mother and her sister-in-law Kate smiled.
‘Are you interested in Lord Farquhar?’ her mother asked.
Mary laughed. ‘Heavens, no, but it is flattering.’ She rose from the window seat and slipped her shoes back on.
‘Let me see!’ ‘Let me read it!’ her sisters cried.
‘No.’ Mary clutched the letter to her breast as they rushed over.
‘Helen, Jenny, leave your sister alone. It’s personal,’ her mother admonished.
Fortunately, her parents were not in the habit of reading her post. They trusted her.
A sharp pain cut deeply into Mary’s chest. She did not deserve their trust any more. She would have lost her family’s respect forever if she had been found with Lord Framlington. She would have ruined herself and had to marry him, and they would be embarrassed by the gossip. Yet, he had always been discreet, that too was a mark in his favour. Even his letter did not contain anything which would force her hand.
Last night he could have had what he wished, her hand in marriage and her money, if he’d arranged for someone to discover them.
Surely, that he would not act without her consent meant he was honourable despite his reputation, and he must also – to some degree – truly care for her.
‘May I take this letter up to my room, Mama, and put it in my travelling desk?’ She wanted to lock it away so her sisters could not sneak in and read it.
‘Of course, sweetheart,’ her mother said warmly.
Mary fled the room with sinful notions spinning in her head. If she knew his address she would write back.
No! I have finished with this foolishness.
* * *
Fate played an odd game on Mary at the Fosters’ ball. As Mary stood talking with Miss Emily Smithfield, Daniel asked Mary to dance the first set.
She accepted with a shallow curtsy, smiling at him, then glanced back to give Emily, who invariably ended up the wallflower, an apologetic smile. Emily was shy, she had come out this season and was still finding her place in society.
As Mary walked out to dance with Daniel, her parents watched from a few yards away. Her father’s eyes glistened in the candlelight. They thought she carried a torch for Daniel and he for her.
Daniel carried his torch for Bethany.
Nothing good ever came of lying. It was always found out. The only time she’d lied in her childhood was when she’d accidentally broken her mother’s perfume bottle. She’d hidden the broken bottle and claimed no knowledge of it. Her parents had known, however, because she was the only one who smelt of the perfume. She had been in more trouble for lying than for breaking the bottle. She had not lied again until the day of the Jerseys’ garden party.
Daniel’s eyes shone with good humour as he led her among the dancers. She liked her friends. She’d formed a good set last season along with Emily this season. All her friends were nice, happy, and generous in nature – there was no reason for her to want more from her life. But she longed for the company of a more complex mysterious man.
Her heart ached with a bittersweet sadness. Lord Framlington was exciting, she longed to discover everything about him.
Yet, she had not even asked for his given name.
The image of his eyes as he asked her to say his name became vivid in her memory.
He was… vital… dangerous… and… thrilling. Daniel, like every other man, was bland. How could she fall for someone like that when there was Lord Framlington, Drew, in comparison? She would rather never marry.
‘You do not look quite the thing this evening, Mary. You look distracted. Is anything wrong?’ Daniel asked as they passed each other in the country dance.
‘Nothing is wrong. I am merely tired, I have attended too many entertainments.’
