Page 47 of Marry in Scarlet
He was jerked out of his reverie by the dog. The great gray gangly creature inspected his boots, snuffed at Hart’s hand, then nudged him imperiously in a clear demand.
Watching Lady Georgiana, Hart absently patted the dog’s damp head. He didn’t even need to bend down to do it. The dog licked his hand in return.
“Finn, come away,” she ordered, and the dog padded across and flopped down at her feet.
Hart’s hand was now slimy and reeked of eau de damp dog. He pulled out a handkerchief and dried it off. He supposed it was better than the animal jumping up and muddying his clothes.
Lady Georgiana addressed her uncle as if they were alone. “Burton said you wanted to see me, Cal.”
“The Duke of Everingham has my permission to address you.”
Her eyes turned to slits. “Oh?” It wasn’t a happy kind ofoh.
The earl rose, looking amused. “I’ll leave you two alone.” He left, closing the door carefully behind him.
***
“It was just so very unfortunate that everyone came out of the concert at that particular moment,” Hart concluded, hoping he sounded sincere. “But there it is. We have no choice, and so I offer you marriage.” He’d delivered what he fancied was quite a pretty speech, balancing rueful regret at the way their private moment had been exposed, with a gentlemanly determination to protect her from the consequences.
“Well, I don’t want it.” She belatedly remembered her manners and added a grudging, “Thank you for the offer.” Her eyes were as flinty as her uncle’s. “Not that it apparently matters to you whether or not I consent. How dare you announce our betrothal to the world without asking me!”
Her nose was out of joint, Hart realized. He’d spoken too bluntly. Women wanted to be coaxed and flattered. In a soothing voice he told her the same story about the overefficient secretary.
She cut through his explanation with brutal indifference. “I don’t care. You shouldn’t even have drafted such a notice before you’d spoken to me.”
He tried not to show his impatience. It was all a foregone conclusion. What was wrong with her? Every woman he knew would be melting with delight at such an offer.
“I’m speaking to you now.”
She made a dismissive sound. “And if you’d spoken to me in the first place, you wouldn’t have been left with egg on your face.”
He repressed the desire to check his face for egg. “What do you mean?”
“That I am not and never will be betrothed to you.”
Hart clenched his fists. “But you must. You’ve been compromised—all those people who saw us. Naturally I did the gentlemanly thing.” He’d calculated it all very carefully.
“Pfft!to your gentlemanly thing. I didn’t want it in the first place.”
He couldn’t believe her attitude. “Don’t you care about what people think?”
She shrugged. “Not much. People think all sorts of stupid things. Nothing to do with me.”
“But—”
“If it’s your reputation as a gentleman you’re worried about, don’t worry. You asked, I refused.”
Hart was stunned by her indifference. He didn’t give a hang about his reputation as a gentleman, but the ladies he knew were almost obsessive about theirs—especially the unmarried ones. “But the notice is in all the papers.”
“You put it in, you take it out.” She rose, and the dog beside her scrambled to its feet. “So, are we finished now? The rain has stopped and I want to continue walking my dog.”
“No,” he said curtly. “We’re not finished. This thing isn’t over. You don’t seem to realize the consequences of your actions—”
“Myactions? You were there too,” she flashed.
“Our actions,” he conceded. “You refuse me now, but I cannot think you truly understand the consequences. I will give you time to think it over.”
She gave him a long, thoughtful look. “See, I was right. You can’t take no for an answer. Just exactly like Lord Towsett.”
