Page 10 of To Enchant a Rakish Viscount

Brian raised an eyebrow and let out a chuckle. “Please, what is there for me to show off? My sarcasm? Accusations are no longer accusations when they are coated in truth.”

“What are you speaking of, Brian?” Harper finally said.

“I’ll get to it in a second, Harper. First, I want to finish speaking to him.” Brian pointed to James. “I stood here listening to this woman, who has been a friend of mine for quite some time, stand here and blindly defend you like you are some sort of saint. And I could only hold it in for so long. As annoying as Harper is, she deserves to know the truth, not be told some lies, and be played with like a child’s toy.”

“I demand to know what is going on here!” Harper almost shouted.

It seemed as though Brian was waiting for James to confess something but when he didn’t, James instead stood looking awkward. It was clear that whatever Brian was about to reveal had a dark truth to it. And that brought the sickness back to Harper’s stomach.

“Fine,” Brian continued. “You don’t want to tell her then I will…James here is as broke as an apple salesman in the winter. He is nothing more than a sneaky fortune hunter seeking your dowry. There is a reason why James here is so elusive and mysterious. And now you know!”

James wore an angry scowl, one that was barely restraining itself from getting physical. For a moment, Harper believed that the two men would start to fist-fight. But that never happened. And Harper was left to wonder whether James’s angry face had been due to the truth coming out, or if it was because Brian had been highly disrespectful. If she had been in his shoes, she would have felt the same way. There wasn’t much time to analyse it all, but for whatever reason, Harper believed that maybe Brian had been telling the truth.

It was when James turned to leave that Harper broke her silence. “James, please don’t leave. I have nothing to do with him.”

James released a sarcastic laugh and gave Harper his anger-filled eyes. “That is not what it looks like, dancing together.” He gave her his back once more and she looked over at Brian, who seemed to hold just a tinge of remorse. But even with that, Harper could not tell whether it was due to her finding out the truth or because he felt bad over the situation as a whole. The entire scene slowed down time for her, and she suddenly became aware that her birthday party, a day that she had already felt strange about, had been filled with such drama and theatrics.

Seeing everyone watch on under the bright lights made her all the more self-conscience. Their eyes were so judging. Their whispers so hushed, yet prominent. It made her breath shallow.

She watched as James made his way out the front door, people said things to him in sympathy, but he brushed them off. Harper couldn’t blame him for his anger if what Brian had said was a lie. It was almost too much for her to even begin to think of it as truthful. That would bring with it a whole other set of emotions.

Once James’s anger was out of sight and the mumbling faces turned their attention back to the two most interesting people in the room., Harper felt a surge of embarrassment fill her. Next to that embarrassment was anger towards Brian who stood there seemingly unfazed by it all. Brian, aside from the times where Harper would get under his skin, he was a man who always appeared calm under the strangest of situations. Maybe it was because he didn’t care, or maybe it was the opposite in that he cared so much that it caused him to go silent. Either way, she knew that the best thing for her was to get out of that overcrowded room and talk to him in private.

Harper pulled Brian into the next room where no one else was, away from the whispers and judgement.

“How dare you…” she started. With the peaceful room, she realised how much of Brian’s proclamation had been a misunderstanding. It was so easy to get caught up in thinking that James was using her. But she knew the truth.

“What do you mean, how dare I? I was helping you avoid a life of fraudulent love. Typical, I try to help someone in revealing—”

“There was nothing to be revealed if you had just minded your business.”

“Well, forgive me for caring about an old friend. Even though you have annoyed me over the years at great lengths, even I am not evil enough to let some man propose to you for your dowry. Sorry that I have a heart. Do people still have those nowadays or is it just me?”

A sense of fatigue washed over her. The act of explaining the truth to him felt too exhausting to even think about it. But it needed to be done to put it all to rest. “Listen to me, Brian. I respect that you were trying to help. But you know nothing. I was aware of James needing my dowry. It would revitalise the family business. That would be a better life than being a spinster. You thought that he was being ill-willed, but that was not the case, if you had just minded your own business and not gotten involved. Now…” Harper pointed to the room next door, still filled with gossiping guests who were most likely dying to get the next piece of information on what was happening. “There is an entire room of people who I am greatly embarrassed and reluctant to face, as my birthday party had been turned into a mockery.”

Brian stood there once again with a face full of remorse. Her words were taking their time registering within him. Eventually, his eyes said that he understood the gravity of his mistake. “I must apologise then. I thought that I was acting in your best interests. I must confess, I do not know how to remedy the situation moving forward.”

Harper shook her head, not knowing either. It was the type of situation that no one ever would have wanted to be in. It was almost a worst-case scenario. How would she ever go and face that room of people? Who would she marry now? James probably hated her and lost trust in her? There were more questions than answers and she hated that.

“If you want to help me then you should find me another husband.”

Brian let out a huff. “There is never a moment where you are not difficult. Can you at least see where I was coming from? I understand the error of my ways, but I must say that was truly not out of malice. It is not like I heard everything you were saying about James and told myself that I would sabotage the entire thing.”

“I understand that.” She could feel herself getting angry. “But you must understand where I am coming from as well. My life is far from perfect but at least I had a potential suitor to remedy one part of my life, now I am back in the pool, having to start all over again because you jumped to conclusions. Keep in mind that all happened on my birthday. There is a lot to feel right now.”

“Well, again, I am sorry. If I could undo what happened, I would. But I can’t. Sometimes in life, it’s better to just not know things, I suppose. If I had not known anything, then I wouldn’t have been in the place to speak up.”

There was a pause, as it made Harper wonder. “How did you know about James and my dowry, by the way? For someone who hasn’t been around, you sure know a lot about the latest news.”

“I try to keep up with people I care…have grown up with. Why forget where we came from, right? Or whatever that folly is my father likes to say.”

Harper found it heartwarming that he cared. There was still a mix of emotions within her that fuelled her anger. It was lessened though, by his accidental revelation. “I see. That is admirable. Perhaps you should listen to your father more often.”

“I would rather cut off both my ears.”

“So then, are you going to help me find a husband, or are you going to flee from your mistake like the coward that I expect you to be?” She looked at him after saying that just to see how much of a backbone he had grown into having.

Brian looked at her but didn’t say anything in return. That lead her to believe that the answer was a no, just as she had expected. That was fine. He owed her nothing.

With nothing left to say, Harper eyed the door and then made her way to it. But as she did, Brian caught her and pulled her in close. So close that she could smell that cinnamon scent of his once more.

“I will help you. But that is all I will do.”

Harper felt a surprised smile overtake her face. Maybe he wasn’t such a grumpy coward after all.

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