I didn’t wish to make Ollie feel bad, but I hated the thought of my best friend falling in love with another woman even more. We were perfect for each other in every way; he’d only forgotten because of the time and distance we’d been parted. If it took a little jealousy to make him see reason, to seeme, then perhaps scheming was worth the discomfort.
Could I trust Damon though? As a child I’d trusted him, and I had been devastated. But what choice did I have? If I left, Ollie would marry another. If I stayed, I gave us a chance.
I had no choice.
“Does your offer still stand?” I asked Damon.
“Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate.
“You must desperately wish to avoid marriage. Is the institution so bad that you’d truly welcome this arrangement?”
“You have no idea the lengths I’d go to subvert my father.”
I did not understand, but I supposed I didn’t need to. Damon had his reasons for entering into this ruse, and I had mine. So long as we both played our parts well, that was all that mattered.
“Then perhaps we should discuss the terms,” I said.
Damon’s gaze snapped up to mine. “You needn’t worry over trifles. I shall be the most doting beau.”
“Until you are not,” I said. “I do believe the siren song of the card tables may prove too strong a temptation for you to keep your promises.”
Damon’s gaze narrowed. “You think so little of me?”
I lifted one shoulder. “Half a dozen ladies at Lord Rumford’s ball tried to catch your eye, yet you did not dance with a single one.”
“I danced with you, did I not?”
“Yourescuedme. It is different.”
“Hmm.” Damon refocused his attention on our game.
I shifted in my seat. I hardly thought Damon would care about such a label. Though it hadn’t been my intention to insult him, to insinuate a gentleman was a scoundrelwasoffensive.
“You are a man,” I explained. “And I’ve learned of late that a man’s heart is as changeable as the weather in England.”
Damon sat back in his seat. “Ollie’s heart had little to do with his decision, I’m afraid.”
“Yes, well. Forgive me if I don’t want to be slighted by both Jennings men in one summer.” My reputation, let alone my heart, couldn’t bear it.
“I would never. But to ease your mind, we should promise to only have eyes for one another. I will not entertain advances from other women, and you won’t fawn over Ollie.”
“I do notfawn.” I scowled at Damon over the chessboard and made another move.
“You do,” he said, “but you must not if this is to work. You and I must appear to be interested only in each other.”
I frowned. “If we only have eyes for each other, then how will I encourage Ollie to propose?”
“You won’t have to encourage him,” Damon said. “In having eyes only for me, you will drive Ollie so mad with jealousy that it would be impossible for him to not recognize the depth of his feelings for you. I expect he will be so besotted with you by the end of summer that you will receive the engagement you desire.”
“And what happens to you when our charade is over? If you were to pretend to court me, and then I refuse you for your younger brother, people would talk. No mother in her right mind would allow her daughter within a hundred paces of you.”
“That is the point,” he said.
“And what wouldyourmother think?” I pressed.
“You have no need to worry. All’s well that ends well.”
He quoted Shakespeare, in hopes of putting me at ease. But I’d read enough of his plays to know that the course of true love never did run smooth. This was an ill-advised plan . . . but what other option remained?
