More tears threatened. She was going to be a blubbering idiot before Beresford appeared. “I’ll be a woman of scandal. Society won’t have me.”
“That just makes you one of us, then, doesn’t it?” Aiden asked.
She looked past Mick to her grinning brother. “I’ve always been one of you.”
He winked at her. “That you have.”
A knock on the door had her heart skipping a beat, her stomach tightening. Mick pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. “Give Beresford whatever answer you want, Fancy. We stand behind you.”
No, she thought, they stood beside her. They always had.
Mick strode back to his desk, leaned against it, and once more crossed his arms. “Yes?”
Mr. Tittlefitz peered inside. “Lord Beresford is here and requires an audience.”
“Send him in,” Mick ordered.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Fancy turned and faced Beresford as he entered, and she wondered why she’d never before noticed how arrogant and entitled he appeared. Mr. Tittlefitz closed the door. She was rather certain the lord jumped slightly at the sound of itsnickinginto place. He gave her a nervous glance, and she suspected he hadn’t expected to be facing an army of Trewloves. He gave her a perfunctory bow. “Miss Trewlove.”
“Lord Beresford.”
He looked past her, took a step to walk around her. And she knew with absolute certainty that her decision was the correct one. She moved in front of him. “Your meeting is with me, my lord.”
He blinked, looked to the window, the ceiling, the floor, finally back to her. “That’s not really how it’s done, Miss Trewlove.”
“You will find, my lord, that we are a family that seldom does things in the manner they are usually done. I am, however, curious. Was it a coincidence that an audience was present to see us alone in the library?”
The earl cleared his throat. “I might have mentioned to Mr. Whitley I was going to show you the rare Bible.”
“Do you know what my dowry entails?”
“I do. I find it quite satisfactory.”
“I bet you bloody well do,” Aiden fairly snarled.
She gave her brother a sharp look, and he mouthed, “Sorry.”
She gave her attention back to Beresford. “In a situation such as ours, my lord, wedding bells soon ring.”
“Indeed they do, Miss Trewlove. I shall assume I have your family’s blessing, and—”
He started to lower himself. How could she embarrass him by refusing him once his knee hit the floor? “No.”
He stopped, half-bent over and looked up at her. “I beg your pardon?”
“Please straighten yourself, Lord Beresford.”
He did as she requested, his eyes never leaving hers. Taking a deep breath, she released it slowly. “I’m sorry, Lord Beresford, but I can’t marry you.”
Lord Beresford gaped, actually gaped. “If you don’t accept my offer, you will not be welcomed among the aristocracy. You will be ruined, dear girl.”
“I’m well aware.”
“I was willing to overlook your unlawful birth, but now you are asking me to overlook the scandal that your refusal will create. You will be fodder for gossip.”
“Better fodder for gossip than a wife with regrets.”
“If you deny me now, I shan’t be calling on you. No lord will call upon you.”
