It was awful of him to eavesdrop upon such a dialogue, he knew. But now that his name had been mentioned, he could not very well descend to the floor below and make himself known. A gentleman would have done so before now.
Apparently, he was not a gentleman. Not where Eugie Winter was concerned.
“Speaking of the arrogant earl,” said the sister, “you never did tell me what you thought of him after the dance you shared at the ball.”
“I thought nothing of him,” Eugie replied, her tone light. “He is a fortune hunter like all the rest, of course.”
Eugie’s words nettled him.
Because they were true.
But also, because he had no choice in the matter. He had never wanted his dissolute sire to deplete the familial coffers until there was almost nothing left. Until he was forced to count tallows and beg creditors for additional time. Until he had been forced to prepare the selling off of estates that were not a part of the entail just to keep food upon the table.
And because she had kissed him. Surely their kisses had meant something to her…
“Nothing at all?” her sister was saying. “I did think you were watching him with a queer expression on your face afterward.”
“You and your observations,” Eugie said dismissively. “I know you fancy yourself incredibly skilled at reading faces, but I hate to tell you that you are wrong. Wildly so.”
“Come now,” said her sister. “Do you not think him handsome, in a suitably arrogant fashion?”
Arrogant? It occurred to him that this was the Winter sister’s second use of the word to describe him in less than the same number of minutes. His jaw clenched. What a bit of baggage she was. He hoped it was not the sister Aylesford intended to make his pretend bride. The dowager would never accept such a cynical creature for her beloved grandson.
“I suppose he is, if one likes brown hair,” Eugie said, her tone nonchalant.
Shesupposedhe was handsome? If one liked brown hair? The minx had brown hair herself. Who was she to cast judgment?
“His hair is rather too light for me,” said her sister. “I prefer black hair myself.”
“That is because your heart is black,” quipped Eugie.
And on this matter, for a change, he could not disagree.
“I am pragmatic,” argued the sister. “There is a difference.”
“Oh, and now you shall next tell me your pragmatism is the reason for considering the notion of a feigned betrothal with a rakehell like Viscount Aylesford.” Eugie scoffed her disapproval.
Dear Lord.Aylesford had attempted to put his plan into motion. Which meant the Winter sister mystery had likely been solved. It was Miss Grace Winter below, chatting with Eugie.
Unless Aylesford had changed his mind since this morning. And, well, when it came to scoundrels like Aylesford, one could never be sure.
“Think of the beauty of it,” Grace Winter was saying below. “All I have to do is agree to a betrothal. Though I am enjoying making Aylesford squirm about what I will decide, it seems a flawless plan. Dev will be overjoyed at the prospect of me becoming Viscountess Aylesford and the future Duchess of… Oh, I do not recall. There are so many of them, you know. The titles all blend.”
“Like a patch of weeds in an otherwise sound garden,” Eugie added.
What the bloody hell?Impertinent minxes! Did they not realizetheywere the weeds in the garden, and not the other way around? How dare they?
“Precisely,” agreed Miss Grace Winter. “But the loveliest thing of all is that I can have my freedom. By the time I end the betrothal with Aylesford, Bea will be wed, and I expect you, Christabella, and Pru shall be well on your way. I will be free to pursue my own destiny. Lord knows I have no wish to marry anyone, least of all a witless aristocrat whose greatest concern is the knot of his cravat and how much coin he can divert to his mistress.”
“No one will wed me on account of the odious Baron Cunningham,” Eugie countered.
Just the utterance of the bastard’s name was enough to set Cam on edge.
“Oh, pish,” dismissed her sister. “You are lovely and smart and kind and funny. Any man who is concerned about the drivel that fool spews is not worthy of you.”
Strange, but he was inclined to agree with Miss Grace Winter on this matter, if not any other.
“I wish everyone thought the way you do, Grace, but they do not.” Eugie’s voice held an undeniable note of sadness. “More than anything, I want to make certain none of the rest of you suffer as I have. It is why I have embarked upon a plan.”
