“Since you are not interested in marrying me,” he said, lightly, as if she had the option of such a thing—as ifhewould marryher—“perhaps, we can adjust the meaning of courtship in this instance.”
“What do you mean?” She narrowed her eyes at him. He might not be the Downstairs Menace or the Ten Guinea Earl, but she still did not trust him.
“That kiss we shared last night.” That wicked smile was still on his face. She tried hard to look impervious. “Did you not enjoy it?”
“How is that relevant?”
“Fine.” He grinned. “Ienjoyed it. More than I’ve enjoyed anything in some time. I thought it was rather remarkable. I want you, Olivia. And I think you want me. But I understand after—what happened so long ago, you don’t trust me. I want to prove to you that you can. Let me win you. When you let me back into your bed, it will be because I have earned it.”
She bit her lip. She could not help it. It sounded so good—when he put it that way. She would be in Britain for the rest of the season, at least. She had Mr. Laurent waiting for her back in France, but she was not betrothed to him yet. If she were betrothed to him, she would feel, of course, unable to take a lover. But she had promised Mr. Laurent nothing, even though she fully intended to marry him. She knew he would wait for her. He had told her as much and she knew, in her heart, that the fellow was too indolent and set in his ways to set his sights on another lady. He was the type of man who made a decision and stuck to it. The type of man one should want as a husband, solid and dependable.
Olivia could finish whatever remained—alive and vital and distracting—between her and Augustus.
But could she admit out loud that she wanted him? That he was right? It was almost too much to bear after he had humiliated her. Agreeing to a courtship—or this sham version of it—felt like too much of a concession.
“What would this courtship consist of?”
“The usual things. I’ve never courted anyone, but I understand there is a pattern. I will take you for rides in the park, to balls, the theatre.”
“It will look like you have serious intentions. If your world raises its eyebrows at your brother and Natasha, I shudder to think of their reaction to the Earl of Montaigne courting a servant.”
“You aren’t a servant. You’re a companion to a lady of means.”
“A paid companion. And to society, there will be no difference.”
He seemed ready to gloss over her station and it irked her. She did not want to hide her past. She wasn’t anyone other than a girl from an orphanage. She wouldn’t be passed off as something else.
“It won’t matter to me. They can say what they want. My family and my friends will not care about your rank.”
“But you don’t actually intend to marry me. That’s what courtship leads to. Marriage.”
“Only if you want it to lead to marriage. In this instance.”
“I don’t understand.” Really, he was being impossible.
“I will court you. If you enjoy it, then you will decide the relationship we pursue. You can have me any way that you want me. As a lover, for however long you would like, or as a husband.”
She scoffed. He reallywasinsulting her.
“As a husband?”
“If that’s what you desire.”
“I don’t desire you as ahusband. Do you have any idea what that would mean? For me? What the papers would say? What society would say?”
“Then don’t marry me.” He flashed a grin. “I want you any way that you wantme, Olivia. If marriage is important to you, it’s no object to me.”
Augustus crossed and uncrossed his legs. Only a faint tremor above his eyebrow revealed any sign of anxiety.
“I don’t believe you.”
He must want her badly, she thought. To say such lies. She could have him for breach of promise with such words once he defected. Not that anyone would give credence to such a claim.
“I have already established that I don’t care about my reputation.”
It was true that he did not seem to care. Hehadestablished that.
None of it made any sense. He had dismissed her so callously and now was speaking of marrying her, as if that were a possibility. She itched to ask him about the past, about how he squared his actions now with his actions then. But she couldn’t begin to form the words. She could not bring up her humiliation when she wanted to appear strong in front of him. And why, after all, must they speak of it? Whatever had led him to dismiss her then, it did not seem to affect his desires now. He had seen her again and wanted her. It didn’t appear any more complicated than that.
