Fighting the urge to bury her face at the humiliation, she looked to Harry only to find no help from him.Rather than looking at the unruffled marquis as she expected him to in the presence of his servants, he watched her hotly through heavily hooded eyes.Hunger was clearly stamped on his features.
Hunger for her.She quaked at the thought.
“I have a carriage waiting for you as soon as you are finished, my lady,” the butler said respectfully.“At your convenience.”
“I’m ready now, I think,” she said shakily.“I shouldn’t tarry in case my family has already gone on.”
Pembrooke nodded and went to the door, holding it for her with a bow.
Casting a quick look at Harry, she scurried to the door like a hunted fox, but with his long strides aiding his pursuit, he caught her by the arm.“Fiona...Blast it.You will not marry Carron now, will you?”
She shook her head in denial, then nodded.Her truest desires at war within.“The earl’s nephew, his heir,” she clarified absently.“But...”She couldn’t sayyes, settling instead for, “I am content with my choice.”
It had become her mantra.Unlike her anger, it hadn’t failed her.
His eyes widened before they narrowed.“I think you should reconsider.”
“Why?”she asked, daring him to say anything of their ardent exchange in front of his butler.“So that I might marry you instead?”
His blue eyes flared, but his reply was not the adamant affirmation she had expected.“Or any other besides him.Whatever façade Ramsay might have presented to you, it is not his true nature, I promise you.”
“Yet another voice in the choir,” Fiona muttered under her breath.“What is it about him that no one likes?”
“Other than the fact that he is a cheating, mean-spirited fortune hunter?”
She gasped.“Well, of course, you would say spiteful, cruel things about him.”
“I say nothing that isn’t true,” he countered.“Ask around.Anyone would say the same thing.It’s a well-known fact that old Ramsay is planning on remarrying for the sole purpose of producing a son to bypass your Lord Ramsay as his heir.He fears having his legacy gambled away with the rest of Ramsay’s small fortune.”
Could that be true?Fiona shook her head.“You must be mistaken.If that were true, Francis would have certainly said something.”
“I’m surprised he did not.”
Chapter 20
I read in one of the Ladies’ Journals that men are often attracted to women who are hard to get.As I’ve exhausted my limited knowledge on the subject and Moira’s books will not bear usefulness until I succeed, I suppose I have no choice but to give it a try.
