Rosalie, who up until this point had been stupefied by Lucian’s absurd statement, shook herself. If this was the strategy they were taking, she supposed she needed to help him. She placed a hand on Lucian’s forearm. “Oh, darling, must we wait? Can’t we make the announcement tonight?”
“No!” Edmund shrieked. “Don’t do that. Just give me a few days to place my wager. Oh, who should I approach? Johnston? Greaves?” He tapped his lip. “The tricky thing will be making them feel that it was their own idea.”
“Well,” Lucian said, “I’m sure you’ll work it out. Now, if you would be so kind as to give us a little privacy?”
Edmund waved his assent and wandered back down the graveled path, still muttering to himself.
Once he was gone, Rosalie withdrew her hand. “That was some quick thinking. We’ll need to come up with a more lasting way to secure his silence.”
He arched a black brow. “Why? We already have the perfect solution. Marriage.”
Rosalie’s heart went topsy-turvy in her chest, in spite of the fact that she knew he was only making sport. She strove to make her voice light. “Ha, ha. Very funny. Bribery is always an option, and I do have enough pin money set aside for a decent payout. But I fear I would never be rid of him.”
“A poor option, I agree. Happily, I have already mentioned a much better one.”
Ignoring his innuendo, Rosalie tilted her head back, admiring the spray of stars overhead. “If worst comes to worst, I could speak to my father. I have no doubt that he would put the fear of God into Mr. Reeves. Although I would prefer a solution in which my father doesn’t learn of our interlude, if one can be found.”
“I agree that one of us should speak to your father,” Lucian said conversationally. “I believe tradition holds that it be the groom, who goes to beg for the bride’s hand.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Stop making sport. We both know you have no desire to marry anyone, least of all me.”
“Thank you for informing me of my own wishes,” he said with a sincerity so deep it was clearly feigned. “Prepare to have an experience that is, for you, a novelty.”
“Oh? And what might that be?”
Lucian smirked. “Being wrong.”
Rosalie frowned. “You expect me to believe that you want to marry me?”
He inclined his head. “I do, because it’s true.”
She glanced him up and down. “Are you after my dowry, then? Let me guess—you’ve run up a gambling debt, or perhaps one to your tailor.”
He laughed, a rich sound in the quiet garden. “Believe it or not, my prospects are not quite as bleak as you’ve assumed. My grandfather left me a small bequest. It doesn’t approach your father’s income. It won’t be what you’re used to. But we’ll be able to live in a respectable fashion.”
Suddenly, Rosalie’s heart was tripping over itself. Her voice shook as she said, “You shouldn’t joke about such things.”
“I’m not joking.” He took her hand, and his dark eyes were… sincere? How was that possible? Lucian Deverell, the most flippant man in all of England, was beingsincere?
Saints preserve her. What woman stood a chance?
He continued, “When Reeves came down the path, the thought that flashed across my mind, naturally, was that I would have to marry you. And do you know what I felt?”
“Panic?” she hazarded. “Exasperation? Rage?”
He stroked his thumb across the back of her hand, making her shiver. “Joy,” he said simply.
Now it was Rosalie’s turn to experience panic. Because at the wordjoy, a bright surge of longing coursed through her. She wanted this, wanted him, wanted the future she was just starting to glimpse with this man who was clever enough to keep up with her. Who found her amusing rather than overbearing. Who seemed to like her precisely as she was.
Oh, she wanted him all right. But that didn’t mean she trusted him.
She was standing on a precipice, about to make either the best or the worst decision of her life. And she had absolutely no idea which was which.
As if reading her mind, Lucian said, “Look, Rosalie, I understand why you feel skeptical. My reputation couldn’t be any worse, and I’m about the last man anyone would expect to settle down and marry. Then there’s the fact that this is happening too quickly. I wish I had three months to convince you that I’m sincere. But Reeves discovered us, and if he talks, which he almost certainly will, you’ll be ruined. Had this happened with any man other than me, I think you would agree that marriage is the logical course.”
He tucked a curl behind her ear, then continued, “I know you didn’t have much experience prior to tonight. But I can assure you that what passed between us earlier… it isn’t typical. It’s rare, and special.” He gave her a rueful smile. “If I’m being honest, it’s never happened to me before.”
Rosalie couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from his face. Without intending to, she found herself murmuring, “It felt special to me, too. It felt… magical.”
