“Oh, thank you,” the girl replied, smiling, as she set down her burden beside the nearest vase. “These roses are Mama’s favorite. I would hate for them to wilt.”
“They’re lovely.” The girl hadn’t asked her to sit, but Georgiana didn’t want to appear impatient, so she slowly took a seat on a couch halfway across the wide morning room.
Amelia stood over the vase, her alabaster brow furrowed as she tilted the yellow blooms this way and that, searching for the perfect angle. Good heavens, the girl didn’t stand a chance against Dare.
“May I offer you some tea, Lady Georgiana?”
“No, but thank you. Actually, I wanted to discuss something with you. Something of a…personal nature.” She glanced at the maid fluffing pillows of the overstuffed furniture.
“A personal nature?” Amelia giggled engagingly. “My goodness, that sounds so intriguing. Hannah, that will be all for now.”
“Yes, miss.”
Once the maid was gone, Georgiana relocated to a chair closer to Amelia. “I know this will seem highly unusual, but I do have a reason for asking,” she said.
Amelia paused in her flower arranging. “What is it?”
“You and Lord Dare. There is a connection between you, is there not?”
Large blue eyes filled with tears. “Oh, I don’t know!” Miss Johns wailed.
Georgiana hurried to her feet and put an arm around the younger girl’s shoulders. “There, there,” she said, in her most soothing voice. “This is what I was afraid of.”
“A…afraid of?”
“Oh, yes. Lord Dare is famously difficult.”
“Yes, he is. Sometimes I think he means to propose to me, and then he’ll twist the conversation around until I don’t know whether he even likes me or not.”
“You do expect a proposal, though?”
“He keeps saying that he needs to marry, and he dances with me more than any of the other girls, and he took me on a drive through Hyde Park. Of course I expect him to propose. My entire family expects it.” She sounded almost indignant that Georgiana might have any doubt regarding Dare’s intentions.
“Yes, I should think that’s quite reasonable.” Georgiana stifled a scowl. He’d done the same with her, six years earlier, and she’d expected the same thing. All she’d received, though, was ruin, a stolen stocking, and a broken heart. “And in that case, I have something to confide in you.”
Amelia wiped at her eyes with a pretty embroidered handkerchief that matched her dress. “You do?”
“Yes. Lord Dare, as you may know, is the dearest friend of my cousin, the Duke of Wycliffe. Because of that, I have had numerous opportunities over the years to observe the viscount’s behavior toward females. I must say that without exception I have always found it appalling.”
“Exceedingly appalling.”
So far, so good. “And so, I have decided that Lord Dare needs to be taught a lesson about how to comport himself toward the gentler sex.”
Puzzlement showed on Amelia’s innocent face. “A lesson? I don’t understand.”
“Well, I happen to be staying at Carroway House for a short time, to help Lord Dare’s aunt recuperate from the gout. I plan to take this opportunity to demonstrate to Dare just how poor his behavior toward you has been. It may look a bit strange. It may even appear for a short time that Dare is fond of me, but I assure you that my only purpose is to teach him a lesson which in the end will both encourage him to propose to you and will make him a better husband.”
It sounded logical—to her, anyway. She watched Amelia’s transparent expression to see whether the girl thought so, as well.
“You would do that for me? We don’t even know one another.”
“We are both females, and we’re both appalled at Dare’s behavior. And it would give me immense satisfaction to see that at least one man has learned how properly to treat a lady.”
“Well, Lady Georgiana,” Amelia said slowly, going back to fiddling with the bright roses, “I think if you could teach Tristan a lesson that would convince him to marry me, that would be a very good thing.” She paused, a small frown furrowing her brow. “Because we are being honest with one another, I have to admit that he confuses me very often.”
“Yes, he excels at that.”
“You know him better than I, and you are closer to his age, so I suppose you must be wiser, as well. So I am glad if you can teach him this lesson. The sooner the better, because I have my heart set on becoming his viscountess.”
