Rose was definitely brighter than he’d given her credit for being. “Yes, I do.”
“You need me to say it’s all right for you to marry Lex.”
Keeping a tight hold on his impatience, Lucien nodded.
“Well, it’s not all right. Not if it leaves me with no one to marry.”
“I see.”
“You’re not angry, are you?”
“Yes. But not at you.” Lucien gazed at his hands. He knew what the next step was, but if she refused, it left him with nowhere to go. Nowhere that Alexandra would approve of, anyway. And that was the most important element of the damned plan. Alexandra had to be satisfied with the results. “What if you had someone else to marry?”
“He would have to be a nobleman. You mean Robert, I suppose?”
With a slight smile, Lucien let her take control of the conversation. “You said you liked him.”
“I like him very much. He’s…gentle, and he laughs when I say something silly, instead of just scowling at me.”
“All right, Robert it is.”
“But, Lucien, he left my party early last night. Mama said he looked upset at something.”
He could guess why Fiona had been the one to notice Robert’s departure. Blast it, the witch was still meddling. He’d have to put a stop to that. “Leave that to me. But I want your word, Rose: If Robert wants to marry you, you’ll agree to it. Even if Aunt Fiona would prefer that you marry me.”
“Will you give me a good dowry?”
“A very good dowry. An exceptionally generous one.”
“All right, then. I agree.”
Lucien released a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. “So do I. But remember, this is just between us for right now.”
“Of course. I’d be an idiot to tell Mama.”
“Thank you, Rose.”
She stood and smoothed her skirt. “Don’t thank me yet, cousin Lucien. First you have to get Robert to ask me to marry him.”
“Oh, I will.” Even if it killed all of them.
Chapter 17
“Oh, and a clock. I would like to know what time it is,” Alexandra added.
His expression a little haggard, Thompkinson nodded and inched her prison door closed a bit farther. “Right away, Miss Gallant.”
She had no sympathy for him at all, even if Lucien had bullied him into being her guard. The earl had apparently vanished somewhere, but she could still torture his servants. “Thank you. My correspondence should be ready by the time you return.”
“Yes, Miss Gallant.”
He pulled the door closed and slid the bolt. Alexandra leaned back against the empty wine rack and smiled. Much as she hated to admit it, this was becoming amusing. Heaven knew she’d never had her every whim catered to before.
“What shall we ask for next, Shakes?”
The terrier lifted his head, then went back to sleep in his fortress beneath her dressing table. He seemed perfectly content to remain in the wine cellar, now that Thompkinson had supplied him with a nice, juicy mutton bone so big he could barely drag it about. Wherever the bone was, he would stay.
Alexandra signed her letter, folded it, and addressed the outside. As she finished, the door rattled and opened again. Thompkinson warily peered inside, no doubt fearing an ambush. When he spied her standing at the dressing table, he pushed the door open wider to allow Bingham to enter with the dining room mantel clock.
