It was odd and disconcerting to realize that understanding her better was something he wanted. Was it possible that Reeveshadbeen pointing out something real?
No.
It couldn’t be. Norman was interested in Susan because she was an interesting person. That was all it was.
Still, as his fingers grazed the edge of the note in his pocket, he couldn’t deny that he was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.
CHAPTER 14
Susan was already waiting in the park when Norman arrived the next morning. He saw her from several yards away, standing in a simple green gown and leaning against the trunk of a tree.
He wouldn’t have imagined she would own such a simple gown. He had only ever seen her in finer things. And while those things did look good on her, there was something about this gown that took him aback. It charmed him. It was the kind of thing he might have expected to see on a simple, common woman, not the daughter of a lord—someone he might have chosen to spend time with because he found her engaging, and not just because of the benefit she could offer to his reputation.
For a moment, he just stood watching her as the wind blew her skirts against her knees. He could almost make out the shape of her body. And shewaslovely. Reeves had been completely right about that much.
She saw him and lifted a hand in greeting, and he strode over to meet her. “That’s an unusual gown,” he remarked.
She looked down at it, made a face, and looked back up. “It’s what was clean,” she said. “I had the kind of simple things I would wear around the house, or I had elaborate ball gowns, and I figured this was the least likely thing to get me noticed. It’s for the best if people think I’m just a commoner today, I think.”
“It probably is,” Norman agreed. “Although if we’re seen together, people will still notice that it’s you.”
She sighed. “That’s the problem,” she said. “That’s why I needed to see you today.”
“What do you mean?”
“I assume you saw the scandal sheets.”
He frowned. “I don’t read those rags,” he said. “What could possibly be in there to interest me?”
“You didn’t hear anyone talking about what happened after you and I parted ways at the Sutherland ball?”
“I didn’t stay after you left,” Norman said, bemused. “I saw you rushing out, and I assumed you had had enough of my company for the evening. Wehadjust had an argument, after all. So I decided I might as well just go home.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t expecting this. You really don’t know.”
“What is it I’m supposed to know, exactly?” He was growing impatient with this. Who had time to stand around in the park and play guessing games? If she wanted to discuss something with him, she ought to get to it, he thought. It was clear to him now that whatever it was, it wasn’t going to have anything to do with her father’s potential investments in his business interests.
She let out a sigh and wrapped her arms around her midsection. “I asked you to meet me here today, Norman, because… I want to ask you to marry me.”
Norman burst out laughing. “You want what?”
She scowled, clearly annoyed. “This isn’t funny.”
“What do you mean? It’s the best joke I’ve ever heard,” he said. “You don’tmeanit.”
“I do mean it,” she said. “I know it changes things, but I want us to marry.”
He shook his head. “Weren’t we just having an argument because you swore up and down that youdidn’twant to marry? And when I said I couldn’t believe that, you told me I was being rude to you, and you stormed away and left me on the dance floor. And now you come back to me and tell me that, in fact, I was right and you were wrong? You do want to marry after all?And what’s more, you want to marryme—even though you and I already agreed many times that it wasn’t the right course for us?”
She lifted her chin. “That’s what I’m saying,” she agreed. “I suppose you’d better go ahead and laugh as much as you want to about it.”
Norman felt like pinching himself to see if he was dreaming. He managed to resist. “Let me see if I’m putting this together correctly,” he said. “After you were so hostile to me at Sutherland, there was some sort of scandal, and that’s the reason you stormed out without so much as a good evening.”
She hung her head.
“And now you want me to marry you in order to save you from that scandal—is that right?” he asked. “Suddenly you’ve realized that reputation actuallydoesmatter, and that you really don’t want to be on your own in the world, so you’ve come running back to me.”
Her eyes blazed. “This has nothing to do with my reputation,” she snapped. “This is about what it was always about—my sister. She’s the one who’s caught in a scandal. Heaven forbid anyone other than me know how to conduct themselves in public—but because of her missteps, now I must marry before my father will allow her to do the same. There will be no more benefit of the doubt, no more waiting and trusting that all will go well. I have to marry now.”
