Sabrina grinned. “Well, Duncan doesn’t have to go that far, since I live in the neighborhood. He knows very well he can always come visiting when he needs cheering up.”
“That’s assuming he thinks you’ll always be available, but what if you marry and move out of the neighborhood? D’you think he’s considered that?”
“Why would he, when it’s very likely I’ll follow in my aunts’ footsteps and never marry?”
“Good God, what a waste!” he said in exaggeration, then seriously, “You don’treallythink that a silly scandal like yours is would stop someone from marrying you if he really wants to marry you, do you?”
“Actually, I know it will, and you know it will, when the object of most marriages is to continue the line with heirs, and if my particular scandal is believed, then I won’t last long enough to beget heirs.”
Raphael’s snort was most definitely a snort this time. “You know very well you have no intention of ever kicking the bucket intentionally, and anyone with any sense a’tall would know it as well, when you are obviously so very full of laughter and joy of life. There isn’t a melancholic bone in your little body, m’dear.”
She gave him a wide-eyed look. “Well, no, there isn’t, but where did you get the idea that anyone has any sense—aside from the two of us, of course?”
He laughed heartily. “Gads, I suppose when you look at it that way, you’re quite right. Of course, if youwereto agree to marry me—not to actually do so, mind you, but just to, well, to pretend, so to speak—what do you think Duncan’s reaction would be?”
“I think he’d be the first to congratulate me and wish me happy, if that’s what he thinks I want.”
Raphael tsked. “I disagree. I think he’ll discover some serious jealousy, if he hasn’t already figured out that’s why he can’t stand seeing me dance with you. Care to give it a try to find out?”
“You are being ridiculous again and decidedly single-minded. Friends can be jealous of friends, you know, or haven’t you ever experienced that when your best friend ignores you a bit and is seen having fun with other friends? Jealousy doesnotalways involve love. Far from it. Envy takes many different forms.”
“Yes, yes,” he said in exasperation. “But why don’t we try it anyway? It won’t hurt your reputation a’tall, nor mine, for you to announce later that you’ve changed your mind and don’t want to marry me.”
“Well, there is the point that some other young man might take notice of me here andseriouslyask me to marry him, but won’t if I’m pretending to be engaged to you. Not that I expect any such thing to happen, but if it did, I’d be losing my chance because of this silly nonsense.”
He sighed as he led her off the dance floor. “Think about it, Sabrina. You know it won’t do any harm, and you might be happily surprised by the results.”
Thirty
Think about it? Sabrina had trouble thinking about anything else during the next hour. What if Raphael was right and Duncan just hadn’t figured out yet that he was falling in love with her? That kiss he had treated her to could even support that contention. He had been embarrassed and upset about it, yet why had he kissed her if there was nothing but friendship between them?
But when rational thoughts finally intruded, she knew she wouldn’t do it, what Raphael was suggesting. It would be pure deceit just for Duncan’s benefit, and she couldn’t do that to him. Besides, it might have sounded logical, the way Raphael had put it, but anything could sound logical if twisted just right. That she mightwantto believe it was sheer foolishness on her part. Playing “what ifs” had never been part of her realistic nature.
And then she put the thought completely away, after her talk with Ophelia.
“Have you noticed how he’s trying to make me jealous?” Ophelia purred in her ear. “I think it’s rather silly myself, but you can’t tell a man that, nor get him to admit that’s what he’s doing.”
The remark, coming as it did from out of nowhere as Ophelia stepped up behind her, confounded Sabrina for a moment. She wasn’t usually so dense, but having just been wrestling with the subject of jealousy that had been introduced by Raphael Locke, hearing it now from an entirely different direction actually did confuse her briefly.
She wished she could have retracted her, “Who?” though, as soon as she uttered it, since her confusion did clear before Ophelia gave her the very obvious answer. And she would have preferred, greatly preferred, not to have the conversation that followed.
“Why, Duncan, of course,” Ophelia said, then in surprise, “You look surprised.”
Sabrina wasn’t, but apparently Ophelia had expected her to be, and went on as if she really had looked surprised. “Don’t tell me you thought the attention he has been giving you was because he might actually be interested in you?” She added a chuckle here. “My dear, I thought you of all people would know better.”
“I haven’t thought any such thing,” Sabrina replied, her tone more defensive than she would have liked. “Duncan and I are merely friends.”
“You might think so, but that just shows how naive you are. I assure you, it’s all a pretense on his part that he hopes I’ll notice.”
That stung, making Sabrina wonder if that wasn’t Ophelia’s intention. Sabrina might not be desirable for a wife, but she did like to think she was worthy of friendship. Yet the blond girl was implying that Duncan wouldn’t have become friends with her without this ulterior motive.
“Friendship would hardly make you jealous, Ophelia—or would it?”
“Certainly it wouldn’t,” Ophelia replied impatiently. “But he’s hoping I’ll think it’s more than that, or haven’t you got the point yet?”
“No, I guess I missed the point,” Sabrina said dryly. “I thought it was about jealousy.”
Ophelia actually blushed, but she was decidedly single-minded and got right back to stressing herpoint.“I was just trying to save you some unpleasant grief, my dear, in case you misunderstood the attention he’s given you. But if you were only thinking it’s friendship, then you won’t be hurt when he marries me.”
