“I went for a swim this morning,” I muttered. “After Mama and Charlotte left, I—” I let out a sigh. “I wanted to experience every part of Brighton.”
“You went for a swim alone?” Edmund’s voice was heavy with shock.
“Not alone.” Lady Cinderford seemed on the verge of fainting from the distress of the matter. “She went for a swim with Mr. Jonathan Croft.”
I turned to face her, shaking my head. “That was not my intention.”
Edmund was silent for a long moment. “Please explain, then, what your intention was.” His frustration was evident, and it made me even more ashamed.
“I thought I had found a secluded beach. I thought I was alone, so I planned to take a short swim in the sea and come straight back to shore. Eliza was with me, and there was no one else in sight. Until…” I gulped, remembering the moment I had surfaced directly beside Mr. Croft. He had seemed to have come out of nowhere. “Suddenly Mr. Croft was there in the water. I avoided him, but he thought I was incapable of swimming on my own. He thought he was rescuing me.”
“And he was not clothed,” Lady Cinderford whispered in a scandalized voice.
“He was! Partially.” My face burned. I shouldn’t have acted like I had even noticed such details.
Edmund closed his eyes for several seconds. When they opened, I saw the dread in them. “I would ask for your silence on the subject, my lady.”
Lady Cinderford lifted her chin. “As a friend of your mother’s, I have vowed my silence on the matter, but my companions this morning are not so keen to withhold the news from their circles.” She turned her gaze to me. “Miss Kellaway, do you realize the weight of this situation? The absolute destruction it could bring upon your entire family?”
I swallowed but couldn’t find the words to answer.
Edmund sighed. “I will speak with Mr. Croft about this unfortunate accident. I am sure he is just as keen to put the incident behind him as we are.”
Lady Cinderford scoffed. “What will you speak with him about? His silence most certainly will not be enough. He happened upon Miss Kellaway this morning, accident or not, and they were seen clinging to one another in a most scandalous fashion. If he is a gentleman at all, he should do the honorable thing. Miss Kellaway is under your protection. I would strongly suggest you demand it of him.”
My heart thudded. Demand…what? The answer flitted through my mind, flooding my stomach with panic.
“There is only one way to sort this out with minimal damage to her reputation.” Lady Cinderford raised her chin. “Mr. Croft must marry her, and quickly.”
Chapter Thirteen
JONATHAN
“You must propose!” Penelope paced in front of me, back and forth over the Persian rug. She stopped, turning her critical gaze in my direction. “There is no way around it. Her mother or father will surely ask it of you. It is only a matter of time. Perhaps even the brother will make such demands.”
I rubbed a circle on my forehead. “Thus far, you and Lady Cinderford are the only ones to do so.” After Miss Kellaway had run away from the beach, Lady Cinderford had followed me home. I had explained the accidental nature of the situation, but that hadn’t seemed to matter to her.
The point was that Miss Kellaway’s reputation would soon be ruined.
And according to Lady Cinderford, it was my fault.
I sat back on the sofa, my lungs too tight to fully expand. I had only ever heard stories of men being ensnared by desperate women; I had never personally known another man in this situation. The only people I had to consult with on the matterwere my sisters, and they were not helping at all. But still, I fully understood the workings of society and the fragility of a gentleman’s honor, so if Miss Kellaway’s reputation was truly on the brink of ruin, then Penelope was right.
I would have to marry her.
My jaw tensed as I thought of all the events that had led to that morning. When Miss Lyons had mentioned Miss Kellaway’s ‘plan,’ this must have been part of it. A detailed stratagem, indeed. When impressing me with her riding skills had failed to secure my interest, had she concocted this idea to find me on my morning swim? Lady Cinderford was a friend of the Kellaway family. Perhaps they had known that she would be out for a walk in the area—or even encouraged her to be.
“Are you going to make the Kellaways approach you?” Penelope asked, interrupting my thoughts. “Would you rather wait for her brother to call you out?” She stopped in front of me. “Please do not die in a duel, brother. Marriage is a much better alternative, I assure you.”
Loftus and Richard sat on the other side of the drawing room, stiff and silent as their wives circled me like vultures. Joanna hadn’t voiced her opinion as much as Penelope had, but it was clear that she was in agreement. They all were.
My stomach lurched. Marriage had always been part of my eventual plan, but I had never pictured it like this. I did not enjoy being forced to do anything, especially when it came to tying myself to someone for the rest of my life—someone who didn’t care for me at all. I had seen the hatred and anger in Miss Kellaway’s eyes when she told me that she was repulsed by the idea of marrying me.
It had almost made me believe that she wasn’t ensnaring me.
My heart pinched, but I ignored the sensation. “Edmund is not going to call me out.” My voice was hoarse. “I will propose to her before he has the chance.”
Penelope had the audacity to smile—as if she had just won some great prize. She stopped in her tracks. “Truly?”
