“No! I mean, I have to get on. Allegra will be worrying about me.”
He fought to contain his amusement as she lowered her veil, flung open the door, and almost tripped on her gown as she stepped down. He came around the carriage at a more leisurely pace and followed her to her front door.
“I am yours to command, my lady. Send me a note and I will come to you immediately.” He took her hand and kissed it.
He thought he heard a growl from behind her veil.
“Goaway, Julian.”
He descended the steps, blew her a kiss, and returned to his carriage, well satisfied with his morning’s work. He’d scuppered her plans to find a lover and had made his own case as a superior candidate. As he settled into his seat, his smile disappeared. He’d never seen Carenza so flustered. She sailed through life with the grace of a swan. Her ability to rise above Hector’s crassness and infidelities had always impressed him.
What had started as a simple attempt to save her reputation was fast becoming a personal challenge. Carenza had unwittingly aroused all his competitive instincts. He never liked to lose, and taming Carenza Musgrove was a contest he was excited to take on.
CHAPTER3
“Whatever is the matter, Carenza?” Allegra set down her embroidery. “You’ve been pacing and muttering ever since you came in.”
Maude, who was sitting opposite Allegra in the drawing room, nodded. “Is something wrong? You haven’t told us anything about how your event went yet.”
Carenza took a deep breath. “The men who answered the advertisement were … unsuitable.”
“What a surprise,” Allegra said.
Maude grimaced. “That is a shame. Perhaps you’ll have to find a lover the old-fashioned way and attend lots of balls in a succession of daring gowns that simply shout out that you’re looking for a paramour.”
“You read too many novels,” Allegra said.
“And you don’t?” Maude grinned at Allegra.
Carenza finally sat down. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much interest in my advertisement. But after finding out it had been discussed at White’s, I did assume I might see a better class of gentlemen.”
“From what I understand, most gentlemen thought it was a ploy by the newspapers to make the men look bad,” Maude said. “No one enjoys being ridiculed in the press.”
“It will be interesting to see whether the morning papers even mention it,” Allegra said. “One can only hope the news doesn’t reach Father in Norfolk.”
“I doubt it will,” Carenza said. “Unless someone who knows exactly who we are decides to tell him.”
“Olivia might enjoy a good joke, sister, but I don’t think she’d betray you,” Allegra hastened to reassure Carenza.
“I wasn’t thinking of her.”
“Then who? Surely you can’t imagine Maude or I would—”
“Of course not.” Carenza shook her head. “I was thinking of Julian.”
Both women blinked at her.
Maude was the first to recover. “Julian Laurent?”
Carenza nodded. “As you might imagine, when he discovered my scheme he was shocked that I was contemplating such a step and attempted to dissuade me. When I refused to listen, he turned up at the inn and insisted on taking me home.”
“What did Olivia have to say about that?” Maude asked.
“Before he spoke with me, he sent her home with her maid,” Carenza said.
“And she went willingly?” Allegra looked at Maude.
“He told her the press were outside and that it would be better if we left separately. She apparently agreed.”
