The stranger tilted his head, eyes studying me, before allowing himself a light laugh. “Well, then, in that case, allow me to seek out another pair and deliver them to you. Where will you be staying?”
“If it is so easy for you to secure another pair of gloves, can you not give me the one in your hand and seek out another for yourself?” I bit my lip. I had little experience swaying men, charming them even, and if London was any judge, I failed more than I succeeded.
“I’m afraid I am pressed for time. If these gloves were not so desperately desired, I believe you would be well worth the scolding.” A teasing glint sparkled in his eyes.
The nerve of this man! Did he wish to humiliate me? I’d all but begged for his mercy and was refused, and now, mortified. What a terrible advocate I was turning out to be.
“Name your price.” I lifted my reticule, praying silently this was not a man of too great a fortune or I would make myself into an even greater fool to deny him. But how could Clara face Sir Ronald without gloves? We would be finished before we even began. “I must have those gloves.”
“You reject my money and offer me yours?” He narrowed his gaze almost pityingly. “Money is not something I have in short supply. I am sorry, but I must insist on maintaining my hold.”
I frowned dejectedly, heat flaming up my neck. I could not argue with him without risk of further embarrassment. “Good day to you,” I said, managing a brief curtsy.
Snatching a peach-colored ribbon from the table, I hurried to the front of the store. I would not return to Clara empty-handed.
“Wait,” he called after me. But I did not spare a second glance.
Just as I rounded the corner to the counter, the arrogant man quickened his pace and stole ahead of me. I imagined pushing him aside and demanding service, but he was already in conversation with the clerk. For all his charm, he was decidedly not a gentleman in the honorable sense of the word. I gritted my teeth.
After paying his fees, he took the brown paper package from the clerk and turned to me again, a gentleness touching his voice. “You must tell me where you are staying. I want to make this right for you, and for your sister.”
“You are being impertinent. I do not know you at all, sir. And honestly, after this interaction, I do not wish to.” Humiliation welled in my chest like a fire that refused to be extinguished, and I choked on the fumes.
“Allow me to change your mind. At least tell me your name.” He stepped sideways, blocking me from moving forward to the clerk with my ribbon.
“I rarely change my mind. Do not waste your time. Excuse me.” I lifted the ribbon in my hand to the clerk, but the presumptuous man grabbed my arm.
“Your name?”
“Amelia,” I said curtly. Impertinence matched with impertinence. Knowing only my Christian name would not help him find me. “My name is Amelia.”
I elbowed him aside and opened my reticule as the clerk packaged up Clara’s new ribbon.
“I hope I see you again, Amelia,” the man said.
Staring straight at the clerk, I waited for the clang of the closing door. Satisfied that the man had departed, I finally let out the breath I’d been holding.
The clerk handed me a brown package. “Good day to you, miss.”
“I have not yet paid, sir.” I rolled the package over in my hands. It was much too big to contain one small ribbon.
“The gentleman added your ribbon with his others and paid for you. Good day.”
I stood, mouth agape, as the clerk returned to his paperwork as though nothing amiss had happened, and an anger rose in my chest that rivaled even Lord Gray’s foulest of moods. Who was this man? Had I not plainly told him I was uninterested in his money or his help? I bolted toward the door, furiously bent on finding him, on telling that irritable man exactly what I thought of him and his unwanted recompense.
But he was gone.
Chapter Three
“Perhaps they are poor, Amelia. His sister could well have needed the gloves more than I,” Clara said after I told her of my encounter with the stranger.
“They are not poor.” I handed her the bag of ribbons, full to the brim. Apparently, the man had been quite generous.
Clara pulled them out one by one, exclaiming over the colors and fabric and praising the generosity of the man who’d denied her what she currently needed most. It was just like a man of wealth to think he could buy a good opinion with money, as though I would easily forget his selfishness. I shook my head to rid my thoughts of him. He’d made his choice, and he was gone. And there was only one thing I could do now.
“Here.” I pinched off my buff-colored gloves, handing them to Clara.
“What are you doing? I will not accept your gloves; it is my own fault mine are gone.” Clara shook her head, scooting away from me.
