“I was going to saynot suitable.”He crossed his arms over his chest.“Tell me how you really feel.Don’t hold back.”
“It’s Tuesday, you know.”Ralph said, rocking back on his heels.“You could still make it.The appointed time is in an hour.”
Wyatt shook his head.The idea was absurd.But then again, so was this daily conversation.And Ralph had a point.If the woman wasn’t awful, the idea of a quick and easy arrangement had potential.He could make a match, make an heir, and skip most of the unpleasantries that he’d had to experience the first time around.And he’d be able to continue his work once there was an heir.“If I go, will you cease your constant bellyaching?”
Ralph shrugged.“For a time anyway.”
“Why do I keep you around?”
“For the same reason I nag you.We’re all the family the other has left.”
That was the truth.Which was why he reached for his shirt.“Fine, I’ll go.But I’m not making any promises beyond that.”
Ralph gave a curt nod, attempting to hide his smile.“Good.”Then he went back to brushing Wyatt’s boots.“And don’t forget to be nice.Nicer than you are to me, anyhow.”
Wyatt lifted a single brow.While the papers made him look like a hero, women who met him without a mask on his face considered him anything but.“It might take more than nice to convince her I’d make a good choice for a husband.”
Ralph looked down at the paper.“She advertised inThe Times.Clearly she’s desperate.”
“Your faith in me is so generous.”
“I don’t think it’s my faith that is the problem,” Ralph answered before he turned and left Wyatt.Who still wasn’t dressed.
“I really need to fire you.”
But he knew he wouldn’t just like he knew that he’d attend the meeting with this mysterious woman because Ralph was right.Ralph was the only family that Wyatt had.He’d have to marry and make an heir at some point and he might as well make Ralph happy by taking this easy first step.
CHAPTERTWO
Priscilla stoodnext to a bunch of bushes, hunching down so that she might remain partially hidden.She peeked around the hedge, watching the entrance to the rose garden.
Beside her, Clara held a copy ofThe Times.“I expected your ad to be larger.”
Priscilla waved her hand, not bothering to look at the paper, instead she kept her gaze trained on the entrance.“All advertisements are the same size.”
“True.And if you’d made it larger, you might have called undo attention to your unconventional methods.”
Unconventional methodsmeant that she’d behaved in manner most would find untoward.Society would label her with all sorts of unattractive names if they found out what she’d done.Normally she didn’t care about them, but if this plan didn’t work, she’d need to find another way to marry and she might need society then.Another reason she was hiding in the bushes.She wouldn’t put it past some gossiping biddies to come today to find out who had placed the ad.“Eugene barely allowed me to come here today under the guise of walking through the park with you when it would be near empty.”
“He didn’t see the advertisement, I’m assuming?”
“He’s spoken loudly and often about how he finds them untoward and therefore doesn’t read them.Fortunately for me.”
“Are you certain you don’t want to ask Brax for help?”Brax was their friend Mona’s husband.A duke, and while he couldn’t change the law, he might be able to provide a suitor.Possibly.
She winced.She’d also be leaning on Mona, recently wed and embroiling her new husband into her family affairs.“If this doesn’t work then perhaps I’ll have no choice.”
Clara looked up from the paper.“Have you seen any men who look as though they might be answering your ad?”
Priscilla shook her head.“Not yet.”Most of society didn’t utilize the park until later when it was more fashionable, so the courtyard before the garden was completely empty.She’d chosen a quiet time of the day for two reasons.One, Eugene had been more likely to consent, and two, she hadn’t wished to accidentally approach a man who was just out for a stroll and propose marriage to him accidentally.
That might get awkward.
“While you wait,” Clara started, “I’ll read you this article on that man they’re calling the Bushy Hero.”
“Bushy Hero?”she asked, looking away from the entrance for the first time since they’d arrived.“What a terrible name.”But even with her scathing comment, the tiniest thrill down her spine made her straighten.Did the man save ladies with terrible guardians?Then she chastised herself.She didn’t need a hero.She was going to save herself.“Do they call him that because of his hair?”
Clara pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.They were supposed to be somewhat hidden after all.“No.I believe he saved the first would-be victim in Bushy Park a few months ago.”
