Malcolm looked around the ballroom.He knew Philip had been interested in getting to know the different women who had arrived at the house party, that he had wanted to snare one of the heiresses for himself, potentially.But Malcolm had not had much confidence that his brother would be successful in that endeavor.
“Yes, you’ve said that Maven disapproves of your plans.”
“She doesn’t want me to marry for money,” Philip whispered.“And it’s deuced inconvenient.Because I am half sure that Miss Jones or Lady Daisy would have me.Maybe not Lady Daisy.But Miss Jones, certainly.Or at least with a little more devotion.”
This assessment of probable success rather surprised Malcolm.“Doesn’t Miss Jones want to marry George?”
Philip rolled his eyes.“Don’t be so naïve, Malcolm.She wants to marry someone, first and foremost.She’s four-and-twenty, which is a different matter for a lady than it is for a gentleman.And a brother to a marchioness would do quite nicely.Even an illegitimate one.Yes, I’m sure she would prefer George, and the estate that comes with him.But if she can’t get George, then she wouldn’t mind settling for me.”
“Would you really want to marry a woman who would merely be settling for you?”
Philip’s eyes goggled.“If she has thirty thousand pounds, Malcolm, certainly.I would be leisured for life.”
“And that is all you care for?”
Philip crossed his arms.“You do not consider my situation, Malcolm.You do not understand.You have a purpose here at Parkhorne.You’ve always known what you wanted.And even you have connections, of a sort.Your grandfather was a gentleman, or near enough.And I know about the fine little bundle that you’ve saved.You’re not the penniless steward you pretend to be.”
Malcolm was caught between sympathy and irritation.He didn’t like his brother referencing what he had managed to save for himself, as if it were some great advantage.It wasn’t nearly enough to be meaningful in society.For a lady like Scarlett, for instance.And he didn’t want to think about that.Not now.
And yet he knew Philip was not totally wrong.Of all of them, only Sally’s and Philip’s mothers had truly come from the lower orders.Philip’s mother was the lowest of all, perhaps.She had been a poor cottager’s daughter, a young thing, whom their father had ruined one fine spring day.Unlike his mother, she had survived giving birth to him, but then she and her whole family had been killed by a fever weeks later.Philip had been raised by a local woman who took in orphans until Beatrice had been able to extract him and bring him to the hall.
In this respect, he understood Philip’s hunger.He wanted a place, a foothold, to finally belong in the new world he had been ushered into at the age of six.
He clasped his hand on the younger man’s shoulder.“Then marry Miss Jones, brother.Why should it matter what Miss Larchman has to say of it?”
To his surprise, his brother didn’t look mollified.Instead, he batted off his hand and walked away.
And that was when he saw her.
Scarlett.
She had changed into a gown he had never seen before—and she looked…
Well, he wanted to get down on his hands and knees and crawl to her.He wanted to beg her to tell him what it would take for her to never leave his side.
Money?Jewels?Rank?
He would give it all to her, somehow, if it meant she would choose him.
Malcolm moved toward her, his movement across the room feeling involuntary.
When he arrived in front of her, there was only one thing to say.“Will you dance with me, Miss Perkins?”
She smiled at him nervously, as if she didn’t know how beautiful she looked, as if she had no idea he would give anything he had to be hers.
“Yes, please.”
He swept her onto the floor, where the strains of a waltz were just now picking up.
Her dress was a deep bluish-green with a bodice cut lower than any other he had ever seen her wear.God, what he wouldn’t give to strip it off her and bury his head between her breasts.He would worship her forever if only she would let him.
“Have you just arrived?”
“Yes,” she said, not meeting his eyes.“It took Tilly and I longer to dress than we anticipated.”
“You are so beautiful, Scarlett.”
She blushed, that becoming flush that so undid him.“You do not need to flatter me.”
