Chapter Three
Piers watched the lady as she hurried out of the ballroom. Why was she crying? He scanned the room, but there was no clue as to what had happened. No one was snickering or laughing at her. No one was even looking in the direction she’d gone.
“While our wives go to their friends, why don’t we see if Lord Erandon is here?” Lord Edon asked.
Piers glanced over at Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson.
“Are you sure you don’t want to see if your father-in-law is here?” Mr. Robinson asked Lord Edon with a smirk. “It might be nice if you knew which side of the room to avoid.”
“I’m safe tonight,” Lord Edon replied. “He has decided to stay home with my mother.”
“Ah, fortune’s on your side then.”
“It is.” Lord Edon’s gaze went to Piers. “What do you say? Want to see if any of the interesting gentlemen from White’s are here?”
Piers glanced back at the entrance of the ballroom. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much that a lady had run out of the room in tears, but he had the nagging feeling that he should make sure she was all right.
“I need to do something,” he told Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson. “Why don’t I meet you later? I won’t be long.”
Mr. Robinson’s eyebrows rose in interest. “Is your betrothed somewhere in the room?”
Lord Edon’s eyes twinkled. “Are you going to have a private rendezvous with her?”
“This is just something I have to do,” Piers replied, dodging their questions the best he could.
Mr. Robinson winked at Lord Edon then said, “All right. You may sneak off. Just be careful in case a scandal breaks out.”
Piers blanched. “You two wouldn’t do that to me, would you?”
“Of course not,” Mr. Robinson assured him. “I don’t want to interrupt a gentleman when he’s having a private moment with his betrothed. As far as we’re concerned, we have no idea where you are.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Have a good time.”
Piers would rather die than do the very thing the two thought he was running off to do in another person’s townhouse, but since they had promised to keep quiet, he decided to let them think what they wanted. It was better than the truth anyway. Everything he’d ever done was boring. He was sure that running after a lady to make sure she was all right was just another boring thing to add to the list.
“I’ll be back soon,” he told them.
“Not too soon, I hope,” Mr. Robinson said. “She should enjoy it.”
Glad no one else had overheard him, Piers left the ballroom. He scanned the hallway for the lady. She’d been wearing a blue gown. Her gloves had been white. She had blonde hair that had been hanging down in soft waves down her back.
He didn’t find her right away. He was ready to give up when he caught sight of her sitting on one of the chairs in the hallway. She was sobbing quietly into a handkerchief, ignoring people’s curious glances as they walked past her.
Granted, no one was going to cry scandal if he were to go over and talk to her, but it was still awkward to approach her with so many others around.
He almost turned back, but something—something he couldn’t explain—tugged at him to go to her. This was ridiculous. He’d never felt such an unexpected pull before. His mother would have called it the lure of fate. He didn’t give into such nonsense, of course. His world was built on reason and fact. He didn’t concern himself with silly notions like destiny and fate. But he knew he wasn’t going to feel right with himself unless he did the right thing and tried to comfort the lady.
In a surprising burst of determination, he bypassed the others and approached her. “Mind if I sit?” he asked.
The lady looked up at him, her tearful eyes wide in surprise.
He was struck by how green her eyes were. He’d only read of how amazing the Irish green landscape was, but he imagined her eyes were a brilliant green like the color found in that country.
“Do I know you?” she asked.
Blinking, he shook his head. “No. I saw you back there.” He pointed to the ballroom and cleared his throat. “In there. You accidentally bumped into me. Since you were upset, I thought I might be able to…” His face warmed. Now he was just blabbering on like a fool. “It just seemed like you could use someone to talk to, and I’m a good listener.”
He offered her what was probably an awkward smile. He’d never had any luck when it came to talking to ladies. They were never interested in any of his books, and his world was so small that he had no better topic to spice up the conversation. Maybe if he tried something different, if he listened for a change, he might seem interesting. Or maybe not. Maybe he would only make a fool of himself no matter what he did.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t be nosy. It’s your business. Forgive me. I’ll leave you alone.”
He started to walk back to the ballroom when she called out, “Wait.”
He paused and turned back to her.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone,” she said.
Still feeling as if he’d acted like a fool, he returned to her and sat in the chair next to hers. Since her handkerchief was damp, he offered her his dry one. “You can have this.”
“Thank you.” She accepted it and wiped her eyes.
“I’m Lord Whitney.”
“I’m Lady Stacey.”
“So your father is a duke?”
She nodded. “He’s the Duke of Cathorn.”
The Duke of Cathorn? He wasn’t familiar with him. “Is he a member of White’s?”
“No.”
That explained it. He did very little outside of White’s. After a moment, he asked, “Are you crying because of something that happened between you two?”
Her gaze went to the handkerchief in her hands. “I can’t do anything to please him. Sometimes I want to run off, but I have nowhere to go. I’m just stuck. It’s the most frustrating thing in the world when you try to please someone and it doesn’t work.”
He could definitely relate to that. Besides his parents, no one had ever cared about him on his own merit.
She wiped more tears away. “This is my third Season. After this, I won’t have a chance of getting married so I can get away from him.” She sighed. “Isn’t that awful? No child should want to get away from her own father.”
He was ready to comment that it was awful when he picked up something else she had said. “You’re not married?”
“If I was, I wouldn’t have come to this ball with my father.”
“Are you betrothed to anyone?”
She shook her head and dabbed more tears away.
He hesitated to continue with the sudden thought he had. It was a ridiculous thought. An absurd one. No decent gentleman would do it, and he had always considered himself to be a decent gentleman.
But then, he’d already lied about being betrothed. It was only a matter of time until he had to come up with a lady. Otherwise, Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson were going to find out he hadn’t been telling them the truth, and if that happened, he would lose the friendships he had gained.
Maybe this was fate. Maybe she was the answer to the problem he had. Maybe he was the answer to the problem she had. He certainly wouldn’t mind helping her get out of the situation with her father. Perhaps she’d be willing to help him, too.
He glanced around to make sure no one was listening to them before he said, “I might have a solution to your problem. I don’t have a father who’s hard to please, but I do have a hard time making friends.” Face warm from embarrassment, he hurried to add, “I’m boring. All I do is read books, and no one’s interested in ancient civilizations. I have nothing worthwhile to offer, and other gentlemen know that. I told the members of White’s I was betrothed because most of them have wives. I thought it would finally give me something in common with them, and the ploy worked. For the first time, I feel like I’m a part of White’s. Anyway, I made up the betrothal. The truth is, I don’t really have someone. That puts me in a predicament.”
“You want me to be the lady you’re betrothed to?” she asked.
“Only for pretend. None of it has to be real. I can find a way to end the engagement before it comes to an actual wedding. If the gentlemen were to meet you, then they wouldn’t know I made the lady up. And in return, I could help you get away from your father. That way you get something out of this, too. I can give you enough money so you can live comfortably on your own for the rest of your life.”
She bit her lower lip.
His shoulders sagged. “You’re right. The idea is stupid.”
“No, it’s not stupid. I’d be willing to do it. I’m just not sure how I can get away from my father because there really won’t be a marriage. He controls everything I do.” After a moment, she said, “I have a distant cousin in America. He said that he and his wife could use a nanny for their children. My father would never follow me to America.”
“I can pay for you to go to America.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be only me. I’d want to take my mother with me. I couldn’t leave without her.” She wrapped the handkerchief around her fingers. “I don’t know if I should impose. That’s a lot to ask of you.”
“No, no it’s not. I have enough money. I was willing to see to your comfort for the rest of your life. A passage for you and your mother to America so you can be with your cousin would be fine.”
She hesitated. A few seconds passed before she looked in the direction of the ballroom. Then a few more seconds passed before she finally nodded. “All right. You have a deal.”
Surprised it was that easy, he asked, “I do?”
She smiled and wiped the rest of her tears away. “You have no idea how much I needed someone like you to come into my life.”
In that case, he had been right to follow his instincts. It really seemed like fate was working in his life after all. “Thank you.”
“I should thank you. This is the answer to my prayers.”
“Should I send you a missive or come to your townhouse so we can discuss this arrangement in more detail?”
“Well, since we are to pretend we’re betrothed, would you be willing to ask my father if you can have my hand in marriage? He’ll say yes. You don’t have to worry about that. I can’t have you paying me a visit unless we do things the way he’d want them, and he’d want you to seek his permission before being my suitor.”
He considered her words and realized she made a good point. He didn’t know the first thing about courting a lady. “I hadn’t thought of that. Yes, I’ll do as you suggested. How should I approach him? Should I ask him this evening?”
“No. You should write to him first and then see him when he tells you to come to the townhouse. My father is very formal about everything.”
“All right. I’ll send him a missive tomorrow. Then we’ll arrange a time to talk.”
Looking happier, she nodded.
He stood up, and to his surprise, she reached for his hand. He turned back to her. “Did I miss something?”
She released his hand. “I was just thinking that it might be more convincing to my father if he saw us sharing a dance tonight.”
If her father saw them dancing, then Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson would see them, too. His betrothal was supposed to be a secret. Would this somehow ruin things on his end?
He glanced back at the ballroom, and though he couldn’t be sure, he thought he saw Mr. Robinson duck his head back inside it. Both Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson thought he was meeting up with the lady he was supposed to be marrying. If he was right—if that really was Mr. Robinson who’d been spying on him—then it would help his case if he danced with Lady Stacey later this evening.
He turned his attention back to her. “Can you be at the front of the ballroom in half an hour?”
“Yes, I can be there.”
“Good. I’ll come up to you and ask you to dance then.”
Before Mr. Robinson could come out and interrupt them, he hurried back into the ballroom and made a beeline straight for the punch.
As he suspected, Mr. Robinson went over to him. “You’re to marry Lady Stacey.”
Piers filled up his cup with the punch then put his fingers to his lips. “Don’t say that so loud. Her father isn’t ready to announce it yet.”
Mr. Robinson laughed. “If you really wanted to keep it a secret, you should have been in a more private place.”
“And risk a scandal? For all anyone knows, I was consoling an upset lady.”
“That’s a sneaky trick. She pretends to bump into you, and you leave to comfort her. I wouldn’t have taken you for the type to be so smart, but I will say that was a very clever tactic.”
“And one that must be kept a secret. Until her father is ready to say something, this can’t get out.”
“Who am I to get in the way of true love? I won’t say a word to anyone but Lord Edon.”
“No. You mustn’t even tell him.”
“But he and I don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“You can tell him after her father is ready to go public about the marriage.”
Mr. Robinson let out a long sigh. “All right. You seem desperate enough to keep things quiet, so I’ll abide by your decision.”
Relieved, Piers thanked him then took a drink of the punch.
“I hope this announcement will be made public soon,” Mr. Robinson said. “It won’t be easy to keep the secret.”
“There’s just a matter of her father and me having one more conversation. Everything should be ready soon.”
And hopefully, it would be as easy to get the duke’s blessing on the marriage as Lady Stacey thought it’d be. Piers figured she knew her father better than he did. If she said her father would agree to the marriage, then he was going to take her word for it. He drank the rest of the punch.
If he wasn’t so afraid alcohol would make him say more than necessary, he would have added some brandy or sherry to it. His nerves were on edge. Now that he had found a lady to agree to the charade, he was more nervous than ever because now they both had to appear together in public. God willing, no one would suspect they were only pretending to be engaged.