Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (117 page)

fortune. She was nineteen and her

life was about to be over.

She gave them each a curt nod of her head. 'I give you good day', then she turned hard on her heel and exited the room before either of them could see the fright they'd wrought in her with their thoughtless negotiations.

Once in her room, Julia locked the door and leaned against its solid oak panelling, taking comfort from the thickness of the wood. The little ormolu clock on the table beneath the window suggested the whole reprehensible interview had taken a short twenty minutes. It was barely eleven o'clock in the morning and her life was nearly ruined. The good news was that her life was only 'nearly' ruined.

It could have been worse, she supposed. Oswalt and her uncle could have signed the contracts already.

Oswalt could have

with a licence and vicar in

tow and married her in the study.

Julia shuddered and thought uncharitably that the

14

Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

scenario was unlikely since his coveted physician wouldn't have been on hand to certify her virginal status. Five days. That was all the time left to her, barring the unforeseen circumstance that the physician return to town earlier or that Mortimer Oswalt's need for haste caused him to engage another physician who wasn't on holiday.

This was a time for action unless she reconciled herself to a life under Oswalt's rule and hoped he didn't live very long. It was clear from events in the study that neither protests nor legislation would avail her now. It was true, a law had been passed that allowed people to marry without parental consent, but it didn't
prevent
parental arrangement of her marriage to another.

Her uncle's financial situation had been made painfully clear as well as the reason for her Season in London. She was the one thing her uncle had left to pawn. He'd used her on the Marriage Mart to garner an offer that would save the family from penury.

Not for the first time, Julia cursed her unusual beauty.

Ever since she'd turned fourteen and started to come into her womanly form, her looks had held an appeal for men that she could not understand. When she looked in the mirror, she saw a normal girl with green eyes that tilted up slightly at the comers, a mouth that might be described as wide, and a heap of red-brown curls her cousins often teased looked like the hue of autumn leaves. But

been local callers aplenty at the Grange where they lived when she started receiving last Christmas and her dance card had been full at the local

Scott

assemblies. It had been the same in London after her presentation at court.

She knew, although it was difficult to admit, that this proposal from Oswalt wasn't the first time her uncle had used her looks to ward off a financial situation. It had never- been as

as it was now, but he'd sent her- to the village on several occasions, telling her to talk to the merchants to whom he owed money, to see if they'd extend his credit a little longer.

Julia paced the chamber, her fright giving way to anger. She would not allow herself be used again in such a shameless manner. They would have to tie her up and drag her from this house in order to see her wed to Oswalt. She stopped pacing. It would come to exactly that, she was sure of it. Dragging her to the altar, literally, would be just one of the many indignities she would be put through this week if she remained.

Her options hit her with startling clarity. If she stayed at her uncle's rented town house as a virginal tante, she would have no way to fight her wedding to Oswalt. There was nothing for it. She would have to find a way on her own to break the contract. There would be severe consequences, but she would suffer them.

Immediately, her mind raced over her options. The most obvious option was to run away. Where could she go?

Who could help her? She sat down on the bed and sighed.

She had no answers to
any
of those questions, but it hardly mattered. She was far too bright to ignore the reality. If she was discovered at any point, she would be brought back to London and forced to fulfil her uncle's contract.

16

Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

No, running away wasn't a valid choice. Julia prided herself on being practical. If she was honest now, she had to admit that the prospect of successfully eluding Oswalt, who would most likely hire professionals to hunt her down, was a slim one indeed. She had learned much during her short time in London, but she had not learned enough to hide herself indefinitely, or at least until her twenty-fourth birthday, which marked the end of her uncle's guardianship. Even then, she wasn't certain being four and twenty would nullify her uncle's contract with Oswalt.

She stood up and started pacing again. 'Think, Julia, think. How do you get out of the contract?' She mumbled to herself. She could use the 1823 legislation and marry another. Her uncle couldn't stop her. She discarded that notion immediately. Where would she find a husband in five days who would be willing to risk marriage against a

contract?

husband might be too ambitious on short notice, but one didn't need a husband to be ruined. She could cast aspersions on her suitability. That option might work.

plan began to form.

There was a rout tonight at Lady

It would

be well attended and many of the beaus who made up her court would be there. She would lure one of them out on to the terrace, coax a walk in the garden, flirt with him a bit and make sure they were found in a compromising situation.

Yes.

No.