His Reluctant Lady (2 page)

Ethan strode over to them, and she
couldn’t help but notice the wide smile on his face. “You’re
unusually happy,” she commented, continuing to lower her voice for
Mister Robinson’s benefit.

“
It’s a pleasant day,” he
replied with a shrug. “The sun’s out, people are smiling, colors
are more vibrant—”

Mister Robinson laughed. “Colors are
more vibrant?”

“
They are,” Ethan insisted,
looking as serious as a gentleman could be.

Amused, the corners of her lips turned
up. “I think your wife has something to do with that ridiculous
grin on your face.”

“
And to think that just two
months ago, you were bemoaning the fact that you had to go to the
church to read the Banns,” Mister Robinson continued.

“
He was bemoaning it?” she
asked.

“
His bride was crying, his
father-in-law was glowering at him, and he kept wincing as if he
were in pain.”

She joined Mister Robinson in laughing.
“That must have been a sight! I’m sorry I missed it.” And truly,
she was. Not that she wanted to see Ethan suffer, but since neither
the bride nor the groom wanted to get married, it had to have been
funny to watch the ordeal taking place.

To his credit, Ethan gave a nonchalant
shrug. “There might have been a little uncertainty going
in.”

“
Your bride sobbed through
the whole thing,” Mister Robinson added, which made her laugh
harder than before.

“
Tears of joy…at least as
time went on,” Ethan replied. “However, I’m not here to discuss my
marriage.” He turned to her. “I hear you have a manuscript for
me.”

She immediately sobered. Perhaps
laughing at the way Ethan’s wedding played out wasn’t a good idea
since he could easily let it slip she wasn’t really Gilbert. “Yes.
I appreciate you taking the time to do this.”

“
Do what?” Mister Robinson
asked as she handed the manuscript to Ethan.

She hesitated to speak, but Ethan
answered for her. “I know the publisher of Minerva Press and told
him I knew a talented author whose manuscript I’d deliver to
him.”

“
Just because he knows the
publisher, it doesn’t mean he’ll accept my manuscript,” she
clarified. “He rejected the other manuscripts I wrote.”

“
If you don’t mind my being
so bold, what do you write?” Mister Robinson asked her.

Though her face warmed, she admitted,
“Gothic fiction with some,” she lowered her voice, “romance in
it.”

“
Some what?”

She glanced at Ethan who didn’t seem to
mind the fact that Mister Robinson was making her uncomfortable.
Well, it was payback for the way she laughed about his crying
bride. Taking a deep breath, she forced out, “It has romance in
it.” There. Now he could judge her in the same way others judged
all authors who dared to write such novels.

To her surprise, he didn’t seem
appalled. Instead, he looked intrigued. “What is that book
about?”

“
The usual. A castle
reported to be haunted, a heroine whose life is in danger, a hero
who saves her,” she mumbled. “Things you wouldn’t be interested
in.” Before he could express his disgust, she added, “I must take
my leave. Thank you, Lord Edon,” she told Ethan. Bowing to them,
she wished them a good day and hurried back to her
townhouse.

Chapter Two

“
Isn’t it splendid?” Sophie
asked in excitement as Agatha entered Lord Roderick’s ballroom.
“Thank you for coming with me.”

“
I suppose this is doable,”
Agatha relented.

“
Doable? It’s
grand!”

Turning her attention from the enormous
chandelier to her sister, Agatha smiled. “I meant that being here
isn’t as dreadful as I thought it’d be. You know I don’t care much
for the marriage mart, but there are enough married couples here so
it’s bearable.”

“
There are married couples
at every ball.”

Agatha was tempted to argue that this
one seemed to have more than others but decided to let the comment
go. “Is there anyone in particular who strikes your
fancy?”

Sophie scanned the room. “Lord Dabney
is rather fetching.”

She followed her sister’s gaze and saw
a blonde gentleman who was talking to Mister Robinson. She
recognized Mister Robinson from when she met him earlier that day
in her disguise. He’d be much more suited for her sister,
considering he was probably twenty. Plus, he had dark hair. Agatha
always fancied dark hair on a gentleman. Too bad he didn’t have a
title.

“
I enjoyed dancing with Lord
Dabney last time I went to a ball,” her sister said, interrupting
her thoughts. “He tells magnificent stories.”

“
What kind of
stories?”

“
Stories he’s read. He loves
to read. Take me over there, Agatha! Maybe he’ll ask me to
dance.”

Clasping her hands together, Agatha
tried to determine the likelihood that Mister Robinson would
recognize her. She thought her disguise was good, but she didn’t
think it was so good that he wouldn’t figure out her real identity
if he saw her again so soon—even if she was now dressed as a lady.
“Maybe we should wait. You don’t want to seem too
eager.”

“
Please, Agatha,” her sister
pressed. “I’d be ever so grateful.”

“
If you are too eager, he’ll
lose interest. Gentlemen prefer to pursue rather than be
pursued.”

“
But if he must pursue too
much, he’s bound to lose interest.”

“
You are determined to do
this, aren’t you?” Sophie offered a hopeful smile, and despite her
better judgment, Agatha felt her resolve crumbling. “Very well.
We’ll stroll by the gentlemen and let them notice us.”

She got ready to cheer, but when Agatha
shot her a warning look, she restrained her enthusiasm. Agatha
casually made her way around the room, exchanging pleasantries with
others as she and her sister passed them by. To her sister’s
credit, she followed suit and lingered a bit when Agatha stopped to
engage in small talk.

When they finally reached Mister
Robinson and Lord Dabney, Agatha slowed her steps. She tapped her
sister’s arm so she wouldn’t go running into Lord Dabney’s arms
since Sophie had quickened her pace. She gave her sister a slight
shake of her head, and her sister stopped.

“
I believe the particular
book you’re looking for is at the Subscription Library,” Agatha
said in a voice loud enough to catch the gentlemen’s attention.
When they paused to glance her way, she offered an apologetic
smile. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to speak so loudly.”

“
No apologies are
necessary,” Lord Dabney replied, turning to them. “You’re familiar
with the Subscription Library?”

“
Yes.” She made it her
business to know everything about places that sold books, but he
didn’t need to know this. Instead, she motioned to Sophie. “This is
my sister’s first Season, and I’m afraid her time in London has
been limited mostly to social pursuits rather than
reading.”

“
And you’re hoping to
rectify that?” he asked.

Sensing that he was taking too far of
an interest in her since he barely glanced in her sister’s
direction, Agatha gestured to her again. “Of course. She loves
reading but hasn’t been able to do much of it because of the
Season.”

“
That’s a shame,” he said,
his gaze lingering on Agatha. “I can’t imagine a day without a good
book.”

“
You enjoy reading?” Mister
Robinson asked Sophie.

“
Yes, I do,” Sophie
replied.

“
I’m a literature enthusiast
as well,” Lord Dabney said, finally directing his attention at
Sophie. “What do you read?”

Agatha silently thanked Mister Robinson
for taking Lord Dabney’s focus off of her.

Sophie blushed and shifted from one
foot to the other. “I read respectable books, I assure
you.”

Agatha’s smile froze on her face. Of
all the things she could say, she had to slip that comment
in.

“
My favorites include
histories and compositions by philosophers like Pluto.”

“
Plato,” Agatha quickly
corrected her and laughed. “My sister likes to tell
jokes.”

“
Oh, yes.” Sophie let out a
nervous laugh, her cheeks turning a brighter shade of pink than
before.

After a moment, Lord Dabney chuckled.
“I get it. You changed Plato’s name on purpose.”

“
Yes,” she assured
him.

“
Well, I prefer books of a
different sort,” Mister Robinson spoke up.

“
Is this something you
should mention in the presence of a lady?” Lord Dabney
asked.

“
I don’t see why not since
ladies are likely to read for entertainment. I prefer fiction. I
find it’s a nice escape.”

“
Oh, those types of books,”
he said in a bored tone that made Agatha inwardly wince. “I suppose
it suits some, but I read to improve my mind.”

Mister Robinson laughed. “You can
improve your mind with fiction.”

“
How?”

“
Well, for one, you’d be
more interesting to talk to,” he joked.

The others laughed, and Agatha was
secretly pleased that Mister Robinson spoke up on behalf of
fiction.

“
However,” Mister Robinson
continued, “I’d rather dance than spend the whole night talking.”
He looked at Agatha. “I’m afraid I haven’t had the pleasure of
learning your name.”

Surprised he should direct his
attention at her, Agatha stumbled on what words to say. Sophie got
the words out for her. “This is my sister, Lady
Richfield.”

“
Oh,” he replied. “Are you
the daughter of a duke?”

“
No,” Agatha said when she
finally found her voice. “I’m the widow of an earl. I’m not here
for a husband. I’m only here to chaperone my sister.” Usually, she
wouldn’t be so bold, but she saw no reason to let either gentleman
attempt to marry her for her money—and she had more than enough to
entice anyone.

“
There’s no harm in a dance,
though,” Mister Robinson said.

“
No, I suppose not,” she
agreed.

“
Splendid. Lord Dabney, why
don’t you dance with her sister?”

Lord Dabney nodded and turned to
Sophie. “I’d be delighted if you’d share a dance with me, Miss
Garrison.”

Agatha’s eyebrows rose in interest. The
fact that he remembered her name was a promising sign. Sophie
smiled at him before she accepted his arm.

Mister Robinson offered his arm to
Agatha. “Now that I’ve made sure Lord Dabney is distracted, may I
have the honor?”

She took his arm and went to the area
where couples were dancing. “You wanted to make sure he was
distracted?”

“
He was ready to ask you to
dance, which I’m sure you already knew.”

“
No, I didn’t already know
that.”

“
Oh, come now. You’re not so
innocent. You are familiar enough with gentlemen to know when one
has taken an interest in you.”

As they began their dance, she replied,
“It seems you’ve taken such an interest.”

“
Guilty. I won’t deny it.
But I promise I won’t try to marry you tonight.”

“
Good because you won’t have
a chance of succeeding.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know, Lady
Richfield. I can’t resist a challenge.”

“
Other gentlemen have said
the same thing before. And all have failed.”

“
Well, I’m not like other
gentlemen.”

She studied his expression, trying to
determine if he was serious or joking. The only thing she could
detect from him was an air of confidence and a twinkle in his eye,
and the two seemed to contradict each other for some reason.
Venturing for better insight into his motivations, she said, “In
case you were wondering about the rumors, it’s true I am wealthier
than half the gentlemen in this room.”

“
Money has its advantages,
but I suspect your real value lies elsewhere.”

What did he mean by that? She narrowed
her eyes at him. “Care to explain that remark?”

With an annoying grin, he said,
“No.”

“
Why not?”

“
I don’t feel like
it.”

“
But it’s not fair of you to
say something if you had no intention of disclosing what you meant
by it,” she protested, finding him both irritating and undeniably
fascinating at the same time.

“
I don’t recall saying I was
fair.” The dance ended and he bowed. “Lady Richfield, it’s been a
pleasure.”

“
For you, I suppose,” she
muttered, gauging his reaction at her curt reply.

His smile widened and he winked. “You
will be a most delightful challenge indeed.”

She gave the obligatory curtsy and
strolled away from him, mindful to keep her pace slow so he
wouldn’t realize he managed to do what no other gentleman had done
before. He intrigued her. But she knew better than to let him know
that.