Regency Romance: The Rake's Fake Marriage (Historical Arranged Marriage Romance) (19th Century Victorian Romance) (71 page)

Chapter Four

Rose recounted the conversation for Elizabeth the next day.

“I’m so glad you decided to stop in again today, Liz.” Rose set their
teas
in front of them with a platter of small cookies and cakes.

Elizabeth eyed the snacks hungrily, trying to decide what to
start with
. “These look delicious, don’t they?” She picked up a cookie
gingerly,
as if it might disintegrate before she had a chance to eat it. She took a bite, smiling at Rose. “I do like to come here whenever I can.
This is
the most relaxing atmosphere. You’ve done such a good job with it.”

Rose looked around. Richard had asked her a few months after his wife’s death to make the rooms they occupied as light and airy as possible, to keep the mood elevated. “Thank you.”

“Did you have a good evening last night?”

“I did.” Rose nodded. “I had a nice conversation with Richard.”

Elizabeth’s face lit up. “Did you?”

“Yes. We talked about the dances and his business. His…dreams, what he would like to be doing if he had a choice.”

“Richard doesn’t enjoy his position in the company?” Elizabeth looked surprised. “He’s never mentioned that to me.”

“He said he would rather be riding horses.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Oh, yes. I understand that. When he was young, he wanted to be a jockey. I remember.”

“That’s what he said.” Rose felt a little disappointed. For a moment, it seemed Richard had told her something he had not mentioned to anyone else before. If he hadn’t told Elizabeth, it would have been something very personal. She pushed the feeling away and smiled at Elizabeth. “It made me feel he does care about what I think. He was very relaxed when speaking to me.”

“Well, I think you would be an excellent choice for my
brother,
” Elizabeth said, firmly. “You should be dancing with him instead of Kathleen Caywood.”

They both laughed.

“I
truly
think many of the ladies are intimidated by the children.” Elizabeth looked out over the yard to where the children
were having
a picnic and playing.

“Why would they be intimidated?”

“It’s not often a woman will be willing to take on three children, especially when they are as smart and beautiful as these.” Elizabeth shook her head. “Even though Richard is notable and holds a position in society.”

“Surely that can’t be the case.”

“I think it’s also because Richard has very high standards.”

“He mentioned he didn’t want a strong-willed woman to come in and rule his house.”

Elizabeth nodded. “That sounds like him. He wants the children to be safe, loved and happy.
Kate was so good at making them smile.
She made them all smile.” She turned her eyes to Rose. “I notice that they smile at you the same way. You have done such
a wonderful
job keeping their spirits high
in
the face of it all.”

Rose sighed. “Thank you. It’s not difficult when they are already good-natured.”

“Hmmm…” Elizabeth had that look on her slender face again. She pursed her red lips, giving Rose
a direct
look. “I
am having
an idea.”

I can tell
, Rose thought and smiled at Elizabeth.

“What are you plotting now, Liz?” She asked.

Elizabeth sat forward, leaning toward Rose. “There’s a ball coming up. I am going to take you as my guest. Then you will have an opportunity to dance with Richard!”

Rose
was taken
aback. She raised her eyebrows. “How can that happen? What about the children?”

“I will find someone to care for them for the night. We won’t tell Richard until after the ball. We won’t go
until
after Richard leaves.”

“He may refuse to dance with me.” Rose
was nearly petrified
. Suppose he was angry about the whole thing and dismissed her? Last night, he seemed determined not to do such a thing but what if she pushed past her boundaries?

“It’s a masquerade ball. Night after tomorrow. You will be wearing a mask. He won’t even know it’s you!”

“Until I speak to him. I can’t just be silent the whole time.”

“Dance with him for a few minutes before you say anything.”

“I don’t know, Liz. Is this overstepping my boundaries?”

Elizabeth shook her head, dismissing the idea with a wave of her hand. “Nonsense! I think it would be a wonderful surprise for him. He is comfortable with you. You must take advantage of that if you want to get any further with him. I think it would be wonderful if he fell in love with you!”

Rose’s heart began to thump in her chest. The thought of Richard falling in love with her was almost more exciting than she could bear.

“It’s settled.” Elizabeth sat back. “I will bring you an outfit
tomorrow,
I have several you will
fit into
. We are about the same size, aren’t we? I’ll have Becky take it in if not.”

“Are you sure about this, Liz?”

“
Absolutely
sure
!”

Rose pulled in a deep breath and held it for a moment. She wondered if she would be able to dance with Richard without falling all over her own feet.

Richard dressed for the ball slowly, without much enthusiasm. It seemed strange to him that Elizabeth was not going with him. He pulled on his clean white shirt and began to button it. She hadn’t been on his back about dancing with as many of the Ladies as possible, either. In fact, she had completely stopped badgering him. He had no idea how to feel about that. He couldn’t imagine she had changed his mind about his situation or no longer cared. That simply wasn’t feasible. She had been pushing him for two Seasons relentlessly.

He picked up his jacket while reaching
into
his pocket for his watch. He flipped it open to see he had twenty minutes if he wanted to be on time. He sighed. Another boring night watching other people dance.
At least,
he would hear some good songs while he was there.

He would go to keep up appearances. He would smile and laugh. His place in society would
be maintained
.

He chuckled at his thoughts as he went out the door. It was too bad Rose was not one of the Ladies. Their conversation two nights ago had made him see her differently. He nodded at his driver and got in the carriage thinking about Rose. He had noticed many things over the last two days, things she had done or said that he hadn’t paid much attention to before. She was wonderful with his children, treating them as if they were her own. She was a good-looking woman, too, something he berated himself for never noticing before. He had stopped himself from saying something to that effect several times over the last two days.

He thought about her as he looked out of the carriage window, wondering what she would be doing tonight. If he had invited her, would she have come along? Probably not. She was not the kind of woman who would feel comfortable in an atmosphere like that. He wouldn’t want to subject her to feeling inadequate when, in fact, she was more than adequate.

He wished status didn’t mean so much to society. He wouldn’t allow Rose to feel less than another woman, simply because she didn’t have a title. She was a worthy
woman
.

By the time he got to the ballroom, he had made a solid case for Rose in his
own
mind. He would begin to talk to her more. He wanted to get to know her better.

He immediately got a drink and sat down at a table in the corner. If he wasn’t spotted by too many, he stood less of a chance having to do anything he didn’t want to do. He kept his eyes open for Elizabeth. She was coming
late,
and he wanted to talk to her about Rose. He knew they spent a lot of time
together,
and he valued her opinion. He also knew she would gladly give it.

He looked around at all of the masked people, Lords and Ladies that he knew but didn’t know and wondered how he would spot Elizabeth. Had he told her what his mask
looked like
? He couldn’t remember. He sighed. Maybe he would recognize her by the way she walked.

He focused on several women, wondering if she was Elizabeth each time. He nearly jumped out of his seat when a hand rested on his shoulder. He looked up at the woman who had touched him, hoping it was his sister.

“Richard.” He was relieved to hear Elizabeth’s voice.

“How did you know?” He asked.

“You told me, remember?” Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. “Over there. See her? Go ask her to dance. No one is asking her. She looks lonely.”

“How can you tell?” The woman’s mask was a dark velvet purple and covered most of her slender face.

Elizabeth laughed.

“Who is she? What’s her name?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just go ask her to dance. I was talking to
her,
and she seems very nice.”

“Has she been here before? Have I danced with her before?”

“Will you just go over there? Don’t make me take you by the hand and lead you,
brother,
that would look very strange, I think.”

Richard sighed.
This was
the Elizabeth he was used to. It appeared he’d gotten a short reprieve from her nagging.

“All right, all right.” He stood up and crossed the room, moving around people politely. When he reached her, he leaned over and held out his hand.

“Would you like to dance, my lady?”

Without a word, the woman smiled and gave him her hand. He led her onto the dance floor, where they waited a few seconds for the song to begin. Richard’s first thought when they
began
to dance was that the woman felt very comfortable in his arms. He wondered about her silence but was enjoying the dance too
much
to say anything about it. It was the first time he had danced in comfortable silence with a woman. His arm felt good around her waist.

He was surprised when the song was over. He didn’t want to stop dancing with the silent woman. Unable to contain himself, he bowed low to her and said, “That was a lovely dance, my lady. May I have your name?”

She smiled and laughed softly. She had been nervous the entire time but had enjoyed the dance more than she ever would have imagined. Now she would have to tell him who she was and had no idea how he would react.

“Please?” He prompted with a laugh of his own.

“It’s
Rose,
” she
said softly
.

He stared at her from behind his
own
mask. “Rose? My Rose?”

His use of the word “my” delighted her. She giggled and lifted her mask slightly so he could see who she was.

“Rose!” The way he said her name made it clear he was not unhappy that she was here. “I thought there was something familiar about you! I am glad you are here. I suppose Elizabeth brought you?”

“Yes, she did.”

“We must dance again, Rose. Would you like that?”

“I would very much like to.”

When the music started, they began to dance, his arm around her waist again. She thought she enjoyed that more than anything else.

“I have been thinking about you,
Rose,
” he said.

“Have you?”

“Yes. You are…you’ve
been
so good to
me and my children
. I wish I had seen it before. I wouldn’t have…wasted much of the time I have spent looking…” He stopped
talking,
and she felt his hand on her waist gripping her a bit tighter. It made her heart skip a beat. “You’re lovely, Rose. I would like to spend more time talking to you.”

“I would like that, too.”

He leaned down and when he whispered to her, his lips brushed her ear lightly, sending chills over her arms.

“The children will be delighted.”

They both laughed.

*****

THE END

CLEAN REGENCY Romance - A Sister’s Plan

Chapter One

Marie Downing glanced at herself in the mirror, pushing her dark hair back and away from her forehead. She looked with disappointment at her face and sighed. She had seen no improvement with the makeup her sisters wore to hide their flaws so she chose to wear very little of it. The blush only made her washed out face look like she’d just been slapped on both sides and lipstick only brought attention to the fact that her lips were thin and her mouth
wide
.

Marie painted a picture of herself in her mind as a side show clown and felt
very heavy
in her heart. She could hear her sisters upstairs. It was time for her to get ready, as well, but she was delaying it. Her sisters took a lot longer than she did, with all of their lace and layers. They did their hair up in fancy dos and painted their faces. Marie didn’t do those things. It was a waste of time. She kept her dark hair back in a bun and only used a bit of powder to add color to her whole face and some pencil around her eyes at the insistence of her older sister, Lucinda.