Page 37 of An Unlikely Debutante

Chapter Twelve

‘Do you have to leave?’ Lina asked, hugging the other woman tightly.

‘I wish I didn’t, but I need to return home before we travel to London for the Season. Alex will look after you and I shall be seeing you in a few weeks.’

‘It’s been a pleasure,’ Alex said, kissing his sister on her cheeks, ‘and an ordeal of course.’

‘Pish-posh. You’ve barely noticed I’m here. You spent more time with those horses of yours than with me.’

Despite her words Georgina hugged her brother tightly and Lina could see the tears in her eyes as she pulled away.

They walked out to the waiting carriage, and as Alex helped his sister up, Lina saw her bend down and whisper something in his ear. She was too far away to hear all Georgina said, but she did hear the last words.

Be careful.

A knot formed in Lina’s stomach. Surely they couldn’t know the truth about the intruder last night, or the awful bargain she had made with Uncle Tom that would have her betraying Alex when Tom called in the debt?

‘Goodbye,’ Georgina called as the carriage lurched away, waving from the window.

‘Peace at last,’ Alex said with a grin.

‘You’ll miss her.’

‘Don’t ever tell her that.’

‘What are we going to work on today?’ Lina asked as they strolled back into the house.

‘How to avoid scandal in the ballroom. We only have a month until the first ball of the Season, and to win the wager there can be no hint of scandal surrounding you.’

Smiling, she rolled her eyes. ‘My behaviour last night was not scandalous.’

‘It could have been. If Mr Gillingham had suggested walking a little farther from the crowds, would you?’

Lina considered the question. Strolling arm in arm with a gentleman did not seem scandalous to her, even if you were alone. The problem only came if the gentleman in question tried to force something that she did not want, but Lina had years of experience extricating herself from those sorts of scenarios. In her world, a woman was expected to keep faithful to her husband, but there wasn’t this need to be completely separate from the opposite sex until marriage. Lina had often been left alone with the men of her acquaintance and nothing was thought of it.

‘If nothing happens between a woman and a man when they are alone together, why is it an issue?’ she asked.

‘You only have the couple’s word that nothing happened.’

‘Suspicious lot, aren’t you?’

‘If you are brought up with these rules, they don’t seem so ridiculous.’

‘I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to spend some time alone with someone if you are considering spending the rest of your life with them.’

‘Marriage between members of the ton is a very peculiar affair,’ Alex said, staring off into the distance. ‘You have to remember that most of the time love or affection doesn’t factor in a match. Marriages are about social elevation, money and connections.’

‘I can’t imagine spending my life with someone I didn’t at least care for a little.’

A relationship had never been very high on Lina’s list of priorities. None of the men she travelled with were remotely interesting to her, and after seeing her mother’s heartbreak at the hands of her father Lina was wary of giving away so much of herself. Quickly she glanced at Alex. She couldn’t deny the attraction she felt for him and he was a man she could see herself falling for, but even the idea was ridiculous. Men like Alex did not do anything more than dally with women like her. Any other notion was pure fantasy and Lina knew she had to abandon it before she got carried away.

Alex shrugged. ‘I suppose it depends what you want out of a marriage. Many married couples live completely separate lives, sometimes even in separate houses. They do their duty, produce the heirs, then carry on as they did before they were married.’

‘That wasn’t how it was for you and Victoria,’ Lina said quietly.

‘No.’ There was a long pause and after a while Lina thought he would say nothing more. ‘I cared for Victoria and look where that got me. Maybe there is something to marrying for mutual benefit, not love.’

Lina felt her heart sink at his words. Alex was a kind man, a good man, he deserved a future filled with happiness and she could not see how a loveless marriage could make anyone happy.