“Well said,” she commented, attempting to draw Harriet out. “Now, are you ready to make a plan?”
Harriet tossed the pillow aside and tried to shuffle herself up into a more polite posture. The ball gown—which she felt bore some responsibility for the evening’s events—limited her range of motion. “No!”
“All right then, let’s to bed. Tomorrow we can put a notice in the paper that you two are to be engaged. Force his hand.”
“He won’t be forced! The man is far too high in the instep and roguish for that! He’ll simply ignore the announcement and then I’ll be evenmorethan a pariah! I’ll be pathetic!”
“You’re being horribly disagreeable, which is usually my thing, or really Frances’s.”
“Yes, well, I don’tusuallyend up engaged to an ill-favored rake.”
“I don’t think anyone could claim the man is ill-favored. And you twoaren’tengaged.”
Harriet picked up the pillow once more and let out a long, low groan.
“Yes, that does seem rather concerning. We can discuss it at length tomorrow morning. For now, I think it best that you either get some rest, or—” Philippa already knew that this suggestion would be rejected out of hand, which is why she headed to the sideboard to pour herself a glass of sherry.
“Rest?!” Harriet sat fully up, which took quite a lot of work—blast the dress! “Philippa, this won’t be solved in the morning. If anything, the problem will have gotten worse!”
“Indeed. Then back to my earlier suggestion: Shall we make a plan?”
“I don’t see a way at this. I have nothing to entice Lord Alexander. I’m a passed-over wallflower with no dowry and a family on the edge of scandal—don’t argue!” Harriet warned as Philippa opened her mouth to speak. “It’s not just Father, you know! Your little … assignations … draw attention!”
“I wasn’t going to disagree with that part,” Philippa said, rather solemnly. “Only, it’s not true that you havenothingto offer.”
“Please, let us forgo the homily on how lovely you find me. I’m not sure Lord Alexander will be persuaded into marriage with thepromise of giggling over needlework or creative accounting to hide Father’s debts.”
“I wasn’t going to do thateither. Will you listen for once, instead of guessing what everyone else is going to say?”
Harriet closed her mouth.
“There is a reason Lord Alexander wanted to meet with me in the library tonight.”
“I’m well aware of the reasons,” Harriet said, gesturing with her hand up and down the entirety of Philippa’s being.
Philippa shot her a look and continued. “He’s after Hardwicke.”
“Is that a euphemism for something only married women know about?”
“Harriet!”
“No, then?”
“Hardwicke is part of the land Reginald left me when he died, up north, near Applethwaite.”
“Why does Lord Alexander want that?”
“It abuts his property, or a property he’s trying to purchase, or something. My steward explained it in a long, boring letter that kept me quite warm when I threw it on the fire. Either way, Lord Alexander has been a beast about the whole thing apparently. Dying to buy from me.”
“And you won’t sell?”
“I don’t care one whit about the land, frankly. However, I can’t sell anything entailed or otherwise until Reginald’s infernal long-lostcousin arrives to claim the barony. I’m not to touch a teaspoon until we get the estate settled.”
“I don’t see how this helps me if you can’t sell the land.”
“Hedoesn’t know that, does he? For all Lord Alexander knows, I’m holding on to Hardwicke for good reason. And maybe I will. I do wonder why he wants the land so desperately, but we needn’t bother finding that out now. All you must convey to him is that, if hedoesn’tmarry you, I won’t ever sell.”
Harriet mulled this over for a moment, heart sinking. “I didn’t imagine I’d have to threaten a man into an engagement.”
