“‘Two’? Who said I have two?”
She shot him a look, turning her back to the house to stop him before they could go any farther up the drive. “You offered me one of them,” she reminded him. “Earlier tonight.”
“Oh, that,” he said, wincing. “That’s not a second flat. That’s mine own. I won’t need it anymore if you help me, so you ought to have it.”
For a moment, she simply stared at him. Part of her was convinced the ale had addled her past the point of comprehension, and the other seemed to think that a bit more time would allow the words to rearrange themselves in her ears until they made sense.
“What are you blathering about?” she finally snapped, when clarity did not arrive on the back of the rising wind. “Where will you be living?”
He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking up at the house. “Ever heard of Templeton-Rath?” he asked, raising his brows.
“No.”
He sighed. “Of course you haven’t. Your brother would have.”
“Oh, indeed?” she snapped. “Shall I just go fetch him, then?”
“No!” He lurched forward, stopped by her hand snapping out and landing flat against his chest, her expression flat and impatient. “No.”
“‘No,’” she repeated, feeling the way his heart had clicked up to a canter beneath the thin linen of his shirt. “Are you going to explain yourself?”
“Lib, I’m foxed,” he whined, staring down at her hand. “And the scheme is still half-formed. You’ll think I’m stupid.”
“I already think you’re stupid,” she said, dropping her hand so she could cross her arms over her chest. It wasn’t serving her to feel how nervous he was. Sympathy wasn’t the play here. “What is Templeton-Rath? A bank?”
He shook his head, frowning. “Shipper. Import magnate out of Ceylon. Cinnamon, gems, tea, and graphite. The graphite in particular doesn’t ship fast enough to satisfy the demand. High demand means flexible asking price, you understand?”
“I understand,” she said tersely. “So what?”
“So they want to set up a forwarding post here in Brighton instead of relying on East India to facilitate their parcels at a third of the profits,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “Which means they arecoming hereto set up. The Templeton-Raths.”
“All right,” she said, nodding slowly. “And you want to run the forwarding office? You’ll still need your flat for that, Jasper.”
“No, bag the forwarding office!” he said, exasperated. “I want the whole kit! The dynast only has one child, a daughter. Plain, little thing, from what I understand, and she’s coming with. If I come in poised as a candidate for the forwarding office but instead win the heiress, either they set me up with the lass here in some big manor house or I go back to Ceylon with them to learn the trade. Either way, I insert myself as the next in line for the entire operation. It’s the opportunity I’ve been waiting for my whole life, Lib!”
For another long, windy moment, she just stared at him. She was, in a rare state of events, speechless.
“You want to marry some girl whose only defining feature is her plainness?” she finally managed to say. “To use her for her fortune?”
“Well, don’t say it like that,” he retorted, frowning. “I’m sure she’s lovely enough. I’m half in love with every woman I meet, anyhow. All she has to do is be a woman in my vicinity and I’m certain I’ll be beyond uxorious. Positive.”
She licked her lips, staring at him some more.
“I mean it,” he exclaimed, too loudly to be sober or sincere.
“And why would you need my help, then?” she said, mentally filing away the worduxoriousto run past Hattie in the morning. “To seduce the plain heiress?”
“Because I cannot be the only cursed sod who’s tried seducing the heiress, can I?” he said, a shrill note of hysteria creeping into his voice. “It’s an obvious temptation. They must bat off a dozen blokes or more a year trying the same thing.”
“Right,” she replied, frowning. “And you are going to make yourself stand out somehow?”
“Precisely,” he answered, sounding relieved that she’d caught on. “I was thinking, what if I come into the fold already affianced to a beautiful, mysterious, wealthy woman, whom I thenset asidein favor of Miss Templeton-Rath… Well! That changes the game, doesn’t it?”
She blinked. “What?”
“Princess Xandine!” he breathed, reaching out and grasping her shoulders, which he then gave a little shake to. “It’s brilliant! You don’t see it yet, but once you sleep on it, you’ll realize it’s brilliant!”
“Jasper,” she said, alarmed. “No.”
