Page 92 of The Muse of Maiden Lane

“May I ask why?”

He rolled a half turn away from her. His handsome face was hard and humorless. “You’ve just articulated to me your master plan to make yourself invisible for the remainder of your life. A lady’s companion? A drudge, more like. Even if you spend twice a day in the saddle, galloping your heart out, the remainder of your hours will be spent doing the bidding of some high-handed lady who’ll expect you to blend into the woodwork.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing for the last two-and-twenty years?” Stella asked, affronted. “Just because I ride with abandon, and just because you once observed me foolishly color my hair, doesn’t mean I’m not acquainted with the drudgery of the day to day.”

“I know you are. I’ve seen how you strive for it. Even when we met in the park.”

She inwardly flinched. And here she’d thought she looked rather fetching in her habit! “What about the park?”

“You covered your hair.”

“I always do when I ride.”

“Because you want to be inconspicuous?” He wheeled away, turning his back on her. “How I begin to despise that word.”

Stella refrained from pointing out that it was her hair she wanted to be inconspicuous, not the rest of her person. It wasn’t Teddy’s business. He had no right to judge her. “This from the gentleman who refused every single outing at Sutton Park merely because he didn’t wish people to observe him being moved in and out of his chair.”

Teddy’s shoulders tensed visibly at her words.

Stella feared she’d gone too far. She rose to follow him. “But I don’t judge you for it,” she went on quickly. “Because I understand the impulse.” She stopped several feet away from him in frustration. “In any case, I don’t know what all that has to do with my posing for you. Considering how you kept after me, I thought you’d be over the moon!”

Teddy grumbled something under his breath.

Stella stepped closer to him. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I said,” he ground out, “you deserve more than a life in the background.”

A surge of emotion took her unaware. She ruthlessly suppressed it. “Yes, well…People seldom get what they deserve. One must be sensible. Which is why I’ve fixed on being a companion. My friends are inquiring after opportunities on my behalf. I hope to be settled somewhere within a month. So, unless you can suggest a more favorable alternative for—”

“Perhaps there is one,” he interrupted. “Something better suited to the both of us.”

Stella didn’t know what he had to do with it. She asked him nevertheless. “What do you propose?”

“Just that.” At last, Teddy rolled his chair around to face her. “A proposal.”

Stella looked at him blankly. “I beg your pardon?”

Teddy faced her, his jaw gone hard. The muscles in his arms, shoulders, and abdomen contracted as though preparing to receive a blow. But he didn’t think about the consequences to his pride. He only thought about what Stella needed in that moment.

And what he needed.

“I’m asking you to marry me,” he said.

She stilled. Her face went pale.

“I see the idea shocks you.”

“No,” she protested. “That is—”

“Before you refuse out of hand, allow me to make an argument for the case.” Teddy cleared his throat. His cravat felt damnably tight all of a sudden. “Firstly, you require a home of your own. I have a home now. A large enough one, with ample room for both you and your mare. There’s a coach house at the back. Did I mention it?”

“No.” Her voice was a mere thread of sound.

He doggedly continued. “Secondly, you require your independence. I can give you that, too. What woman has more independence than a married lady? You could go where you choose—with whom you choose. There would be nothing to stop you any longer.”

She opened her mouth to speak.

Teddy forestalled her. “Thirdly, you require a drawing master. Who better than me? I could teach you here. It would be my pleasure to do so.” He plowed on before he could lose his nerve. “As to the other impediments—the fact that we would be married, and that we would, by necessity, be obliged to live together, I say again: the house is a large one. You could have the upstairs to yourself, and I the downstairs. We need only meet when I paint you, or when I’m helping you with your sketching.”