Page 51 of Engaging Sir Isaac

“Millie.” He thought of confessing, but his sister’s admonishments of rushing headlong into impossible situations stopped up those words like a topper in a bottle.

She waited, then prompted with a shy smile. “Yes, Isaac?”

He shifted and looked down at her hand, still resting in his, her knuckles brushing his coat. “We can stave off Lady Olivia’s impatience if I pretend to fall in love with you.”

Millie’s whole body pulled away from him, her face white with shock. “Forgive me. Did you really just suggest—Isaac. You cannot be serious. How would that help matters at all?”

“If I act the part of a lovelorn suitor, Lady Olivia will see it as evidence of your work upon the task. What better way to hurt a man than win his heart under false pretenses?” He tried to smile, to make the plan sound sensible even as she slipped her hand away. “You know her well enough by now to guess that she cares little for Mrs. Vanderby’s plans regarding Mr. Weston. If Lady Olivia thinks you are succeeding with the part of the agreement that most concerns her, she will exert less pressure upon you.”

A laugh escaped her, though it was short and surprised.

“Is the idea of loving me so laughable?” Isaac attempted to smile and tried very hard to make the words a jest, but his heart protested with one horrid stab of pain.

“Not at all.” The mirth faded from her eyes and she sighed deeply, as though weary. “It is only that I suggested such a thing at the beginning. Lady Olivia scoffed at me. And here we have come back to my first suggestion.”

He watched as Millie pulled in her bottom lip, worrying it between her teeth. Then she stood and walked to the very edge of the shadows cast by the oak. “It would be a relief to have her somewhat mollified. Lord Neil would attest to a claim of affection, given what he saw of our friendship in the carriage.”

Isaac’s curiosity grew. “Would he? I cannot think I have ever known Lord Neil to be particularly helpful.”

“I think he is woefully underestimated.” Millie turned enough for him to see a secretive smile upon her face. Because she thought of the shiftless son of the marquess? The two were not closely acquainted, surely. “Lord Neil has proven a help to me once or twice. He is the only person in that entire household that has shown himself to be something of a friend.”

“Interesting thought.” And unsettling. Millie and Lord Neil—friends? He stirred uneasily a moment, then stood. “Have we decided then? I will play the besotted suitor and you the clever huntress who ensnared me.”

Millie hesitated, then gave a tight nod. “Yes. And the plan for the card party tonight—it is a good one. I will alert Sarah so she will play her part as guide. As lookout, too.”

“Excellent. Allow me to get the carriage and we can pay our respects to Essie.” Isaac bowed, making certain to show nothing but confidence in his smile, and he returned to the house with a quick step. His enthusiasm dissipated when he entered the house and called for a footman to go to the stables. He needed to fetch his hat and gloves, change footwear, and look the part of an eligible baronet. Not because he wished to impress Millie, of course. Not at all.

Whatever affection he felt for her, he must quell. She needed a friend and confidant. But playing the part of a smitten man, intent upon courtship, would prove quite easy. Perhaps, when it was all over, when Millie was safely away from Lady Olivia, he might visit her in London. Then he would see if there could be something real between them.

Chapter 18

As bidden by a note scrawled in Lady Olivia’s hand, Millie appeared in the lady’s room before the card party. Dinner had ended an hour previous, and Millie hid herself away, rather than force herself to make conversation. Lady Olivia’s note had waited for Millie atop her dressing table.

“You wished to see me, Lady Olivia?”

“Yes.” Lady Olivia wore her dinner clothes and sat on the edge of her lounging couch, snapping her fan before her face. Her eyes flashed irritably. “You were gone the whole of the day. What happened with Sir Isaac? And why do you avoid Weston?”

This was the moment. Millie had to sound confident, and she had to press upon Lady Olivia that all went according to plan. “I do apologize for my absence, but I had good reason. I spent my time away from the house with Sir Isaac and his family. I felt it important to concentrate my efforts on one man at a time, as dividing my attention caused confusion during the Orford excursion.”

Lady Olivia snapped her fan closed, her cold green eyes narrowing. “And? What happened?”

“I believe I have won Sir Isaac’s trust.” That much she could say without even batting an eye. It was the truth. He trusted her. “And I am on my way to winning his heart.”

It shocked her how much she wished it were true. She should not want to win him. She should forget the very idea of Isaac feeling for her anything other than friendship. Millie had to fulfill her family’s wishes—and her own. For as long as she could remember, she had been groomed to take a place of prominence in Society. It was up to her to fix everything Emmeline’s decision had broken.

Even if Emmeline had made the right choice when she escaped her engagement to the viscount.

The silence stretched between them. Lady Olivia’s cold glare did not abate. Millie did not flinch or quell beneath the ice.

Finally, Lady Olivia opened her fan with a slow, graceful movement. “His heart.” She stood and walked languidly to Millie, towering over her with her greater height. Lady Olivia was the swan to Millie’s peahen. Tall, elegant, wearing a gown that likely cost as much as Millie’s entire wardrobe. “I attempted something similar, once. I presented him with everything he could want from a woman of standing, of nobility. All I received was his scorn.” Her eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth as she snarled. “If you try to make a fool of me, Miss Millicent Wedgewood, your family will regret it for generations to come.”

Millie kept her gaze straight ahead, looking at the wall across from where she stood lest she lose her bravado. “Yes, Lady Olivia.”

A knock at the door prevented Lady Olivia from saying more. Instead she raised her voice, her tone changing to one of boredom. “Who is it?”

The door opened and Lord Neil leaned against its frame, wearing an exasperated expression. “Mother wants you downstairs to greet the neighborhood guests with her.”

Lady Olivia huffed, then waved dismissively toward Millie. “Very well. We will speak later, Miss Wedgewood.”