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“I beg your pardon?”
“It was Mrs. Fitzhugh, not Mrs. Fitzpatrick.”
“No.” Louisa slapped her hand over her mouth. She could not have made such a blunder. This would only drive Lady Gringham’s suspicion even more.
This plan was a dreadful notion. If Louisa had only stopped to discuss her scheme with either of her sisters, they would have talked her out of it. But no, she had impetuously run off without thinking something through. It wasn’t like her to act so rashly. She was the one who thought things through, made thorough plans, lists to remember details. But she had done none of that before leaving Tessa’s home.
“Now that they are on their way, it is time we talked,” Harry commanded as he clasped her elbow and led her toward his study.
Her courage failed her. “Perhaps I should return to town. Coming here was a mistake.”
“I am quite certain it was a mistake, but one you have committed to so now you will tell me why you are here.”
Louisa sat in the brown leather chair across the mahogany desk from him and then sighed. She couldn’t just blurt out her idea. Seeing the look of irritation on his face, she had to say something.
“Very well,” she started deliberately. “As you know, Tessa is happily married with a child on the way, and Emma is betrothed to Lord Bolton.”
“Yes, you said as much last night.” His lips turned down. “What does any of this have to do with you being in my home alone?”
She bit her lip and tried to think about how to broach the subject with him. Seeing how much he’d changed in the past few years, she doubted he would care about her predicament.
“Louisa?”
Louisa blinked, then looked away from the image of him leaning back in his seat. Certainly, she had perceived how handsome he was years ago, but since she’d arrived here, she couldn’t seem to stop noticing everything about him. The way his gray waistcoat cut across his broad chest and the lovely way his trousers stretched over his bottom. His strong jaw and the straight line of his nose. And then there was his mouth. How had she never truly looked at his lips before now? Perfectly formed and made for kissing ladies senseless.
How had she not noticed any of this before now?
“Louisa?”
“Oh Harry, I’ve made a real mess of things,” she admitted softly, staring down at her hands.
“How so?”
“While there was some talk after Blakely, it died down quickly due to his honorable behavior.” She hesitated to tell him more.
He tilted his head and stared over at her. “What happened, Louisa?”
“Mr. Emerson started to court me a few months ago.”
“Emerson? Even I know he’s a scoundrel.”
“I agree. But he didn’t seem to understand that I wanted no part of his attentions. He believed when Tessa’s husband received his inheritance, that I would have a larger dowry. After a fortnight of calling on me, he proposed.”
“You damn well better have rejected him.”
She gave him a weak smile. “And that is what caused the talk. Within two days the gossips were attacking my name for refusing yet another suitor. Some started calling me the Selective Spinster, which only brought to everyone’s mind my sister’s moniker of the Cursed Countess. Many people thought it quite humorous.”
Harry blew out a long sigh. “And what does any of this have to do with me?”
“With everything that happened, it made me think about marriage and who could help me achieve that state.” Perhaps she could still reach him with humor. She pulled the worn slip of paper from her pocket and held it up. With a timid smile, she said, “I still have this, you know. I could hold you to it.”
She slid the note across the width of the desk as his scowl deepened. How could she think this would be a good idea? The old Harry would read the pact and laugh, knowing it was in jest. But with this Harry, she had no sense of how he would react. Second thoughts forced her to reach out and try to retrieve the paper, but he snatched the note from her.
“What is this?” he asked with furrowed brows.
“A promise we made to each other years ago.” She cast him a broad smile, hoping he would see she wasn?
?t serious.
