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Chapter Three
Hilaria couldn’t believe she had actually agreed to his outlandish suggestion. This strange man had proposed a sham relationship for underhanded reasons, and she had agreed to it! She didn’t even like the man. What had she been thinking?
She had been thinking that nothing else had worked.
And while she didn’t like him, he was well received and seemed to be much more understanding of social niceties than she was. Except perhaps in this instance. Hilaria still didn’t think he was going to achieve his aims with this scheme of his, but that was not her problem to worry about. If there was the slightest possibility that it would help her find her elusive duke, she couldn’t very well ignore the opportunity.
But now she would have to spend time with the conceited popinjay. Hilaria allowed her sideways gaze to drift over him and just barely managed not to shake her head at his foolishness. She wondered how he could possibly be comfortable with such high shirt points. He quickly turned his head, catching her staring at him, much to her surprise. He was easily able to maneuver around his outlandish garments.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he reminded her.
Hilaria had to scramble in her mind for a moment to remember what he was talking about. Ah yes, her cynicism. She shrugged.Wasn’t everyone?
“I’m not a cynic. I’m a realist. No one does anything out of the goodness of their heart. And yes, I know you think this will work for your schemes. I don’t necessarily agree with you, so it feels to me as though you are somehow doing it for my benefit. But we’ve only just met and didn’t even get on well, so I don’t think you’re doing it to curry favour with me.” Hilaria sighed. “All right, perhaps I am a trifle cynical,” she concluded with a slight laugh. “But I have good reason to be, I can assure you.”
When she glanced at him, he was still looking at her with elevated eyebrows, obviously awaiting her further explanation. Hilaria was surprised into allowing another small puff of laughter to slip through her lips. She shrugged.
“You’ve met my sister.”
“I met two of your sisters. Which one do you expect me to take as an explanation for your cynicism? They both seemed to be pleasant enough.”
This time Hilaria actually giggled. She didn’t think she had giggled in years. It was a strangely comforting sensation, and she stared at the viscount in some confusion for a moment. He seemed to wait patiently. With a few strokes of her eyelashes, Hilaria managed to blink away the confused feeling in her chest and reminded herself once more of the conversation she was having.
“Rosabel. The beautiful one. Do you remember her?”
“Of course.”
“Well, you wouldn’t believe the number of times gentlemen approached me with various strategies of making her acquaintance.”
Eastwood frowned. “Was she so very unapproachable that the gentlemen needed to scheme their approach? She seemed pleasant enough when Wexford introduced us.”
Hilaria smiled. “No, she’s actually quite pleasant for such a pretty woman.”
Eastwood’s frown remained. “And do you find pretty women to be unpleasant in general?” he asked before adding, “I must say, my lady, you are a confusing sort. This might explain your unwed state.”
To Hilaria’s surprise, she actually laughed right out loud in the gentleman’s face. What was it about this strange man that made her comfortable enough to experience true amusement? This wasn’t even an amusing situation in the least.
“Have you not been going about much in the Seasons, my lord? You seem to be a sufficiently observant fellow. And I thought you were well versed in social interactions. You ought to have noticed that pretty women are often unpleasant to other women. It’s the competitive nature of the Marriage Mart, I suppose.”
“But surely you are sufficiently well placed in Society that you wouldn’t be affected by such behaviour.”
Hilaria shrugged, having no particular desire to go into an explanation of her situation.
“Never mind about that right now. My sister, Rosabel, is lovely. But she was so very popular that some gentlemen were hoping for an advantage. And Bel made it a practice of never accepting an invitation to go driving with a gentleman more than once. She didn’t want anyone to get any expectations. It turns out she was holding out for a love match, although no one suspected as much. As we’ve already mentioned, most thought she was holding out for a coronet.”
“Yes, but that was you. You never did tell me why you are so determined to be a duchess.”
Hilaria shrugged, having no intention of ever explaining it to him. But his air of expectation told her she had to tell him something. She shrugged again. “With my lack of grace, won’t it be a lark for everyone to have to call me ‘Your Grace’?”
Eastwood’s frown told Hilaria he wasn’t convinced she had told him the truth but he let it go, returning to their original topic.
“So, why did these gentlemen’s wayward pleadings turn you into a cynic?”
“For one thing, none of their stratagems ever seemed to do them any good. And for another, it often seemed to me as though they never really had any interest in Rosabel as a person, just in acquiring her, as though she were some sort of possession. Which, I suppose, a wife is, in some ways. But surely, if they are going to spend the rest of their lives with her, they ought to know and care something about her. But these gentlemen so rarely were asking me for information about her, just about her activities, so they could encounter her.”
“Perhaps they wanted to get to know her for themselves,” Eastwood suggested gently.
Hilaria didn’t bother to argue. “Perhaps,” she agreed, although she was quite convinced that she knew differently.
