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Richard grimaced. “I can’t,” he said with a small smile. “Only a lady can cry off, I’m afraid.”
“Would you like some tea?” she asked nervously. “I am certain my sisters can prepare—”
Richard shook his head. “No. But thank you.” He cleared his throat again.Oh, just get on with it!“Miss Fowley, if you sensed reluctance from me… That’s because I am reluctant.”
She pursed her lips. “I see.”
“This has nothing to do with you, I assure you. You are a very agreeable young lady. Anybody would be happy to call you their bride…” He cleared his throat again. “You see, I was completely intent on marrying you without even having seen you. And I would have gladly married you still. Except… I fell in love.”
She blinked up at him. He grimaced as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I know it’s an inept excuse, but it is true, nonetheless. I didn’t expect it to happen. In fact, I was convinced I would never find love. And that’s why I was ready for an amicable match.” He took a deep breath. “Apologies for rambling.”
She stared at the floor for a while before looking straight at him. “So you want me to release you from your obligation to marry me so you can marry the woman you love?”
That sounded rather odd to his ears, and not something an honorable gentleman would ask for. But he wasn’t honorable at all. “Yes,” he answered hoarsely. “I am prepared to do whatever you wish me to. I will spare no expense. If you want me to launch you into society… Or perhaps your sisters. It will be quite a scandal, but I am certain we can come up with a working solution.”
Miss Fowley looked down at her hands. “Tell me about her?”
“Pardon me?”
She looked at him with a sad twinkle in her eyes. “Tell me about the woman you love.”
A chuckle left his lips, but Richard could not sit still. He stood, tugged on his cravat, and started pacing the length of the room. “She… She is the most troublesome woman I have ever met. She is stubborn. A lot more stubborn than anyone in my family, and that is saying something because we are a family of mules. She is very opinionated and argumentative, and I will never see the light of a day when she doesn’t put me in my place. But she also lights up the room with her mere presence and her smile…” He shook his head in wonder. “Experiencing her smile is what it must be like when an angel smiles at you. Her voice is like the song of a nightingale. She is mesmerizing, and she deserves far more than an arrogant arse like me. Pardon my language. But unfortunately for her, I shall fight with everything in me to keep her by my side. Including offering myself up to you. Anything you want is yours. Just name your price.”
Miss Fowley stood and paced the length of the room, parallel to his path. Then she suddenly stopped and faced him. “Fine. I shall let you out of our betrothal.”
Richard blinked. It sounded easy. Too easy.
Was she just as eager to break off the engagement? He tried not to get offended.
When he’d set out on this journey, not in a million years did he think that his betrothed would relinquish him so easily. Perhaps he wasn’t as grand of a catch as he thought he was. Perhaps the lady had another beau on her mind.
“On two conditions,” she added.
“Anything,” Richard said readily.
“First, I’d like you to arrange a London journey for me and my aunt—who shall act as my chaperone—just as we agreed upon before. As if I am coming to prepare my trousseau. We are to spend a month in London in the accommodations you provide for us. But do be discreet, I do not want any scandal.”
Richard frowned. That was an interesting request. “You want a journey to London and to spend a month there on my dime.”
She pursed her lips, her cheeks flooding with color. “Yes. I have never been to London, you see.”
Richard’s frown deepened as his heart squeezed. “You don’t need to explain yourself to me. I just wanted to make certain I understood your request correctly. Consider it done. What else?”
“The second condition is thatIdecide when and how I break our engagement. And when I do, I do not want you to question it. In fact, I do not want your interference after that at all.”
This sounded vaguely ominous. “You need to tell me a bit more of your plan before I agree to this,” Richard protested.
She smiled. “I shall not harm anybody, I promise you that.”
“And your reputation, your person, shall be unharmed as well?”
She swallowed. “I promise.”
He studied her carefully. “Miss Fowley, I might not wish to marry you, but I do not want any harm to you or your family. I would rather be apprised of the—”
“Would you rather be apprised of my plans, or would you rather break our engagement?” She raised a brow. “You can’t have it both ways.”
Well, his bride was not the timid young thing he’d thought her to be. He studied the woman he’d promised to marry, thinking how he hadn’t even bothered to learn anything about her.
