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Chapter Thirteen
Rowena and Sally pulled away from the park in the carriage just as it began to fill with other members of theton. Rowena breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that none of them had spotted her. She and Sally were quiet for a minute, giving Rowena time to think about everything the baron had said.
She was surprised that he knew of her father’s plans to marry her to the earl. She was even more shocked to find that he cared what happened to her. Was his proposal a genuine one? Or did he have his own intentions?
“Well?” Sally asked, breaking the silence.
Rowena looked at her with wide eyes.
“Well, what?” she asked, surprised.
Sally huffed.
“Are you going to tell me what all that was about?” she asked.
Rowena bit her lip. She realized that Sally had been standing just far enough away to be unable to hear what the baron had said. She thought it over for a second before answering.
“He proposed marriage,” she said.
Sally’s mouth fell open.
“What?” she asked. “Why?”
Rowena recounted what he had told her of what he knew about the earl and his intentions. She also told her that Lord Elsbrook had promised her complete freedom should she accept his proposal. As she spoke, Sally’s face went from horrified to pleasantly surprised.
“Well,” she said once Rowena was finished explaining. “What will you do?”
Rowena sighed and shrugged.
“I do not know,” she said truthfully. “How does a woman go from no marriage prospects to two in the span of as many days?”
Sally patted her back.
“I am so sorry, Miss Whitworth,” she said. “I wish such a situation was not being imposed upon you.”
Rowena nodded. However, she was not entirely disappointed with having the baron as a marriage option. There was clearly something in him that made him care about the welfare of a woman he hardly knew. Perhaps, beneath his arrogant exterior, there was a kind and caring man. She had to admit he made a far better option than the horrible old earl.
“Let us call in on Nancy while we are out,” she said. “At least, that will keep me from deceiving my mother and father completely.”
Sally smiled.
“That is a wonderful idea,” she said.
A short time later, the carriage pulled up in front of Cresingdale Manor. The butler greeted them just as warmly as ever and escorted them to the drawing room, where Nancy was doing some knitting.
When the butler announced Rowena’s arrival, the countess tossed her work aside and flew across the room to embrace her sister.
“Oh, darling,” she said, kissing both her cheeks. “What a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Rowena smiled, feeling guilty for using her sister as a cover for what she had just been doing.
“It has been ages since I could just come to visit any time I wish,” she said. “I am just taking full advantage of the opportunity, now that I have it.”
Nancy beamed.
“Well, I shall have some tea made at once,” she said.
Nancy gave her instructions to one of her maids, who run away immediately. Then, she turned back to Rowena, smiling warmly at her.
