A Most Scandalous Proposal (6 page)

His eyes widened, and his nostrils flared. Julia bit back a smile. He hadn’t counted on her turning him down. She was possibly the first woman in England ever to do so. “Tomorrow then,” he said smoothly, “if you have an engagement?”

Mama pinned Julia with a pointed gaze. “She has no engagement that I’m aware of.”

“But Mama.” She cast a telling glance in Sophia’s direction before turning to Ludlowe. “I’m dreadfully sorry, but horses make me sneeze.”

He raised a tawny eyebrow. “They make you sneeze?”

She wanted to kick herself. Surely she could have come up with something more convincing. “Indeed. I’m sure Sophia would be delighted to accompany you on such an outing, but I fear I cannot.”

“Perhaps a simple walk then?”

Julia pushed herself to her feet. Naturally, he wouldn’t give up so easily.

“I trust
I
do not make you sneeze,” he added.

She made a show of coughing. “I fear I may have caught a cold.”

Mama glared at her. “What utter nonsense. You were perfectly healthy until this moment.”

Ludlowe’s smile indicated he knew just what she was up to. “I shall be honored to escort you on any other occasion of your choosing.”

She looked him in the eye and firmed her chin. “I regret that I must decline.”

Before he could utter a word of protest, her mother’s hand clamped itself about her upper arm. “If you’ll excuse us for but a moment, I require a word with my daughter.”

Ludlowe bowed his head. “By all means.”

Julia made no reply as Mama frog-marched her toward the door.

S
OPHIA
exhaled at the sight of her sister’s retreating back. The sourness of acrimony burned through her veins. Of all women, why did Ludlowe have to choose Julia? And Mama’s encouragement was another betrayal. Now he’d decided to seek a wife, it was unfair of him to overlook her. Dash it all, she’d been waiting for him ever since her first season. Her own experience had proven him an inveterate flirt. How could he overlook her open response?

He cleared his throat and shifted his weight forward. No. She would not let him take his leave. Julia had made her lack of interest clear. Now he could deuced well consider the girl sitting directly under his flawless, straight nose.

She pasted a smile on her face. “Shall I ring for tea?”

“No, thank you.”

Drat, she’d already offered tea, hadn’t she? And he’d turned it down the first time.

But then, after five long years, God smiled on Sophia and produced a miracle. Rather than rising to take his leave, Ludlowe rested his back against the carved flourishes of his chair and cast her an assessing look. “It occurs to me, now that I’m here, there’s a matter we ought to discuss.”

She straightened and folded her hands in her lap, the epitome of a demure, marriageable miss. Mama would
be proud, if only she weren’t currently occupied with Julia in the doorway. Suddenly coated in perspiration, her palms slid against each other. “Yes?”

“You’ll pardon me if this is none of my affair, but I cannot stand by and allow such a lovely young lady to throw herself away on the likes of Highgate.”

At
lovely
, her cheeks heated, but then the remainder of his comment sank in. “But—I’ve done no such thing.”

How dare he question her actions when the entire situation was his fault? He’d left them alone so he could run off and answer the siren call of that strumpet.

“That isn’t how things looked last night.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up his hand. “You were in a swoon for a good deal of the conversation, so you cannot know what was said. Your mother has all but sealed your marriage contract.”

She clutched at the simple pendant that hung from a gold chain about her neck, while her breakfast threatened to put in a reappearance. With difficulty, she swallowed the obstruction in her throat and fought to maintain her composure.

“Fortunately, such are things of the past.” To her own ears, her voice sounded thin, but at least she’d managed to quell its shaking.

“You may have no choice in the matter, should Highgate make an offer.”

Her backbone went rigid. “His would not be the first proposal I’ve refused.”

“You’d have done well not to put yourself into that position in the first place.”

The hand on her pendant trembled, and she tightened her fist. “
I
’ve put myself in no position, as you are quite aware. You were there. You know nothing untoward happened.”

“Indeed I do.” His voice rolled over her, smooth as honey, just as sweet and slightly sticky. “But it is very
difficult to stem the tide of gossip and scandal once it begins.”

“Yet it can be stopped with the truth.”

He regarded her for a long moment, his expression inscrutable. “I shall endeavor to do what I can. You may count on that.”

She dropped her hands into her lap and folded them. “Thank you.”

“Be that as it may, I’d tread carefully, if I were you.”

She twisted her fingers together. “Pray, what is that supposed to mean?”

“I suppose you’re too young to have heard the rumors.” His gaze raked over her, but his eyes remained steady and cold. “Yes, you’d still have been in the schoolroom.”

She forced herself to meet his gaze, even though it chilled her. Why couldn’t those vivid blue eyes soften a bit and twinkle with warmth? “What rumors?”

“You certainly can’t have missed the scar on the man’s face.”

“What of it?”

“He claims to have come by it in the accident that killed his first wife.”

“So all of society says.” She waved a hand. “But you do not believe that?”

He leaned forward, and his walking stick hit the floor with a crack as he repositioned it. “I’ve heard more than one rumor where Highgate is concerned.”

She blinked. “The
ton
is full of rumors and gossip.”

“Indeed. Only some hold more than a grain of truth.” He pressed to his feet. “His wife is dead under horrific circumstances, and he’s holed himself away at his country estate, long past the accepted mourning period. Whatever his involvement in the affair, I daresay it cannot be anything good.”

C
LUTCHING
Julia’s upper arm in a death grip, Mama halted at the very limit of propriety—just inside the door to the morning room—and grated, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Julia cast a glance in Ludlowe’s direction. “Discouraging some unwanted attention.”

Mama raised her chin, and the sunlight filtering in through the windows glinted off her carefully curled silver-blond hair. “You’re hardly in a position to discourage attention at your age. Between you and your sister, I do not know which of you is worse, refusing perfectly good matches. And now there’s to be a scandal. Do you realize Sophia was caught alone with a man last night?”

Julia folded her arms beneath her breasts. “Which man was that?”

“Didn’t she tell you about it? Too ashamed, I suppose.”

“Ashamed? Why?”

A grim smile pulled at Mama’s lips. “I ought to be grateful. At least we’ll have one of you properly settled. Now go back and entertain your guest. I’ll not have you embarrass your father and me with your boorish behavior.”

“Mama, it’s Ludlowe. He came to call on me.
Me
. And you want me to go sailing back over there, knowing how Sophia feels about him, and bat my eyelashes as if I’m delighted to catch his eye?”

“Just so.”

“Mama!”

Mama stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Your sister’s feelings in this matter do not signify.”

“How can you say that?”

“Due to her behavior last night at the Posselthwaite ball, it can no longer be helped. She can never be for
Ludlowe. He would not have her now. Gracious, he witnessed it himself.”

“Witnessed what, exactly?”

Julia could not credit her mother’s story. Sophia had always been careful to preserve her spotless reputation. For her, it was a simple enough matter—she was saving herself for Ludlowe, and if she couldn’t have him, she’d happily live out the remainder of her life in spinster-hood.

Or perhaps not so happily.

For the last five years, Julia had watched her sister pine away for that man, witnessed the pain and tears when Sophia’s hopes came to naught. Oh, she’d attempted to entertain the attentions of other men, but none of them had ever measured up in Sophia’s mind. Bearing witness to that pain was enough to make any girl guard her heart against more tender feelings.

And when Julia considered the rest … If she accepted Ludlowe’s attentions, she’d be adding to her sister’s misery. As silly as her sister might sometimes be, she couldn’t compound Sophia’s hurt, whether or not she had been compromised.

“No matter now.” Mama nodded decisively. “What’s done is done. But if Mr. Ludlowe is interested in you, then, by gracious, you will go back in there and behave in a manner that befits your station. Surely you’ve heard the rumors.” She leaned in, as if to deliver the juiciest tidbit of gossip. “This is your chance to become a countess.”

“I’m not particularly interested in becoming a countess.”

Two red blotches spread over Mama’s flawless cheeks, and she opened her mouth to retort. Julia braced herself for the familiar verbal barrage. Over the past several years, she’d had it badgered into her that a woman’s place in society was key.

The beautiful daughter of a wealthy cit, Mama had had her chance at a title in her youth, only the Earl of Cheltenham’s feet turned to ice, and he backed out of the arrangement. Mama had settled for Charles St. Claire, a mere mister too far removed from the aristocratic antecedents in his background to possess a title. Because of her lowborn status, Mama had borne the societal brunt of the scandal.

But that only proved her point. Position was everything, and she was determined that Sophia and Julia both attain the status she had never enjoyed.

A title was power. Julia could recite the line as a litany.

However, instead of delivering the expected assault, Mama pressed her lips together and held Julia’s gaze. Her tone, when she spoke, was low and urgent. “I did not wish to worry you with the news, but it seems I have no choice.”

A shiver raised the fine hairs on the back of Julia’s neck. Anything that diverted Mama’s single-minded attempts to convince her daughters to wed couldn’t be good. “What news?”

“Your father—” With a quick glance about, she took a step closer.

The shiver turned to an outright chill. “What now?”

“He’s lost a significant sum recently.”

Julia swallowed, while her fingers contracted into a fist. “Again?”

“Yes, again! He’ll have us bankrupt before the year is out, but if you were to accept Mr. Ludlowe’s suit, you might save us.”

“Why Mr. Ludlowe in particular? Why not just set me up on a block at the next ball and offer me to the highest bidder?”

“I will not have this impertinence.” Though she kept her voice low, it still carried the force of her temper. “If
it hadn’t been for the pair of you being so blasted difficult, refusing perfectly good offers for years, we might not be in such a predicament.”

Julia opened her mouth and closed it, unsure how to respond. Her mother had a point. Several years’ worth of seasons and all they entailed—gowns, fans, bonnets, and a rented town house—had eroded the family’s finances. Papa’s attempts to replenish the coffers through his card play only added to the burden.

In the next moment, Ludlowe rose from his seat, saving her from having to reply. His walking stick tapping the bare floor, he glided over to bow over her mother’s hand. “Good day, Mrs. St. Claire. Alas, I must leave you.”

Mama beamed at him like a young lady at her first ball. “You must call again soon.”

“I have every intention of doing so. Miss Julia, I do hope you’ll reconsider.”

Mama had the grace to wait until he had taken his leave before rounding on Julia. “The next time he calls, you will not decline. Do you understand me?”

An audible sniff came from behind. Julia gritted her teeth, turned on her heel, and went to console her sister.