The First Proposal - Chasity Bowlin Page 0,13
was. If it was all some sort of cruel game, as difficult as it might be, she’d rather know from the outset than have false hope.
“Indeed, Miss Blake, it does. And in case I did not make myself clear by bravely facing down your termagant of a sister, then I am indeed, inclined to pursue a more romantic connection with you. If my bachelor state continues for much longer it may never end,” he said ruefully.
“Then surely you would do better at Almack’s. All the young and pretty debutantes with their fortunes and connections will be simply aghast at the notion than an impoverished spinster might have drawn your eye.”
“Not might have, Miss Blake. Did. I think you greatly underestimate just how appealing you are to the opposite sex.”
“Well it must certainly be a new development, Mr. Dunne, as I have never experienced it before.”
He frowned at that. “I question the validity of that claim. While I don’t wish to speak ill of your sister to you, I will say that she tends to downplay or minimize your appeal while happily extolling her own. I’m quite sure others have done so, as well, no doubt inspired by her maliciousness. Make no mistake, Miss Blake, I am a man who knows what I want. And once I decide on a course, neither hell, nor your vicious sister will dissuade me.”
Percy slowed, her steps faltering until they halted entirely. “You are very direct. Is that typical of gentlemen of the Ton?”
“Hardly. But I am not truly a gentleman of the Ton. They accept me, Miss Blake, for a few simple reasons… I am wealthy enough to do as I please and I have little use for them. At one time, I was very much a part of all that, but now I can take it or leave it as I choose.”
“And is that why you’d seek a romantic connection to a woman who is completely outside their circle? Because you can take it or leave it… or because you want it to leave you?”
He had stopped walking as she did, and now he turned to face her. “I chose to seek a romantic connection with you, Miss Blake, because to do anything less is simply unthinkable to me. It didn’t hurt that our first meeting was so… revealing. Given the state of your clothing, I’d have to be a dead man not to have appreciated that particular view.”
A heated blush spread over her face. “Please do not bring that up. Heavens. I’d be ruined entirely.”
“There are worse things than being ruined. Sometimes ruin is the very thing that leads us to happiness… just ask my sister.”
“I do not know your sister,” she said, “So I cannot.”
“I will introduce you… Olivia, Viscountess Holland,” he said. “In fact, she’ll be hosting a ball on Saturday night. I will be certain that invitations are sent round for you and the Fennelworths.”
She couldn’t possibly attend a ball. There was nothing in her wardrobe that would be even remotely suitable. But she’d suffered enough humiliations for one day without sharing that. “Why are you doing this? I can’t quite fathom it. Surely there have been other ladies of your acquaintance to whom such attentions would seem more appropriate.”
“I don’t really care for appropriate women,” he admitted. “The truth of the matter is, as much as I detest society, I’m not really the sort to rusticate in the country either. I like the comforts of town and have little interest in hunting and shooting. I suppose my opportunities for meeting ladies that are unaffected by London society have been somewhat limited by my urban tendencies.”
No. He was far too sophisticated for a simple country life. “Why do you hate them?”
He shrugged, as if his answer was somewhat flippant, but his tone was terribly serious when he spoke. “My sister was ruined through no fault of her own. She’d committed no crime other than being beautiful and wealthy enough to draw the eye of an unscrupulous man. He abducted her, intent on forcing her hand in marriage in some sort of elopement scheme… and when it was discovered, the lot of them turned on her. Like jackals. They cut her to the quick and betrayed her at every turn when only days before she’d been their darling, toasted and feted at every turn. I detest their hypocrisy though I’ve been guilty of much the same myself in the past.”
“But now she is married to a viscount and they have