and bodice constricted around her, shortening her breath. She watched Sebastian as he brought the teacup to his mouth, his lips closing over the paper-thin rim.
The heat intensified. Clara tore her gaze away. Not daring to lift her own cup for fear of revealing the unsteadiness of her hands, she rose again and went to the windows. She waited a few heartbeats for Sebastian to enjoy his tea and a slice of cake. Wouldn’t do to have the man hungry as well as shocked.
“Sebastian, I…I’ve asked you here for a specific reason.” Her voice, at least, remained even. She waited for him to set his cup down and turn to face her.
Again, no surprise flashed across his features, only a faint curiosity. “And what reason is that?”
She had rehearsed this. She had a speech prepared. For hours last night, she’d lain in her bed and practiced it over and over again in her mind. She knew where to start, where to pause for effect, how to list her reasons in a tone that was both persuasive and practical. She intended to call upon every determined technique she possessed in order to convince Sebastian Hall that he must agree to marry her.
And yet all her intentions fell away as she blurted out the words with hasty desperation. “Sebastian, I wish to present you with a marriage proposition.”
There it was. The shock he hadn’t yet exhibited now flared in his eyes, spread across his features. He blinked. His mouth opened and closed.
Clara clenched her fists and cursed inwardly. Now he’d think she was mad. She held up a hand to forestall his stammered response.
“Please, hear me out.” She forced a wry note into her voice. “I didn’t mean to surprise you, though I can’t imagine what other reaction I expected.”
He stared at her for a second, then barked out a laugh. “Of all the reasons I could imagine for you inviting me here, that most certainly was not one of them.”
He chuckled again and shook his head, reaching for his teacup. He took a sip and looked at the contents as if wishing they were something much stronger, then set the cup aside and rose.
Clara stepped forward, not wanting to give him the opportunity to bolt from the room before she’d had a chance to present her case.
“Sebastian.” His name flowed like honey across her tongue. She swallowed and felt the sound warm her chest from the inside out. “Please allow me to explain. This involves my son, Andrew, whom I have not seen in over a year.”
Sebastian frowned. “You told me he lives with your father in Surrey.”
“Yes. My father is his legal guardian.” Clara could not prevent the bitter tone underscoring her voice. “He keeps me from Andrew…or keeps Andrew from me, as the case may be. He has very rigid ideas about how Andrew ought to be raised and does not care for my interference.
“My late husband, Richard, God rest his soul, left his money for Andrew’s inheritance, which of course is as it should be. However, he also returned to me a property that once belonged to my mother. Wakefield House.”
“He returned it to you?” Sebastian asked.
“Prior to our marriage, Wakefield House belonged to me,” Clara explained. “It was handed down in trust from my grandfather with Uncle Granville designated as the trustee. When I wed Richard, Wakefield House was transferred to him but he returned it to me in his will. And my father would very much like to own it.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s been in rather dire financial straits since my husband died,” Clara admitted. “Wakefield House is an extensive property. It’s been long deserted, but with the right management and repairs, it could sell for a substantial sum. Of course, in order to sell it, my father first must own it.”
“Can you sell it?” Sebastian asked.
Clara shook her head. “A condition of the trust is that the house be bequeathed to my firstborn. I am not allowed to sell it.”
“And Wakefield House is the sole reason your father keeps your son from you?”
“No.” She couldn’t confess the darkest reason behind her father’s severance of their relationship. She would not be able to bear it if Sebastian looked at her with suspicion or, worse, revulsion.
“My father was quite close to Richard,” she explained. “They were both great sportsmen and shared the same interests. It was easy for them, natural.”
“And yet it was not so for you.”
Clara gave a quick shake of her head and spoke the words she’d