“We’ve already established your lack of sense when it comes to behaving as other women, as well as how little regard you have for my opinions. So you will forgive me for not confessing my reasons. It is your turn.”
My hands clenched into fists. “Excuse me, but—”
My father walked around the corner of the house, as though to remind me of his words. I cleared my throat. “Perhaps you would like to go first this time?” I shot the baron a smile, then turned to watch my father disappear into the stables.
“Your father is gone,” Lord Williams said quietly, so close that his chest almost touched my shoulder. I looked at him in surprise and stumbled a step away. “There is no longer a need to appear civil.” Amusement filled his eyes.
My body warmed from embarrassment and anger. He was laughing at me, finding humor in my discomfort as though everything that had happened today had been orchestrated to entertain him.
“Thank you for your permission, my lord. Please excuse me.” I spun and strode to the house.
Eleven
I paced my bedroom, bemoaning my fate and cursing my ill luck, stopping just short of wishing I had never gone to the Hickmores’. I wasn’t fool enough to wish that undone, for if I hadn’t gone, I would never have met Mr. Northam. And I would never regret meeting Mr. Northam.
If only he’d proposed. Or come yesterday. Or this morning. Any of those options would have sufficed.
But would it have done any good? My father had already made the arrangement by then.
A sudden thought stopped my feet. What if he came now? What would I do? Surely Mr. Northam would honor his cousin’s engagement.
Yet he’d called Lord Williams a blackguard, which implied his disapproval of him. If Mr. Northam did, in fact, hate his cousin as I did, as I hoped he did, then I could count on him to help rescue me. But if they were friends as well as cousins—
If they were friends, Mr. Northam would certainly relinquish any claim he felt he had.
It was best not to gamble with the chance of Mr. Northam’s arriving until I found a way out of this engagement. I had to get word to him somehow, urging him not to come. But such a note could never come from me—not unless it was contained inside another letter written by a man. My thoughts automatically flew to my father, but he would never write such a note under the present circumstances. Which left only Daniel. Who would also never help.
I began to pace again, then stopped. If I told Daniel to inform Mr. Northam that he should stay away because there was no point in his coming anymore, surely he would do that. It would be playing to Daniel’s desires. This could all work out wonderfully. I would speak to him about it tonight.
For dinner I wore my plainest yellow evening dress adorned with no more than a simple gold necklace and my hair in a bun, all in the hope to drive home the message of my lack of interest in impressing the baron. Ignoring my mother’s look of disapproval at my attire, I silently followed my family into the dining room.
“Lord Williams,” my father said, indicating a place at the table. Next to mine.
I halted mid-step.
Lord Williams nodded and moved to his seat, resting his hands on the back of his chair while waiting for everyone to take their places. I couldn’t move. I would have to sit next to him. And not just for tonight. I would have to sit next to him for every meal throughout his stay.
“Margaret.” My mother’s voice jarred me to the recognition that everyone was looking at me. I shuffled to my chair.
The table was beautifully laid, the servants having worked all day to make this dinner perfect, and I made a mental note to compliment them later, though I wished there were at least one small, repulsive something on the table that would make the baron uncomfortable. I wondered how difficult it would be to discover a dish he found particularly abhorrent and ensure it was served as a main course while he visited.
As the meal began, Alice’s observations about the day were interspersed with Daniel’s bark of laughter, my mother’s comments, and even Lord Williams’s occasional remark. I took no part in the conversation. To do so, to pretend that everything was normal when that man was sitting next to