me. A woman was speaking to Mr. Northam, but his attention remained on us. “Then it is unfortunate for us both that you chose to offer your companionship to me.”
“Miss Brinton.” His tone turned severe, and I looked at him in surprise. “I feel it my duty to warn you against any hopes of winning my cousin’s hand. He is not interested in marriage.”
He had to be. Mrs. Hickmore would not have invited him if he had not expressed at least mild interest in it. “Perhaps that is only because he has not yet met the right woman.”
Lord Williams looked at me with mockery in his eyes. “And you think you are that woman?”
This baron was proving less the gentleman now that we conversed alone. Still, I maintained a polite facade, for he might have some influence over his cousin. “From what I gathered at dinner, I think your cousin and I are well suited.”
“How so?”
“I would change nothing in his life except his marriage status and the amount of money available to him.”
Lord Williams raised his brows. “Entering into the marriage state is often considered a life-altering event, changing everything about one’s life.”
I waited until we’d maneuvered around a few stationary couples before answering. “Yes, generally. But I am seeking a marriage of convenience. Mutual respect is paramount, of course, but I wish to avoid any of the deeper connections occasionally found within the state of matrimony. If he is, as you say, a rake, I believe such a union would suit your cousin perfectly. I do come with something of a dowry; not large enough to be called a fortune, but large enough to tempt some men.” Dishonorable men like Edward. And, hopefully, indifferent men like Mr. Northam.
Lord Williams drew me closer while guiding me through the crowd at the door, though he didn’t seem to realize what he’d done. But I noticed.
I would not be drawn in by any man.
I put distance between us before glancing around the large ballroom. Portraits and landscapes of differing sizes lined one side of the room, their gilded frames fitted together like well-placed stones in a dry-stone wall. Windows covered with closed, heavy drapes lined the other, while rows of hard-backed chairs took up half the wood floor, set up facing a large pianoforte.
Lord Williams gestured to the middle aisle and we moved toward it. “You are certain my cousin would fill such a role after so short an acquaintance?”
I shrugged. “It is impossible for two people to grow in regard for each other without interaction, and if I have the measure of him, we would hardly ever meet, let alone spend time together. I shall pass my days in the country, he in town, or wherever he prefers. His habits all but guarantee our separation, and I will certainly make no demands that he adjust his lifestyle.”
“Eventually you will grow lonely and dissatisfied. What will you do then?”
Why it concerned him I did not know. “Needlepoint.”
He shook his head. “What you seek is impossible.”
“And yet it is accomplished every day, especially among your peers, is it not? You cannot convince me that my plan is not a sound one.”
“One cannot convince a person who refuses to see reason,” he muttered.
What a pompous man. Dropping his arm, I faced him. “Do you deny that most of those who meet this week and fancy themselves in love will not discover, within a year of their being wed, that those emotions that drove them to the altar have wilted and died?”
“I cannot speak for others. I would not allow such a thing.” He gestured to a chair, indicating that I should take a seat.
Only a fool would believe one could retain another’s affection simply by forbidding it to waver. “You, my lord, have never been in love.”
Frowning, he took my hand to assist me in sitting. “You cannot expect a person to remain so stagnant.”
He was as well-bred and well-mannered as Mrs. Hickmore had claimed, but he was also rashly arrogant and overly interfering. He was exactly the sort of man who would insist on more in a union than I was willing to give, though it would always be more about gratifying his own conceit than the concerns of his companion.
I remained standing. “And you believe your cousin is inclined to such change? That eventually his disregard for someone such as me will transform into a true devotion?”
“You misunderstand me. I was speaking of you. Northam would never form a regard for