I know your family has hurt you. Your sister in particular, but not everyone is like that. You can’t be so afraid to let people get close to you. Sullivan is trying to help, trying to do the right thing. Let him. Let him be the hero,” Agnes said.
“No one will ever believe it was a love match,” Tilly said. She swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat and blinked quickly to dispel the unwanted tears. “My reputation will still be in question.”
“It matters not what people believe,” Harriet said. “Consider all of the things I thought I knew about my Oliver. I had everything so very wrong. People will believe what they want to believe. The truth will always come out.”
“This is so much easier for the two of you, and Iris, having found love matches,” Tilly said.
“Lord Glenbrook will, no doubt, fall in love with you once he’s given the chance,” Harriet said.
Tilly snorted. “I am not harboring any fantasies of him loving me, nor I him. I am not designed for such a thing.” She held her hand up to stop her friends’ continued conversation. “But I do want to stay in London and if marrying him will enable me to do that, then I shall take it.”
“Don’t be so certain love isn’t for you,” Agnes said. “It has a way of creeping in and making itself known.”
Yes, when you looked like Agnes with her perfect body and stunning face. And when you were so pleasant and sweet and pretty like Harriet. But Tilly knew that was not what life had in store for her. She’d had her chance at love once, and he had chosen her sister instead.
Chapter Four
Sullivan surveyed the ballroom.
He’d been assured that Matilda would be in attendance tonight, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to locate her. She was rather tall for a lady, and as much as he wanted to deny it, she’d always been somewhat of a beacon to him. He hadn’t heard from her in three days, since their families had met and he’d made his claim upon her. There had been no communication from her family, either.
Did that mean she’d decided against his proposal and wanted to risk her reputation?
For any other woman, that would be unthinkable, but Tilly might be stubborn enough to try it. Her willfulness would almost be admirable if it didn’t put them at odds so often.
Her mother declared her a spinster, but Tilly was only three and twenty, hardly too old to marry and bear children. Not to mention it was his fault her reputation was called into question. He’d been careless in not going to every extreme to hide her when leaving the inn.
That didn’t even speak to him mauling her in his sleep. Christ, he couldn’t even think of her warm, soft breast without getting hard. How her tight nipple had brushed against his palm. Then how she’d reached behind her and grabbed his shaft, naïvely not knowing what she was doing. He shifted his stance to alleviate the pressure building in his pants.
He knew theirs wouldn’t be a love match. Yes, he desired her physically, but she loathed him and, though she hadn’t admitted as much, he feared she still fancied herself in love with Thomas. Marrying a girl who was in love with his younger brother did not make for the beginnings of a romantic union.
And then like that beacon she was, he spotted her. Across the ballroom, dressed in a gown of icy blue. Her fair skin against her cinnamon-colored hair made for a striking combination. The gown dipped low revealing her modest cleavage, but her collarbone and shoulders were bare. Except for the smattering of freckles across her creamy skin. Without another thought, he made his way to her side.
“A word, Lady Matilda,” he said. He didn’t wait for her to respond, merely took her hand and tucked it in the crook of his elbow and walked away from her friends.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“We have things to discuss.” He aimed for the open doors that led to the balcony. A cool breeze wafted inside, beckoning him.
“Lord Glenbrook,” a shrill voice called.
He stopped and turned around to find Lady Evanberry standing there looking more frightful than a woman of her diminutive stature should ever look. She was older than his mother and had a head full of gray hair all wrapped up on her head in tight ringlets.
“My lady,” he said with a bow.
Her