Wed in Disgrace (Convenient Arrangements #3) - Rose Pearson Page 0,49

a step towards Miss Mullins, her voice was shaking and furious as she spoke.

“How dare you speak to me in such a manner?” she hissed, one finger pointed towards Miss Mullins. “Do you have any understanding of who I am?”

Miss Mullins lifted her chin. “I do not think that your name or title has any bearing on this matter, Lady Parrington,” she answered, astonishing Timothy all the more. “You have made your choice of husband, and I shall make mine.”

At that moment, Timothy felt his stomach drop to the floor, turning to look at Miss Mullins and wondering if she realized what she had said. Then, he turned to look at Lady Parrington, seeing how she stepped backward, almost staggering as she did so. Her husband, who had said nothing up until this point, reached out to catch his wife’s arm, but Lady Parrington shoved him away hard, shaking him off as though he were nothing more than an annoying fly.

“You are engaged?” she hissed as Timothy noticed the others nearby pressing their hands to their mouths in shock, making no pretense that they were not listening. “Engaged to...to him?”

Miss Mullins tightened her hand on his arm. “Yes. We are engaged.”

Lady Parrington clearly did not know what to say, her mouth a little slack as she stared at Timothy. He cleared his throat and put his hand on Miss Mullins’ as it rested on his arm. “It is quite true, Lady Parrington, I am pleased to say,” he answered, feeling his lips curl into a smile despite the strangeness of the situation. “And I could not be happier.”

“Nor could I,” Miss Mullins agreed. “And now, if you will excuse us, we really must continue our walk.”

Before he could say anything more, she had begun to move away, and he went with her, falling into step almost at once. The urge to look over his shoulder was tremendous, but he resisted it with every part of his being, knowing that nothing good would come from looking.

“She is staring after you if that is what you want to know.”

Lady Newfield came to join them as they walked, her face a little flushed but her eyes bright. “I do not think she knew what to say, Lord Coventry!”

“Which is unlike her,” he mumbled, suddenly realizing that the Lady Parrington he now knew was nothing like the Lady Margaret he had once convinced himself to be in love with. “I must say, I am astonished at her cruel and vile words.”

“Are you?” Miss Mullins replied, looking up at him, clearly a little surprised. “When I first spoke to her, I found her very much the same as she was just now, if not a little quieter.”

Timothy’s brow furrowed and he bit his lip. When he had looked into Lady Parrington’s face, he had found that he felt nothing at all. There was no hint of the love he had once had, the joy that had come with simply being in her company. He had felt nothing for her whatsoever.

“And you did remarkably well, my dear!”

Lady Newfield was smiling at Miss Mullins, who was smiling self-consciously. “I found a new sense of bravery, I think.”

“You certainly did!” Lady Newfield cried as Timothy beamed at Miss Mullins. “You came to your betrothed’s defense and showed valor that I think even a knight of old would be proud of.”

They walked in silence for a short time until, finally, Timothy felt Miss Mullins gently tug his arm.

“Lord Coventry?”

Glancing down at Miss Mullins, he took in her red cheeks and the question in her eyes.

“I—I did not do wrong, did I?”

“Good gracious, no!” He stopped in an instant, holding Miss Mullins’ hands in his and ignoring Lady Newfield completely. “I am more than contented to be engaged to you—if that is what you wish?”

Her smile spread across her face beautifully, her eyes lit up with fresh hope, a new joy. “Yes,” she replied softly. “Yes, Lord Coventry. That is exactly what I wish.”

“Then it is done,” he answered, wishing that they were not in the company of Lady Newfield so that he might pull her close. “We are engaged, Miss Mullins. I shall one day be your husband.”

“And I your wife,” she answered, leaning a little closer. “I can hardly believe it.”

“Nor I!” Lady Newfield answered briskly, coming towards them both and interrupting the conversation. “Now, shall we continue our walk? From the shrieking behind us, I believe that we have left Lady Parrington in a state of deep