“Tess, I am so sorry for missing my class! I entirely lost track of time.”
Tess lowered her voice to avoid being overheard. “How are you faring with the vexatious earl, as Lily calls him?”
Glancing around to make certain Marcus was nowhere in sight, Arabella answered ruefully, “Not well, I’m afraid-as you can see.” She gestured at the enormous display of flowers. “I believe this must be his notion of a romantic courtship.”
“Courtship?”
“Come with me.” Arabella drew her friend down the hall to the small parlor so they could be private.
Tess was a beautiful woman, with sable hair and a flawless complexion and figure that were the envy of nearly every lady in the district. She was a year younger than Arabella, yet she had remained a spinster after losing her betrothed in the Peninsular Wars. They’d become fast friends when the Loring sisters moved in with their step-uncle four years before, and grown even closer when Arabella opened the academy. Despite Tess’s genteel upbringing that dictated ladies shouldn’t soil their hands with menial employment, she had willingly joined as a teacher in hopes that keeping occupied would help her to overcome her sorrow.
Since they had shared so much, Arabella felt no qualms at confessing her dilemma to Tess. “Lord Danvers has proposed marriage to me.”
Dumbfounded, Tess stared. “I thought he was trying to marry you off to a total stranger.”
Arabella laughed at her friend’s expression. “He was. But then he decided to kill two birds with one stone-to be rid of the responsibility for me as his ward and to secure a wife to produce heirs for him at the same time.”
“You don’t mean to accept him?”
“Of course not. But I agreed to allow him to court me.”
She told Tess about the wager and how Lord Danvers had promised to grant her and her sisters their legal emancipation if Arabella could resist his seduction for a fortnight.
“Lily will certainly be pleased to be free of his guardianship, as will Roslyn,” Tess said slowly at the conclusion.
“How are my sisters?” Arabella asked eagerly.
“Well enough, considering they have severely curtailed their daily activities so as not to be seen by the earl. Lily is fretting most at being confined indoors, naturally, but even Roslyn is growing restless.”
“I can well imagine. Thank you for taking them in, Tess, and for seeing to my class this morning. I know this makes scheduling lessons difficult for you.”
“Don’t mention it, dearest. You have done more than enough for me these past few years. I couldn’t begin to repay you.”
“If you don’t mind,” Arabella added, “I would prefer my sisters remain with you a few days more until we can be certain of the earl’s intentions. As long as our wager holds, he will likely leave off seeking to arrange marriages for them, but I don’t know him well enough yet to trust him unconditionally.”
“Certainly I don’t mind,” Tess said. “Roslyn and Lily are more than welcome to stay for as long as necessary. In fact, they are proving invaluable, helping me to make up baskets for the Families of Fallen Soldiers. It’s an enormous task, stitching shirts and knitting stockings for so many needy children, and with your sisters’ contribution, I should be able to increase the number this year to two hundred.” Tess smiled. “Amazingly, even Lily has pitched in wholeheartedly, despite her dislike of sewing, since it is for such a good cause. So tell me about Lord Danvers. Is he the overbearing tyrant you feared?”
Arabella hesitated. She had to admit Marcus was nothing like what she had feared. He might be more than a little arrogant, but he certainly didn’t resemble a tyrant. Indeed, he had shown remarkable understanding for a nobleman of his stamp. He had listened intently last evening when she spoke of her academy. And more astonishingly, he appeared to respect her as the mistress of the estate even though her step-uncle had treated her and her sisters as poor relations dependent on charity.
But of course Marcus was showing his most amiable side in order to persuade her that he would make her an acceptable husband.
“No, he is not as bad as we feared,” Arabella conceded. “He is rather arrogant and high-handed, as most noblemen are, and accustomed to getting his own way. But I cannot truthfully call him a tyrant.”
“I am flattered, sweeting,” a lazy masculine voice drawled from the doorway. “Your resounding endorsement warms my heart.”
Giving a start at the intrusion, Arabella spun to eye Marcus with reproach. “Did no one ever tell you it is impolite to eavesdrop?”
An amused gleam lit his eyes as he sauntered into the room. “Politeness never won a fair maiden. Moreover, I see no reason to change my methods, since they appear to be working. I am clearly making progress if I’ve improved your opinion of me so significantly in barely one day. At this rate, we will be married by month’s end.”
Arabella’s mouth twitched with the effort to quell a laugh. “You are indulging in a pipe dream, my lord.”
“A very pleasant pipe dream.” His provocative look sent the most unsettling shiver of awareness down her spine. “Will you introduce me to your guest? Or do you mean to keep her hidden from me, as you have your sisters?”
She flushed as she finally remembered her manners. “This is Miss Tess Blanchard. Tess, my guardian, Lord Danvers.”
Marcus bowed. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Blanchard. I understand you teach at the Freemantle Academy with Arabella.” When Tess arched a cool eyebrow, Marcus sent her a winning smile. “I had my solicitors give me a full report on your school, since my wards are so heavily involved. You are a close friend of Arabella’s, I gather.”
“I am, my lord,” Tess answered, scrutinizing him with interest.