“I was too startled at being assaulted.”
“Assaulted?” he repeated, his eyebrow arching.
“Perhaps ‘assaulted’ is an exaggeration, but you could have taken me at my word when I declined your offer to become your paramour.”
His lips twitched. “I suppose I should beg your pardon for that.”
Her own smile turned rueful. “Well, I suppose you were justified in thinking I was that sort of female.”
“Indeed,” Arden said dryly. “Particularly since the annual Cyprians’ ball is held precisely for the purpose of conducting such transactions, and since I first saw you in Fanny Irwin’s company. The last thing I expected to find there was a virginal innocent. Believe me, I’m not in the habit of seducing genteel young ladies. In fact, I avoid them like the plague.”
“Well, thankfully nothing came of it, so you may congratulate yourself on your narrow escape. You are quite safe.”
He cocked his head. “Did you never consider that I might be concerned for your safety?”
“No,” Roslyn said curiously. “Why should you be?”
“You put your reputation at risk, and possibly yourself. You could have been truly assaulted that night. Had I been a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer, it would have ruined you.”
“I assure you I have learned my lesson, your grace. From now on I will be entirely satisfied with secondhand knowledge.”
“Secondhand?”
Roslyn considered him for a long moment. Judging by his current tone, the duke was prepared to be reasonable. If he understood why she had attended the ball…She took a slow breath, deciding to give him a frank explanation.
“If you must know, I asked Fanny to invite me that night so I could observe her success with her patrons. She has a remarkable talent for making men fall in love with her, and I hoped to learn her secrets.”
When Roslyn saw his eyebrow lift in surprise and skepticism, she plowed ahead, even though embarrassment stained her cheeks at having to confess her plan to a nobleman as imperious and arrogant as Arden. “You see, I want to make my own future husband fall in love with me, and observing courtesans at work seemed the best way to accomplish it.”
“I’m afraid I don’t see,” the duke said slowly.
“Well, you must admit that gentlemen fall in love with their mistresses far more often than with their wives.”
“I won’t dispute that, but what of it?”
“I wonder why that is. How do women like Fanny arouse a gentleman’s ardor? They must have some significant knowledge that genteel ladies do not. Knowledge that Fanny has promised to teach me.”
Arden simply stared at her. “So you are scheming to find a husband,” he finally said.
Roslyn was rather taken aback by his derisive tone. “I wish to find love in marriage, not merely a husband.”
“And I presume Haviland is the husband you have in mind?”
“Well…yes,” Roslyn admitted.
“And you intend to entrap him? Rather cold-blooded of you, is it not, sweeting? And to think I had decided you were an innocent, not a designing female.”
“I am not a ‘designing female,’ as you put it,” Roslyn replied stiffly. “Nor am I cold-blooded in the least. I hope to make Haviland fall in love, not entrap him.”
“Isn’t it the same thing?”
“I don’t believe so, your grace.” Roslyn’s own gaze narrowed. “But perhaps you wouldn’t understand, since Fanny tells me you are reputed to have no heart.”
Arden took a step closer, studying her intently, before finally shaking his head. “Of course I have a heart.” Surprisingly, his tone turned more amused than caustic. “I am kind to children, animals, the elderly. I just don’t believe in love.”
“Your cynical view is not surprising, I suppose, considering how often you have been targeted for matrimony.”
“So you see why I might feel sympathy for Haviland? I would no doubt be doing him a favor if I warned him of your scheme.”