A Most Sinful Proposal (The Husband Hunters Club 2)

But he’s the wrong man!

It was all very well her friends from Miss Debenham’s urging her to use her feminine wiles, but what would they think when they discovered she’d used them on the wrong man? And while she was using them she’d not given dear George a single thought.

“It’s all his fault for not being here,” she muttered, and then jumped when there was a rap on her door.

“Marissa?” Her grandmother entered, looking about the chamber suspiciously. “Were you speaking to someone?”

“No, Grandmamma. Only myself.” Marissa was glad to be interrupted.

Lady Bethany had changed from her traveling dress into something less restrictive, wrapping a cashmere shawl around her shoulders. With her hair loosened, softening the lines of her face, she looked younger and strangely vulnerable.

“How is Lord Jasper?” Marissa asked, as her grandmother came to sit beside her on the bed.

“Sleeping, and hopefully no worse for his experience.” She hesitated, fiddling with the rings on her fingers. “What do you think of him, my dear?”

“I think him a very nice man,” Marissa said promptly. “Much nicer than Mr. Garfield.”

Lady Bethany waved her hand impatiently at the mention of her previous beau. “Garfield is gone and forgotten.” Another pause, more fiddling with her rings. “He is a little younger than me, you know.”

“Is he?”

“Ten years,” Lady Bethany said heavily.

“But you are so very youthful in your ways, Grandmamma,” Marissa assured her. “Everyone says so.”

Her grandmother brightened. “I am, aren’t I?”

“An older man would have trouble keeping up with you.”

“I do believe you’re right.”

Marissa placed her hand on her grandmother’s. “But then again…You don’t think it is a little soon to be considering Lord Jasper in such an…an intimate light, Grandmamma?”

Lady Bethany’s thin eyebrows climbed. “Not at all. I always know the moment I meet someone whether I want them as a lover and a friend. I am a very good judge of character, my dear.”

“Yes, Grandmamma,” Marissa replied, trying not to be shocked, but the vision of her grandmamma welcoming Lord Jasper into her boudoir was almost more than she could manage.

“And at my age there isn’t time to dilly-dally,” her grandmother added. Her eyes narrowed. “What happened between you and Kent, Marissa? He was like a sulky schoolboy when you came back from the castle ruins.”

Marissa avoided that sharp gaze. “Nothing happened, Grandmamma. He was disappointed he didn’t find his rose, that is all.”

“Hmm, well I don’t believe you. I suppose you’ll tell me the truth when you’re ready.” She rose to her feet and made for the door. “Now I am going to take a little nap before dinner.”

Marissa breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed, aware she had got off lightly. If Lady Bethany hadn’t been busy with her own concerns about Lord Jasper she would never have given up so easily, and her probing was always needle sharp.

Marissa flopped back onto the bed and closed her eyes. She felt as if she was one step away from disaster, and at the same time she knew how simple it would be to take that step. Her body tingled with memories of Valentine’s smile, his touch, the way his breath warmed her skin. It was all wrong, so very wrong, and yet it felt so very right.

Her eyes sprang open.

Could she? Dare she? It would serve him right, of course, and it might also help her to develop those skills she was only just beginning to realize she possessed. He’d proposed to her despite obviously hating the idea of marrying her. It was logical that no gentleman who would propose to her against his will would harm her—such an action would be against his code—therefore she was perfectly safe.

But just in case, her grandmother and Jasper would be there to act as chaperones.

Marissa smiled. As her grandmother said, more or less, life was too short to dilly-dally.

Chapter 10

Marissa dressed carefully for dinner. She was not greatly enamored of the pale pinks and pastels and debutante’s white that young women were expected to wear in society. The colors that suited her were the more striking reds and purples and royal blues, as well as her favorite emerald green. For this evening she had chosen a dark rose silk trimmed with knots of ribbon and lace.