Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (217 page)

Scott

He was stalling and he knew it, putting off the news as long as he could, storing up every memory of her-beautiful, innocent Philippa, believing in the purity of his love when he'd come to prove her beliefs ill founded and her heart played falsely. It would be years before she would understand this was a sham designed to protect her family.

'What is it, Val? You didn't come out here to show me roses,'

coaxed.

'I spoke to your father earlier this evening.'

Her face lit with joy. little cry of delight escaped her lips. She clapped a gloved hand over her mouth.

He replayed the words in his head the way she would hear them. He knew he'd mis-stepped. She thought he had come to propose. He must be more careful, more convincing.

Valerian shook his head in warning. 'No, Philippa, it is not what you think. Your father has told me of your betrothal to the Duke of

He

accepted an offer for your hand this afternoon.'

furrowed her brow, disbelief and confusion warring across her face. His words had achieved their goal. This pronouncement was so far from what she'd expected she couldn't even be angry. She couldn't get angry with him until she put the pieces together. The poor girl hadn't even known Cambourne was interested, although the betting book at White's had been full of wagers over when the widower Duke would make his move. The men about town had privately acknowledged Cambourne's interest in the Season's finest debutante weeks ago.

Valerian had hoped to wait out the storm. He might

12

The Viscount Claims His Bride

have succeeded if the Baron's need for funds hadn't been so desperate.

'Cambourne? You must be mistaken, Val.' She was all

logic, standing up and shaking out her skirts, convinced she only had to march into the ballroom and explain the situation to her father. 'He loves you. Nothing would please him more than to welcome you into our family. He would want this for me, for us.'

'Wait, Philippa.' Valerian kept his voice even and cold, not betraying the emotion threatening beneath his hardening veneer. 'I came out here to encourage you to accept Cambourne's offer.'

'What do you

want me to marry Cam-

bourne?'

exclaimed, horrified. ' He's old

enough to be my father! I don't love him. Beyond a few dances, I hardly know the man at all.' Her infamous temper started to show now that the initial shock had passed. Valerian did not relish being on the receiving end of her sharp tongue.

'You have the rest of your life to get to know him, Philippa.' Valerian dismissed her argument with callous disregard. 'He's an excellent catch for you, if you think about it.' Valerian made a show of ticking the other man's merits off on his gloved fingers. 'He's from our part of the world. You'll still be close to home and your family. He's wealthy. He loves horses as you do. He's not a cruel or unattractive man. You could

happiness with him. He will

offer you stability and security.'

'But not love,'

fired back. 'Here you are,

laying out his assets like a business merger. But the

Scott

only one I care about is love. He can't possibly love me. He doesn't know me. You know me, Val. If those criteria are so important to my father, then why won't you

live in our part of the world, you

love horses, you're kind and attractive, you have money. Under those conditions, I don't see why your offer isn't as good. What was wrong with you, Val?

Let me talk to my father. We'll be engaged by midnight. You' see.'

Valerian looked into the azure depths of her beseeching eyes. It was deuced awkward playing the jilt. If he was successful, she'd walk out of the garden thinking he was unaffected by the turn of events. She'd never know he'd carried a ring in his pocket for the last two weeks, hoping against hope that Cambourne's suit would come to naught.

The ring was still there, in the left pocket of his evening coat. And there it would remain. He strongly doubted he'd ever give it to another. It was slow torture to outline Cambourne's merits to her, to offer her reassurances that all would be well when in fact he didn't think he'd ever be well again. His stomach was churning.

'What was wrong with me?' Valerian echoed with feigned flippancy 'For starters, I don't want to be engaged by midnight. Secondly, I didn't ask.'

More lies. He had asked anyway, even knowing the situation. Her father had explained plainly that the young viscount didn't have enough money-at least not until he was twenty-seven and came into his inheritance. But Baron Pendennys couldn't wait that long. It had hurt enormously to realise his dreams

14

The Viscount Claims His Bride

had been sold for golden guineas. He would be a wealthy man for ever living without the one thing his money couldn't buy.

'What? You never asked?' Her eyes filled with tears, her voice full of disbelief. 'I don't understand.'

God, she was beautiful. Valerian fought the urge to pull her against him. She stood so close it would hardly be an effort to do so. He could smell the light fragrance of her lemon-scented soap rising from her skin, the lavender rinse of her

hair.

She sat down hard on the stone bench, grasping at the logic of it all. 'I thought you loved me. I thought you wanted to marry me.'

Valerian fought the urge to follow her down, and take her hands in comfort. He had to stop touching her or she'd know it was all a lie.

'Keep your voice down. We don't want to draw attention,' Valerian scolded, covertly casting his gaze about the area. 'The last thing we need now when it's all over is to be compromised.' He'd meant it to be a set-down. She seized on it as the answer to their troubles.

'That's it! '

said wildly. 'If you compro-

mise me, Father will have to let us marry and Cambourne will have a gracious out. Everyone would understand he couldn't marry me then.'

Valerian felt himself rouse at the very idea. It would be easy enough to compromise her, but he loved her too much not to warn her of the consequences-consequences she couldn't fathom through the lens of her innocence, but with three years of town bronze on him, Valerian could.