Page 59 of The Trouble with Anna

“To Lady Anna, of course. To our engagement,” said Julian.

All eyes turned to Anna, and she dredged up her blandest smile. “Lord Ramsay was left my guardianship, you see. I’m afraid he takes his duties much too seriously. But what a crime it would be to force such an eligible lord into marriage, and to a young woman he hardly knows. Don’t you agree?”

The matrons with daughters—and all of the daughters, and one particularly handsome son—nodded vigorously.

“Sothat’sit!” Lady Cardiff laughed. “I must say I wondered where the match came from, so quickly.”

Lord Hartley raised his glass. “Let’s toast to Lady Anna, who has too much of my money in that pile before her. I knew her to be England’s finest horsewoman, but I must also acknowledge she also has the finest grasp of racing history. I’ll not bet against her again.”

“To Lady Anna!” the Dowager said stoutly.

One by one, the Dowager’s slightly confused but deeply loyal friends raised their glasses. Anna sneaked a glance at Julian, pink with triumph.Smolder as much as you like. I believe I won that round.

Julian smiled tightly as a footman offered him a coupe of champagne. He raised it high and his voice thundered out, louder than all the others.

“To Lady Anna, my bride-to-be. The toast of London already!”

The most discreet guests left quickly, but the gossips had to be shoved toward the door. Mr. Pickerton stayed the longest, and Charlotte only managed to clear him out by musing that he must not mind the other guests spreading tales of the evening before he did.

Anna, conscious of what she owed the Dowager, gritted her teeth through the barrage of confused congratulations as the guests departed. She even managed not to snarl when Mr. Pickerton pressed her hands and whispered, “Clever girl. Keep him guessing—you may just get him to the altar yet!”

All the while, Julian’s eyes followed Anna with furious heat, lashing up her rage.

“Good lord, Julian! What were you thinking?” cried Charlotte when she returned from hustling Mr. Pickerton out the door. “I can’t imagine what the gossips will say.”

“No?” His voice was a whip. “Can you not ask them? Are they not your dearest friends?”

The Dowager rose to her feet. “I suggest we all retire. There will be hordes of callers tomorrow after that fiasco, and I, for one, need my strength.”

Anna remained seated. “I find I have a few words to say to his lordship.”

Julian jerked his head toward her. “Conversation? How novel. Are you sure you don’t prefer to run away? That’s what you do with me, although not with your new London acquaintances.”

Anna gave a tight smile. “Why would I run from you, when you only chase me?”

Charlotte opened her mouth, but the Dowager grasped her firmly by the elbow before she could say anything. “Bedtime, darling.”

“I’mstaying right here!” said Charlotte.

“You’recoming upstairs if I have to drag you by the ear,” the Dowager retorted.

The door had barely closed behind them when Anna leapt to her feet. “I’ve known you arrogant, I’ve known you rude, and I’ve known you to lie, but in our short and awful acquaintance, I’ve never known you deaf. I told you already, your lordship, and I’ll say it one last time. Make your offer to some other poor soul. I will not have you!”

“Julian,” he corrected, straightening away from the fireplace. The glitter in his eyes raised prickles on Anna’s skin.

“What?”

He stalked toward her. “That’s what you called me when you breathed my name against my mouth. After I offered. After youaccepted and we kissed until you clung to me. Did you forget? I’d be happy to remind you.”

Anna gasped. “Are you really arrogant enough to think you own me, just because you kissed me? What kind of man are you?”

“Your fiancé,” he retorted. “The man who meant it when he promised to protect you. The man who would stand at your side as your husband.”

Anna’s eyebrows flew up. “Amanto protect me? Why would I possibly need one? To auction away my future, as my grandfather did? To abuse my trust, as you have? Nothing good comes frommen, as you so recently proved.”

The muscles of Julian’s jaw worked. “Are you truly so irrational, so blithering, so incapable of putting aside your feelings to look seriously at your future? You cannot live alone, damn it!”

“How dearly women love to hear thatwe’reirrational. How we adore it when men lecture us about reason while they have none. Had my grandfather ever once consulted his head or his heart, he would have known how utterly ridiculous his scheme was. You must be as cold and stupid as he was, if you think I’d put my future in your hands. I have no desire to chain my life to aliar!” She flung the last word at him and his eyes flared when it struck.

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