Page 35 of The Trouble with True Love

“God, no!” she cried, alarmed by the prospect, though she wasn’t sure what, precisely, she found so unsettling.

He shrugged. “There we are then.”

His nonchalance was another prick to her pride, but Clara ignored it. “What makes you think courting a woman will soften your aunt’s position?”

“It’s not my aunt I’m concerned about, but to answer your question, no man can be expected to conduct a courtship if he hasn’t the income to support a wife. If I begin paying you my attentions, my great-aunt will inform my father, and if Leyland thinks I am at last intending to find a wife, he will resume my allowance from the estate.”

“Or he’ll suspect it’s all a hum.”

“He can’t afford to take the chance. Leyland needs me to marry to secure the succession of the earldom to his own son. His pride, you see, can’t bear the idea that the title and estates could pass to a distant cousin who earns a living making boots. On the other hand, he can hardly expect his ambition to be fulfilled if I have no income, for no woman would take a man’s courtship seriously if he has no money to support her. By courting you, I force my father’s hand.”

Clara took a deep breath and shoved down any silly notions of disappointment. “Why choose me? There are many women, I’m sure, who would welcome your suit. Why direct your attentions to me?”

“Despite what you may think of me, I have no wish to encourage an unknowing woman’s expectations.”

“And I wouldn’t have such expectations?”

“Of me?” His expression turned rueful. “Be honest, Miss Deverill. We both know you wouldn’t marry me if I were the last man on earth.”

Last man on earth, a little voice inside her head piped up to say,might be a bit of an exaggeration. Clara tore her gaze from his stunning face and told the little voice in her head to shut up.

She gazed out at the crowd and tried to consider with objective detachment the ramifications of what he was suggesting. From his point of view, she supposed it made a sort of sense. For her, however, it was untenable.

“You’re quite right that I wouldn’t ever dream of marrying you,” she said at last, returning her gaze to his. “But that fact brings up another fact, one that—even if I conceded all the things you are telling me as true—makes what you are asking impossible.”

“What’s that?”

“Unlike you, I want to marry. That is one of the main reasons I am participating in the events of the season, to meet eligible young men.”

“Ah.” That reply seemed to indicate that he appreciated her point, but his reply, when it came, demonstrated otherwise. “All the better, then, for both of us. What’s the problem?”

She frowned, bewildered by the question. “I beg your pardon?”

He shrugged. “If finding a man to marry is your goal, I can’t think of a better way to accomplish it than by agreeing to my plan.”

Clara began to wonder if he was touched in the head. “But if you are paying me your attentions openly, other men will see that.”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Exactly.”

“They will assume that I am... that we... that I have regard f... for...”

She stopped and took another deep breath. “Other men will see us together,” she said after a moment, speaking with deliberate care so that she didn’t stammer. “They will conclude that my feelings are already engaged, that I have formed an attachment to you. They will steer clear of me altogether.”

“No, my sweet lamb, that’s exactly what they won’t do.”

“I don’t see how you make that out.”

“Men thrive on competition, and yet, we are also deathly afraid of rejection. If you are not dancing, for example, most men assume it’s because you don’t want to do so, and so they don’t ask you. But if you agree to my plan, other men will see you dancing with me, be encouraged, and start approaching you.”

“Will they?” She made a face. “They didn’t after we danced the other night. I spent the rest of the evening in my usual place, with the other wallflowers. Your attentions didn’t change a thing.”

“Only because you snubbed me by walking away after our dance was over, preventing me from doing the proper thing and escorting you back to your place. My aunt assumed your action was the result of something I said that must have offended you, but most men wouldn’t draw such a conclusion. Any men observing us no doubt concluded that you were the one who snubbed me.”

“And therefore, I would also be likely to snub them?”

“Just so. The opposite is also true. If you draw my attentions, you will draw theirs. Trust me on this.”

“Asking me to trust you,” she said, “is asking a lot.”

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