Page 81 of Refining the Debutante
Ethan took a step back, and a rebellious glint entered his eyes. “My parents already know exactly how I feel. They have their reservations, but they will come around.” He abruptly released her and turned away. He crossed to the window, bent over, and pulled it wide open, sticking his head outside. What was he doing?
Then he yelled, “I am getting married to Miss Miranda Bartley, the most beautiful woman in the world!”
Chasing behind him, Miranda did her best to pull him from the window. “What in heaven’s name are you doing?”
“You taught me not to make decisions based on others’ judgments and to say how I really feel. And you’re right. It feels excellent.” He put his head back out the window. “I love Miranda Bartley!”
Miranda pulled his arm with all her might, which was hard to do while laughing. “Stop! They will all think you are mad.”
“Or drunk,” Jane said from the doorway to the sitting room.
Ethan froze in surprise and then opened his arms. “Come congratulate your brother and future sister.”
Jane’s stern expression faded into a smile. “I have never seen you so ridiculous.” She hurried over and stepped into Ethan’s arms. “Congratulations. I hope you are still this deliriously happy when you realize you have a mountain of challenges to climb before this wedding.” Jane turned and gave Miranda a hug. “And I will be truly happy to call you sister.”
“Oh, Jane, thank you!” Miranda felt her eyes water. “You knew the perfect way to trick me into coming.”
“Trick you?” Jane asked, confused.
Ethan cleared his throat. “She thought my quarrel with Father was about the farmers, when in truth it stemmed from my insistence on marrying you,” he said to Miranda.
Jane’s mouth fell open. “Father said... well, I guess we will have to tell him it was all his fault you ended up together. He will love that!”
Ethan grabbed Miranda’s hand and squeezed it to reassure her. “He had better. Only a fool would think otherwise. I will still need to go back to Sussex and see if there is anything I can do to help, but not until after we settle our engagement.”
Chapter 31
“Absolutely not!” Lady Gibson said,her eyes wide and her skin pale. “I will see to it that your father revokes your monthly allowance.”
“Mother,” Ethan begged, “how can you change your opinion so easily? Just last Season you insisted I hurry along my courtship with Miranda.”
“It’s not that she isn’t a delightful girl; it is her circumstance. If you can change your opinion, so can I.”
Ethan rubbed his temples. His head was splitting. They had been at this for far too long. “I am going now to see Mr. Bartley to secure his blessing.”
“To that dark hole?” Lady Gibson pulled out her fan and started flapping it back and forth in front of her face. “Think very carefully about this.”
“I have been thinking about nothing else for months!” Ethan stood to leave. They were getting nowhere. “I will see if Lady Callister will sponsor me until I find employment.”
“You cannot be serious. A man of leisure such as yourself would not know the first thing about working. What about the title you are to inherit? It is your duty.”
“You are wrong there,” Ethan said. He was not an emotionally driven man, but he was a determined one. “Richard can take the title in my place. I won’t back down, even if I must shovel sewage.”
“Ugh!” Hannah said from the door.
Lady Gibson’s eyebrows shot upward. “I told you girls not to spy at the door. Remove yourselves this instant!”
“But I like Miranda, Mother,” Hannah said.
“I do too,” Jane said, catching everyone but Ethan off guard.
“Wonderful,” Ethan announced. “By the time I return, I hope my sisters will have convinced my parents of Miranda’s virtues.”
“Ethan.” His mother’s grim tone stopped him in his tracks. “Something must be done about her father, or your future will be ruined.”
There was more truth in her statement than Ethan wished to acknowledge. He clenched his fists in frustration and walked out the door. Before speaking to Miranda’s father, he needed a better plan. He thought of the old Miranda back in London and her unchecked, almost thoughtless behavior.Shewould not need to write out a speech or map out every step, but he did. Spontaneity should be reserved for his future wife. He was not very good at it, but love was a great motivator.
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