Page 2 of Intolerable
When he said nothing, she gave his arm another slight pull. “Well?”
“Well what?” He looked bemused, and she wished she could kick him in the shin.
“Why does Lucien think I need protection from you?”
Wexford looked past her head for a flash of a second then threw his free hand up. “How should I know? As I said, brothers tend to act overprotectively when it comes to their sisters. I should like to know why you’re trying to prick his ire by asking me to dance with you.”
“I’m not trying to antagonize him. He’s not even here, if that makes you feel better.” Not that it mattered to her. She would have asked Wexford to dance anyway. Prudence’s idea had taken over her mind. “In any case, he will learn of my plan soon enough.”
“May we continue our promenade?” Wexford asked politely before adding in a whisper, “People are looking in our direction.”
Cassandra inclined her head, and they resumed their stroll.
Wexford guided them around a group of people who seemed oblivious to their approach or that they were blocking the unmarked promenade area. “Since you asked for my help, this plan involves me, I take it.”
“It does. I believe you are aware of my father’s edict that I wed this Season.” The duke had been lenient in allowing her to delay her Season for a few years, but now that she had made her debut, he expected her to marry by the Season’s end. Which was precisely why she’d asked for the delay in the first place. It was of the utmost importance to him that his only daughter have averysuccessful first Season, meaning she must be popular and marry.
“I am.”
“I have had precisely one caller. My father is disappointed to say the least.” He railed almost daily now as to how she could be such a failure. She was beautiful, the daughter of a duke, and not at all “empty-headed.” In his eyes, she should have been betrothed by now. What he failed to realize was that he intimidated nearly everyone in Society, and there was an unfortunate dearth of gentlemen on the Marriage Mart who possessed the nerve to court the Duke of Evesham’s daughter.
“How can I possibly help?” Wexford sounded quite skeptical.
“You can dance with me tonight and pay me a call on Monday. In addition, you can encourage others to do the same. No one—including you—needs to officially court me or actively pursue my hand. I just need my father to see that I am popular and that there may be competition. This will soothe his ire, and perhaps he’ll leave me alone for a spell.” She hated how disgruntled she sounded, but that was, unfortunately, how she felt at the moment. Thanks to her father.
“I must ask why you aren’t making this request of your brother. Lucien is the one who is known for granting favors.” As owner of the Phoenix Club, an exclusive organization that sought members who were often on the social periphery or in some way rejected, either mildly or emphatically, from Society, Lucien had gained a reputation for helping people in need, whether that be with employment, connection, or something of a more personal nature.
Cassandra tossed the earl a sly glance. “He can’t exactly pay me a call, can he?”
Wexford grinned, and Cassandra was powerless to stop the absurd thrill that tripped through her chest. “I suppose not. How will you keep him from tearing my limbs from me when he learns we not only danced, but that I paid a call on you?”
“I’ll handle him.” Cassandra wasn’t going to let any of the annoying men in her family, not her father or either of her brothers, meddle in her plans. She’d marry when she was bloody good and ready and not a moment sooner. She’d marry when shewantedto, not when Society—or her father—dictated. So far, she hadn’t even come close.
Wexford turned his arresting, twinkling eyes on her. “ThatI would like to see.”
“If he wants to meddle, he’ll have to tell me exactly why he doesn’t want me dancing with you.”
Chuckling, Wexford steered them toward the dance floor since the set had ended and the next was about to begin. “You may be disappointed to learn there isn’t anything nefarious behind your brother’s…brotherliness. Trust me, we just don’t like to think of our sisters as romantically, er, involved.”
“That’s silly. I have no trouble thinking of my brothers in that way. I want them to be romantically happy.” Especially her brother Constantine, whose two-year marriage had seemed incrediblyunhappy until very recently. She was thrilled that he and his wife, Sabrina, whom Cassandra adored, had seemed to have finally fallen in love. It gave Cassandra hope.
“It’s good that you aren’t bothered by it since Lucien makes such behavior look as regular as breathing,” Wexford quipped.
“Which makes him an absolute hypocrite.”
Leading her onto the dance floor, Wexford moved them into position as others gathered around them. “I’d argue that his affairs are less romantic and more, ah, never mind.” He glanced about, as if to silently tell her they should change the subject since others would overhear them.
The music started and their conversation became far more mundane as others joined. Throughout the set, they periodically touched, and Cassandra tried to pretend the awareness that jolted through her meant nothing, that she felt the same thing—to a lesser extent—when she touched the other gentleman in their square. It would be far easier to ignore Wexford if he wasn’t so deuced attractive.
And if theincidenthadn’t happened.
She would not think of that. Instead, she considered her options for a husband and pondered whether she’d want to wed someone by the end of the Season. After watching Constantine and Sabrina find their way, Cassandra was willing to entertain the notion of not being in love with her husband at the time of the wedding, but she would choose someone with whom she would hope there would be love someday.
What if there wasn’t?
She wouldn’t think of that either. At least not tonight. She was taking one day of the Season—rather, one event—at a time. For now, she was just thrilled to have her best friend back in town. She’d felt so lonely in her frustration the past three weeks while Fiona had traveled to Gretna Green for her wedding to the Earl of Overton. But as of tonight, Fiona was back and Cassandra would once again have a partner in her misery.
Except she wouldn’t really. Fiona wasn’t suffering through a Season in which she was expected to marry. Shehadbeen, when she and Cassandra had first met back in February. But since then, Fiona had fallen in love with her guardian, of all people, and now they were happily wed.
