He stifled a stab of panic. “Oh, but certainly you could do much better.”
She laughed with delight. “And you are most humble as well. No, my lord, I fear I rather like you.”
“But I’m in love with Miss Effington.”
“Are you? Have you declared yourself?”
“Well, no.”
“Then you have not asked for her hand?”
“Not yet.”
“I see. Then in truth you are not spoken for.”
“I suppose you could say—”
“Indeed I do say, my lord.” She leaned close, her violet eyes gazing into his. “When I agreed to this charade of yours, I did so because I found it most amusing. Now, I think there may well be a far greater benefit to it than mere amusement.”
He groped for the right words. “You are extraordinarily direct, Miss Bellingham.”
“I see no reason not to be and no reason not to be honest as well.” A wicked light sparked in her eyes. “I find I like men with a certain reputation. Men who are not afraid to do exactly as they wish without fear of the consequences. Men who take what they want. Men precisely like you.”
“Good Lord, Miss Bellingham.” He stared at her with rising horror. Of all the times for his original plan to attract women to begin working, this was most definitely not it.
“And in addition to all that I find most attractive about you, I would quite relish being a viscountess. The next Lady Berkley.”
“Miss Bellingham!”
“Felicity.” She fairly purred the word.
“Miss Bellingham,” he said firmly. “I am most flattered, but my affections are engaged elsewhere.”
“For the moment.”
“Forever.”
“We shall see, my lord.” She favored him with a determined smile that sent his heart plummeting to his toes. “We shall see.” She turned away to speak to Effington. Reggie sat stunned and glanced across the table to meet Cassandra’s annoyed gaze. He managed a weak smile. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she turned pointedly away to direct her attentions back to Drummond.
Blast it all. What was he to do now? He certainly couldn’t avoid Miss Bellingham and make Cassandra jealous at the same time. Although, judging by the vile look Cassandra just gave him, the jealousy part of it was coming along nicely. Still, paying any attention to Miss Bellingham at this point would only serve to increase her determination to be the next Viscountess Berkley. He groaned to himself. How could it all have gone so terribly wrong? And how was he going to fix it?
Abduction really did seem like an excellent idea now. Of course, Cassandra might well refuse to marry him anyway. In spite of her adamant views about what was and what wasn’t proper, she was just stubborn enough to allow her reputation to be shredded and declare she’d been right in the beginning: They did not suit. After all, only a man with an infamous reputation in the first place would resort to abduction. Beyond that, the scandal it would create would only make him more attractive to Miss Bellingham, and who knew how far she would go to get what she wanted? Oh no, she was a dangerous and distinctly frightening creature.
Perhaps it was time to risk telling Cassandra of his feelings. To risk offering her his heart. It was just possible, given the moments they’d shared, she felt as he did. He hadn’t wanted to fall over the precipice again until he could do so hand in hand with the woman he loved. And he did not relish dragging her over that cliff kicking and screaming. But he would if he had to. He would not lose her. He ignored the voice in his head that declared he had never in truth had her. Some sort of action had to be taken, and as soon as possible. Before Cassandra decided Lord Perfect was indeed perfect for her. Before Miss Wonderful was firmly ensconced as the new Lady Berkley. Before there was yet another unforeseen twist in a more and more convoluted scheme and Reginald, Viscount Berkley, gave up women entirely to spend the rest of his days in a nice, quiet monastery. Preferably run by monks who produced a decent quality of brandy. Which, at the moment, had a great deal of appeal.
Cassie leaned against the stone baluster of the Holcroft Hall terrace and watched the company in the drawing room through the wide French doors thrown open to catch the evening breeze. At the moment, Cassie preferred to be out of doors, under the stars, in the fresh air. Besides, this was an excellent vantage point from which to see everything that went on, and it was relatively private as well. She’d debated between joining the tables of card players or several of the younger members of their party lingering near the pianoforte, where Miss Bellingham and Mr. Drummond played duets in harmony. Perfect harmony.
Or perhaps she should simply grab Reggie, currently deep in conversation with Lord Pennington, Thomas, and St. Stephens, drag him into the rose garden, and allow him to live up to his reputation by seducing her amidst the hedges. Not a proper option but definitely high on her list.
Dinner had been at once endless and quite enjoyable. Mr. Drummond was a charming companion and most attentive. Cassie found she liked him a great deal, and as hard as she tried, she could find nothing at all about him that could not be considered, well, perfect. He was amusing with an excellent sense of the absurd. Cassie had laughed nearly as much as she had eaten. He was friendly but not aggressive, flirtatious but not presumptuous, intelligent without being smug, and modest without feigned humility. All in all, he was indeed everything she’d ever thought she wanted in a man.
Except that he was the wrong man.
The man she wanted was, at this very moment, the object of attention of Miss Bellingham, although how the young woman could play as well as she did while still casting seductive glances at Reggie from across the room was really quite astonishing. Was there anything Miss Bellingham did not do well?
Cassie doubted anyone would ever describe her as eccentric.
Still, Cassie had to admit, Reggie did not appear as intent on Miss Bellingham as Miss Bellingham was on him. Indeed, unless Cassie was mistaken, the smiles he directed toward the younger woman were little more than polite. Cassie’s spirits rose. Perhaps, in spite of the highly intimate discussions Reggie and Miss Bellingham appeared to have had at dinner, he wasn’t especially interested in her after all. At the moment, Reggie was intent on watching his sister smile fetchingly at Lord Bellingham, cast frequent come-hither looks at Mr. Drummond, and flirt outrageously with Christian, who wore an expression not unlike that of a hunted animal. Cassie bit back a grin. It served Christian right to be pursued by a woman—or rather a girl—he couldn’t pursue back, especially given the endless numbers of women he had probably dallied with. And served Reggie right as well, no doubt. Still, the man was an enigma. She studied him thoughtfully. He was protective of his sister and obviously cared about her future. He bore a long-suffering air in regards to his mother, yet he was apparently fond of her as well. He was a loyal and lifelong friend of Lord Pennington’s, a friend as well of Thomas’s, and both Gwen and Marianne spoke highly of him. Nothing that Cassie had learned firsthand about Reggie meshed even slightly with his reputation. As for that, she no longer cared what he might or might not have done in the past. Only what he might or might not do in the future.
“I see you have changed your mind about Berkley.” Leo sauntered up to her. She laughed. “What on earth would make you think such a thing?”
“Well, dear sister, I know you far better than you think I do.” A smug smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I have noted that while you have obviously caught the attention of Mr. Drummond, a gentleman, I might add, that has every woman here fanning herself in a frantic manner and gazing at him as if he were a tasty morsel, you do not look at him,” Leo paused for emphasis, “the way you look at Lord Berkley.”
“Nonsense, Leo.” Cassie fluttered her fan absently, then caught herself and stopped. “I don’t look at Lord Berkley in any way out of the ordinary.”
Leo raised a skeptical brow.
“I don’t.”
He grinned.
She heaved a resigned sigh. “Very well. I might, just possibly, mind you, be the tiniest bit interested in him.”
“I knew it.” His grin widened. “I gather, therefore, you are willing to venture into the realm of reforming a rake?”
“If I must.” She shook her head. “But in truth, Leo, I’m not certain he needs much reform. Beyond that,”
she cast him a weak smile, “I seem to like him precisely the way he is.”
“Do you?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Then,” Leo chose his words with care, “as you have never considered reformation before and you have never spoken of a gentleman the way you speak of this one, am I to assume that you care for him? Love him, perhaps?”
“It does appear that way.”
“I see.” He nodded slowly. “You are not considering anything foolish, are you?”
“Everything I am considering seems rather foolish.” She studied her brother carefully. “What exactly do you mean by foolish?”
“I mean there are any number of ways a woman may, well, force a man into marriage.”
“Force? Force!” She stared in disbelief. “I can’t believe you would say such a thing!”
“I simply—”
“First of all, as you well know, I have had any number of proposals through the years, none of which were forced. In addition, do you honestly think I would allow him or any man to…to compromise me in an attempt to induce marriage?”
“Shh.” He glanced around and lowered his voice. “I admit the idea had crossed my mind.”
“Leo!”
“Come now, Cass, it’s not entirely far-fetched. You have always done precisely as you’ve wished to get precisely what you want.”
“Within the bounds of respectable behavior.”
“For the most part.”
“Nonetheless”—outrage colored her words—“should I be compromised, I would not consider for a moment demanding marriage.”
“Yes, well, you wouldn’t have to.” His tone was lofty. “I would insist on it.”
“You would have nothing to say about it. I daresay you wouldn’t even know about it.” She glared at him. “And I can’t believe you would think I would do such a thing.”
“Well, perhaps I was a bit hasty.” His tone was grudging. Leo didn’t like to admit he was wrong any more than she did.
“Perhaps,” she snapped, then drew a calming breath. “Leo, I have no intention of forcing anyone into marriage. If indeed it comes to marriage, it shall be because that’s what he and I wish.”
“My apologies. I should never have said anything, and I should indeed know better.” He cast her a rueful smile. “I am simply far too used to worrying about you to stop now. I must accept that you are an intelligent woman with the ability to make her own choices in life.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
“As well you shouldn’t.” He grinned. “I have no intention of allowing you to do anything that could conceivably ruin your life.”
“Your concern is touching.” She studied him for a long moment. The last thing she needed or wanted was for Leo to think she had illicit plans for Reggie and therefore watch her every move. “As I said, I have no intention of trapping Lord Berkley into marriage.”
“Then we have nothing to worry about.” His tone softened. “Cass, I am delighted that you have finally found a man you wish to marry, and I am willing to do whatever you might need to assist this romance—
to a point, of course.”
“Are you?”
“I am. I would like nothing more than to see you wed and happy. And I quite hope my days of concerning myself with your activities and fearing for your future will soon be at an end.”
Cassie stifled the urge to tell Leo she had every intention of continuing to refurbish houses even after she wed, especially now that she had a vague idea as to what she could do with her earnings. Indeed, if she married Reggie, it was entirely possible that the services of Viscountess Berkley would command an even higher fee than those of an Effington. She dismissed the idea that Reggie might not wish her to continue.
“Do you forgive me, then?”
“Possibly.” She thought for a moment. “Leo,” she forced a casual note to her voice, “what do you think of Miss Bellingham?”
“Miss Bellingham?” Leo’s gaze shifted to the young lady seated at the pianoforte, and a light sparked in his eye. “I daresay I think precisely the same as any other man who has crossed her path. She is exquisite. A diamond of the first water. I can’t see anything about her that is not very nearly perfect. Indeed, she is a vision of perfection. Her form, her figure…her eyes are violet, you know.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed.” Cassie resisted an urge toward sarcasm. “I have also noticed just how often she directs those violet eyes toward Reg—Lord Berkley.”
“Does she?” He studied the young woman thoughtfully. “And you would prefer she cast them elsewhere?”
Cassie grinned. “You do know me well.”
“Perhaps in my direction?”
“Why, I wish I had thought of that.”
Leo heaved an exaggerated sigh. “It shall be a sacrifice, but it’s the least I can do to ensure my sister’s happiness.”
“I’m not asking you to marry her, I’m not certain how well a vision of perfection would fare among Effingtons. Simply distract her. Occupy her attention. Flirt with her. Allow her to flirt with you. That sort of thing.”
“I’m certain I can think of something,” Leo murmured, his gaze fixed firmly on Miss Bellingham. “The things I do for my sister.”
“I’m certain it will be most unpleasant,” Cassie said wryly.
“Ghastly. I daresay, I don’t know how I’ll survive.” He slanted her a wicked grin, then strode across the terrace and through the doors to join the guests gathered around the pianoforte. Cassie watched him with a wicked grin of her own. As a protective older brother, Leo could be most annoying. However, he did have a way about him. Cassie had watched him charm any number of women before and had to admit he was nearly irresistible. She needn’t worry about Miss Bellingham, at least for the moment. Indeed she had far more important matters to concern herself with. She turned absently and gazed out over the darkened rose gardens. Cassie wasn’t entirely certain when she had come to the momentous decision to confess her feelings to Reggie. She wasn’t entirely certain when she’d truly admitted them to herself. She’d come close to telling him earlier this evening and was now glad she hadn’t. There was always the possibility he didn’t share her feelings, and it would be far less humiliating to find out in private than in the midst of a crowded room. She had no intention of trapping Reggie into marriage, but, although she would never admit it to Leo or anyone else except perhaps Delia, the idea of sharing his bed had indeed taken root in her mind. Reggie was the first and only man whose kisses had curled her toes or sapped her will. The first and only man who had filled her thoughts day and night. The first and only man she’d ever loved. If she couldn’t have him as her husband, she didn’t want anyone else. But the idea of sharing his bed, of lying in his arms, of experiencing the act of love…well, she would not dismiss it out of hand. Good Lord, what had happened to her? She was no longer concerned with the avoidance of scandal but indeed was more than willing to embrace it. She wanted marriage, but she wanted Reggie more. Wanted to race down the path of scandal with him regardless of the consequences. It was past time to tell him how she felt. Past time to throw caution to the winds and begin a serious pursuit of the man she loved.