Part 12 (1/2)

'I'd manage and Harriet is willing, she says so in this note. We love each other.'

'Gregory, no, you must not do anything so rash. I will lay this scandal to rest, I swear. Now promise me you will do nothing irregular.'

He shrugged. 'Not unless I have to.'

To Phyllida's relief Ashe was prompt, although she was too agitated to admire the handsome curricle he was driving.

'We must talk,' he said as he drove up the hill of St James's Street towards Piccadilly.

'We are talking.' Her stomach dipped in apprehension.

'I do not mean social chit-chat. Where can we avoid the crowds?'

'Cross the Serpentine. I will point out the less-frequented routes where we will still be visible. And I agree, we need to talk. Urgently.'

He did not reply and she glanced sideways at his profile, very aware of the groom perched up behind them.

'Harris, you may get down here and wait.' Ashe drew up just inside the gate, waited for the man to descend from his perch and then urged the pair into a smart trot. 'Now then, how are you feeling?'

'Confused,' Phyllida said with a snap. 'Anxious.'

'I mean in the aftermath of the fish.'

'Perfectly fine, thank you. And my nerves have just about recovered from that outrageous play-acting at Mrs Lawrence's party. I have persuaded my brother not to call you out, but I am worried-his future in-laws are taking this very seriously. Mr Millington has dredged up the scandal with our parents and, forgive me, has even referred to your own family's unconventional background.'

'h.e.l.l.' She glanced sideways and saw his mouth was a thin line. Then he smiled at her. 'I am delighted that Lord Fransham is prepared to stay his hand. One hardly wishes to meet one's future brother-in-law in a cold field at the crack of dawn.'

'What?' Phyllida almost dropped her furled parasol. 'We need to behave like indifferent acquaintances until people believe there is nothing between us and I must stay very visible until it is obvious that there is no question of my being with child, but there is absolutely no need for you to marry me.'

'Smile,' Ashe said, reining the pair back to a walk. 'Someone you know is approaching, I think.'

'Lady Hoskins.' Phyllida produced an amiable expression and kept it steady under the stares of Lady Hoskins, her son and daughter. 'What a lovely day, is it not?' Once they were out of earshot she said, 'This is so embarra.s.sing.'

'They will all get used to me courting you,' Ashe said calmly, looping his reins as they turned to cross the bridge.

'My lord... Ashe, stop this.' He reined in and turned to her, one eyebrow raised.

'I do not mean the carriage! I mean this nonsense about marriage. You know perfectly well that I am a completely unsuitable wife for you.'

'I compromised you. You know it, I know it and Lady Castlebridge knows it.'

'And the fact that I do not wish to marry you, you do not wish to marry me and your father must be tearing his hair out at the thought of me as a daughter-in-law means nothing to you?'

'It is a matter of honour. My family is in absolute agreement with me. And nothing would calm the Millingtons' nerves more than the a.s.surance their daughter will be related by marriage to a marquess.' He sounded quite calm about the whole thing.

Phyllida wondered distractedly if this was actually a nightmare, one of those frustration dreams where the dreamer is thwarted at every turn and with the added torment of wanting to do exactly what he said and knowing she should not.

'Arguing with you is like trying to reason with a cat,' she said in exasperation. 'You just sit there, calm as you please, licking your whiskers and purring to yourself and not attending to a word I say.'

'Licking my whiskers?' At least he sounded taken aback.

'You know what I mean. And if you are so determined to marry me, why did you not appear on the doorstep with a special licence in hand?'

'And confirm the scandal? Have everyone watching your figure for months in expectation of a seven-month baby? With a leisurely courts.h.i.+p honour is satisfied, your reputation is unharmed and society will simply conclude that the incident at the inn brought us together and roused my interest in you.'

'Your honour may be satisfied, Ashe Herriard, but what about mine? Do you think a woman enjoys knowing she has entrapped a man, however unwittingly?'

'Nonsense. You were so far from entrapping me that you refused all my persuasions to become my lover.'

'Really?' Perhaps insult would convince him how insane this scheme was. She could hardly tell him why she could never marry any man. 'I hardly felt over-persuaded-you had not even begun on the inducements. Where were the offers of jewels and gowns and a luxurious apartment that I gather are a standard part of the negotiations? Or did you think that we could meet in the rooms over the shop and save money?'

Ashe flicked a rein and the pair began to walk on. 'If I had thought you were a woman who could be swayed by mercenary considerations, I would have raised the subject immediately.'

'So you thought your kisses were enough, did you?'

'I had hopes that you did not find me entirely repellent,' he admitted. 'I cannot imagine what gave me that impression,' he said mournfully.

Wretch. 'I do not, and you know it, so you may stop play-acting,' she said, smiling despite everything. 'Why I like you I cannot imagine. You order me about, organise my life, attempt to seduce me-'

'No,' Ashe interrupted. 'Never that. I tried to persuade you. Seduction involves bedazzling someone until they do something against their better judgement.'

'So, you would not seduce me into becoming your mistress, but you will compel me to become your wife? It is a fine distinction I do not understand.'

He reined in again and this time s.h.i.+fted on the seat so he was three-quarters turned to her. His eyes were hooded and intense as he studied her face. 'What will compel you is your understanding of what society requires and your need to protect your brother's engagement to Miss Millington from scandal.'

'And what of the many reasons against you marrying me?' Phyllida half-expected him to deny that her birth, her unconventional way of earning her living, her lack of influence or wealth mattered. She would not believe him, of course, but it would be soothing to her pride and that was very much in need of something to heal it.

'I put them in the balance against what honour demands and the scale tips most definitely to marriage,' Ashe said with flattening honesty. That was one thing she could never hold against him, he had always been truthful with her.

Honesty or deceit. There was one way out of this, a way that would safeguard Gregory until his marriage was concluded and save her reputation. She could lie to Ashe, pretend that she agreed, allow the courts.h.i.+p to progress and then jilt him. Society would doubtless agree that it would be a lucky escape for him.

'I see,' Phyllida said slowly as she turned the idea over in her mind, trying to see beyond her instinctive feeling that this was a dishonourable thing to do. But if it saved Ashe from an unsuitable marriage, freed him to make a match that was everything his duty to his family demanded, then where was the dishonour in that? And she was hardly living a life of open, honest virtue now-she deceived the ton every day of the week.

'Very well,' she said with a show of reluctant capitulation. 'How do you propose we carry out this courts.h.i.+p?'

'As publically as possible.' He did not sound rapturous over her surrender, but then, what did she expect?

'In that case, in the interests of openness, I suggest you drive back towards the more populated parts of the park. How long do you suggest we should wait before you are overcome with a pa.s.sionate, if unwise, desire to marry me?'

'Four weeks?'

'Four weeks it is.' The Millingtons, she knew, had been happy to have Harriet marry Gregory fairly shortly after their betrothal was announced. She had four weeks of simulating a growing love. Then there would be a few weeks after she 'accepted' Ashe, during which time Gregory would be married and then she could develop cold feet, or a nervous collapse or some other excuse for quietly breaking it all off.

Four weeks in the company of a man she was perilously close to wanting to make her own, a few weeks of pretending to be a happily engaged bride-to-be. She could not bring herself to look beyond that.

Phyllida was not happy and he did not trust her capitulation. Ashe turned the curricle and tooled it back over the bridge and along the now-crowded Rotten Row.