‘You may choose to see yourself in that light, Miss Sheridan,’ Guy said quietly, ‘but others will think differently. I myself…’ he hesitated ‘…I believe that you should consider…In short, it would give me the greatest pleasure if you would do me the honour of marrying me.’
Sarah stared at him in total disbelief. ‘Are you mad, sir, or is this some ill-timed jest?’
Guy’s lips tightened angrily, though he was clearly trying to keep control of his temper. ‘Neither, madam! I saw it as a way out of your present difficulties—’
‘Thank you!’ Sarah was on her feet as well now, facing him across the room. ‘Despite my lack of prospects, I had not viewed marriage as a solution to my problems!’ She was astounded at the strength of her own anger. ‘Yesterday you told me that my behaviour suggested that I was some sort of trollop and you treated me as such! Scarcely the conduct of a man prepared for matrimony! Then today you suggest I marry you to provide a way out of an unfortunate predicament! Forgive me, my lord, if I do not fall into your arms with tears of gratitude!’
Guy winced. ‘I realise that this is not the way you might have wished it—’
‘Very true! I do not wish to hear this at all!’
‘Yet you should know that I have already given people to understand that we are shortly to become betrothed in order to protect your good name!’
Sarah looked at him in infuriated silence for a moment before bursting out, ‘You take too much upon yourself, my lord! Upon my word, of all the high-handed, arrogant, ill-conceived ideas—’
Guy closed the distance between them in two strides. He seemed amused rather than angered by Sarah’s outrage. ‘I am aware of your opinion of me, Miss Sheridan, but I believe you are being less than honest. Confess that you like me a little!’
Sarah glared up at him. ‘I shall not! Conceited, overbearing…’
She was incensed to see that Guy was actually grinning. He took her hands. ‘Come, come, Miss Sheridan, we could be here for some time at this rate! Say you will consider my proposal, at the least!’
Sarah’s treacherous heart did a little somersault. The warm touch of his fingers was distracting. ‘Certainly not, my lord!’
‘Then you force me to be less than chivalrous!’ He was drawing her closer. Sarah resisted, feeling her heart start to race.
‘It would be more surprising to find you behaving in a gentlemanly fashion, sir!’ The words came out more huskily than she intended. His proximity was having a disastrous effect. Sarah was suddenly aware of the intimate heat of the room, the sweet scent of lilies by the fireplace, the sensitivity of her skin beneath his touch…
‘Unfair, Miss Sheridan!’ Guy murmured in her ear. ‘Have I not just behaved in the most gallant manner possible? Alas that you force me to a point of clarification on our discussion earlier.’ His lips brushed her hair, causing Sarah to shiver. She desperately tried to step back but found that her limbs would not obey her.
‘Clarification, sir?’ Her words came out as a whisper.
‘Indeed. I wish you to know,’ Guy continued, ‘that when I apologised for my behaviour that night it was in relation to our argument and the unfounded accusations I made against you.’ He looked directly into her eyes. ‘I do not intend to apologise for…what came after.’
He was very close now. Sarah’s gaze moved involuntarily to the hard line of his jaw, his mouth…She felt herself turn hot all over and wrenched her gaze away, fixing it sternly on a potted palm in a corner of the room.
‘And yet I believe, my lord, that you were acting under a misapprehension…’
‘In a sense…I’ll allow I thought myself deceived and believed you…experienced. Yet my behaviour was very much in accordance with what I had wanted ever since I first saw you, Miss Sheridan…’
Sarah felt smothered by the heated atmosphere and her own emotions. Her heart was beating light and fast in her throat and she knew she had to put some distance between them, but she could not seem to break away from him. She could not be so weak as to fall under his spell again so soon, not when he had traduced her character and shown his lack of faith in her, then compounded his sins by a high-handed proposal that she could only refuse…
Guy let go of her hand, but only to draw her closer still, until their bodies were almost touching.
‘Deny that you felt the same way, too, Miss Sheridan. Deny it if you dare!’
‘I do deny it!’ Sarah wrenched herself free of him and backed away. She was utterly confused by the emotions he could stir up in her. ‘Tomorrow I shall leave here for Blanchland and you need not concern yourself with my affairs any further, my lord. It will no longer be any of your business!’
Guy’s expression was inscrutable. He made no move to touch her again, but his voice held her still when she would have run away. ‘You have made your feelings plain, Miss Sheridan. I must disappoint you, however. I have made this my business and I do not intend to disengage now. You may have as much time as you wish to get used to the idea, but the fact remains—you will marry me!’
Dinner was a surprisingly good-humoured meal, considering that Sarah was avoiding Guy and Amelia and Greville were evidently not speaking to each other. The Earl and Countess took charge effortlessly, the former charming Amelia and the latter regaling Sarah with tales of her married daughters and their families. Guy and Greville fell to discussing horses, the food was excellent, and the meal passed without incident. It was only later, when the gentlemen rejoined the ladies, that the Earl took a seat beside Sarah and broached the delicate subject. They had chatted for a while about Sarah’s life in Bath, reminisced about earlier times and talked about developments in the Woodallan estate, before Sarah had unwisely remarked that the Earl must be glad to have his son and heir restored to him. Lord Woodallan smiled.
‘I must admit there were times when I thought I’d never see Guy again! I suppose he had to get rid of his restlessness before he was prepared to settle down. In my youth it was the Grand Tour and these days it is the War, but either way…’ He twinkled at her. ‘And now I find that he is all set for parson’s mousetrap, but the lady of his choice is not willing!’
Sarah blushed. ‘Sir—’
The Earl patted her clasped hands. ‘I know I am an interfering old man, but I only wished to say that nothing would make me happier than to see Jack Sheridan’s daughter take her place in due course as mistress of Woodallan.’
Sarah looked away. ‘Thank you, sir. I am sorry…there are difficulties…’
‘I guessed as much,’ the Earl said drily, ‘but perhaps they will resolve themselves more easily than you might think, Sarah! Just do not keep my scapegrace son waiting too long, I beg you. He may seem a rogue, but he has many sound qualities—I should know, for he inherits them all from me!’
The Earl of Woodallan’s study faced southwest, looking across the bowling-green and the formal parterre to the deer park and the Mendip Hills beyond. On this particular evening, the heavy brocade curtains were closed against the night and two lamps burned on the tables each side of the fire. Guy, who had just finished a game of billiards with Greville, found his father sitting in one of the armchairs, perusing a well-worn leather bound book. He invited his son to pour them both a drink.
‘Brandy for you, sir?’ Guy asked, crossing to the decanter and pouring a generous measure into the two cut glasses that stood there. He took one across to his father, noting the effort it seemed to cost the Earl simply to stretch out a hand for the glass. The Earl managed to conceal his weakness