Chapter 3

Chapter Three

PERFECT TIMING

" Y ou… You are?" Lady Bellmore stammered.

"Yes. In fact, we are engaged." Dominic saw his opportunity and decided to take it.

Mercifully, Lady Charlotte seemed to have been struck dumb by his words. Her obsidian dark hair highlighted the flush on her cheeks and the surprise in her eyes.

He focused on keeping Lady Bellmore distracted, smiling his most ingratiating smile at her and tempering it with a side of earnestness. After all, if Lady Charlotte was in need of a fiancée, he was only too happy to oblige.

"Then why did you seem so interested in Evelyn?" Lady Bellmore demanded.

Dominic gave the woman an apologetic look, doing his best to come across as well intentioned but over enthusiastic. I must play this right, or this whole thing will be over before it can begin. "Ah. I can see how that might have been confusing. I simply wanted to get to know the family of my fiancée a little better."

Lady Charlotte had managed to stop gaping, much to Dominic's relief, but the power of speech still seemed to elude her. He hoped that she would recover it rather swiftly.

"But… You have not spoken to my husband about this engagement." Lady Bellmore frowned.

"No, indeed. I realise it is rather unorthodox, but you see, the affection I feel for your daughter is such that I simply could not wait to propose." Dominic ran a hand through his hair, keeping his voice full of hope and what he prayed sounded like affection. "I only hope the Earl will forgive my behaviour."

"Of course, I am sure he will." Lady Bellmore looked somewhat mollified by his words. "Charlotte, why did you wait until now to tell me of your engagement?"

"I… Well… We…" Lady Charlotte looked at him, her green eyes wide. It was obvious to Dominic that she was struggling to come up with a suitable lie.

Briefly he rested a hand on Lady Bellmore's arm, drawing her attention to him as he said, "We did not want to upset the Earl. I bade Lady Charlotte keep this secret from you until I could speak to her father, but I see she could not contain her excitement either."

"Apparently not." Lady Bellmore sounded unconvinced. "And how exactly did you two meet? I do not think I recall you ever speaking to each other before."

"Lady Danterbury's masquerade," Dominic answered at the same time as Lady Charlotte said, "Lord Winterbloom's ball."

"Ah, I mean the ball." Dominic corrected as Lady Charlotte answered, "I mean the masquerade."

The two exchanged looks with each other, and Dominic did his best to try and seem as though the exchange was a silly lover's argument. Why is it now she has found her voice and in the most unhelpful way?

"So was it the ball or the masquerade?" Lady Evelyn asked, looking between her sister and him.

"It was both. The masquerade is what I count as our first meeting as that was when I first plucked up the courage to speak to her," Dominic said before Lady Charlotte could dig them into a deeper hole. "Though my fiancée insists that we count it as the ball as that was when we first were introduced."

"Yes, exactly." Charlotte nodded. To Dominic's relief, she affected a convincing look of shy affection as she gazed at him.

"The masquerade was quite some time ago. And you have been secretly courting all this time?" Lady Bellmore frowned. "Yet you have never danced together?"

"I have been away and missed much of the season," Dominic explained — thankfully this was not a lie.

He had indeed missed a lot of the season, but that was by choice. I had no desire to be entrapped into marrying someone's daughter. The irony that this had now happened was not lost on him.

There was a moment of silence as Lady Bellmore surveyed him with narrowed eyes. Lady Charlotte was still smiling amiably, and Lady Evelyn seemed utterly confused by the entire encounter.

Deciding that the best course of action would be to talk to his new fiancée and extricate them both from the situation, Dominic said, "Would you perhaps permit me a dance with my fiancée? I have been dying to speak to her all night, and well, now the cat is out of the proverbial bag…"

"Oh, yes. Of course." Lady Bellmore gently pushed Lady Charlotte towards him. "Though, before you go, perhaps you would agree to join us for dinner. It would be wonderful to get to know you better."

"Of course, dear Lady. When would suit you?" Dominic felt Lady Charlotte's grip on his arm tighten.

"Tomorrow night. It will give me time to tell the Earl of your joyous news." Lady Bellmore beamed at him.

"Mother, I am sure the Duke is far too busy to attend a dinner on such short notice." Lady Charlotte glanced at Dominic.

"I am never too busy for family." Dominic smiled at Lady Bellmore. Lady Charlotte is already trying to wriggle out of this charade, and that will be most inconvenient. "I shall see you tomorrow evening."

"Wonderful. My Lady?" Dominic led Lady Charlotte to the dance floor and glanced around, ensuring that neither Lady Bellmore nor his grandmother were within earshot.

"Why on Earth did you say we were engaged?" Lady Charlotte demanded, anger and confusion on her face.

"Why did you say we were courting?" Dominic countered.

"I am so terribly sorry. I… I was just trying to protect my sister, and now, everything has spiralled out of control." Lady Charlotte shook her head. "I will set everything straight as soon as this dance is over."

The smell of lavender and violets washed over him as he took her hand in his, and they began to waltz. He took a steadying breath as he studied her face.

She was a head and shoulders shorter than him with pale skin and jet black hair. Her green eyes were full of surprise and embarrassment, but he recalled the fiery light in them as she'd traded barbs with Lady Bellmore. She wore an elegant gold necklace around her neck and had simple earrings.

"No, you won't," Dominic said, trying to focus on the task at hand.

"What? But my mother thinks we are engaged as does my sister. And they have invited you to dinner tomorrow night! This farce has gone far enough." Lady Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

I might as well ensure there are no other complications. Dominic asked, "Are you engaged to another? Or perhaps courting?"

"No, of course not. I have no wish to be married. And I had heard the same of you." Lady Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him accusingly.

He shrugged. "I have done my best to avoid being chained to another."

"Then I will tell mother the truth as soon as our dance is finished," she said firmly.

"No, you will not," he replied.

"Why do you keep saying that? Of course, I will. I have no desire to be engaged. Much less to you." She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

Such strong feelings — she does not even know me? Dominic frowned at her. "That is hardly a gracious way to treat the man who just saved you from a rather embarrassing encounter with your mother."

"Stepmother," Lady Charlotte corrected sharply.

"Stepmother," he amended.

There was a moment's pause before Charlotte said, "I do not understand. You have just said that you have no wish to be married, so why on Earth would you want to be engaged?"

"There have been some developments of late, and it seems that I am in want of a fiancée. At least, for a time. And you seem to be in need of a fiancé also." He canted his head towards her.

"I am not in need of a fiancé. I just did not want my stepmother to try and pin my sister to you." Lady Charlotte shook her head, looking frustrated and embarrassed.

"And why is that?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, firstly, you are a rake, and I would never want her to be with someone like you." She glared at him as though he had done her a personal injury.

Dominic laughed softly. "You are casting rather a lot of aspersions upon my character."

"Are you telling me that I am wrong?" Lady Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him, a challenge in her eyes.

"No. I am not," Dominic admitted.

"Then they are not aspersions so much as statements of fact." She looked smug.

"Plenty of rakish gentleman have found themselves a loving wife. Perhaps she would have been a good influence on me," He couldn't help but point out.

"I have known men like you, and I doubt that is true. Besides, she is already promised to another." Lady Charlotte glanced over her shoulder as she said this, clearly checking to see if her stepmother was watching.

"Is she? And yet your stepmother seems unaware of this fact." And you do not want her to know. Dominic tried to puzzle out what this could mean and how he might use it to his advantage.

"There are… complications with the engagement," Lady Charlotte admitted. "But I will think of something."

"Are the complications of a financial nature?" he ventured.

"That is a rather rude question," she replied, cheeks flushing as her muscles stiffened.

Her answer told him that the complications were indeed financial. Perfect. "You are my fiancée."

"No, I am not."

"But perhaps you should be." He spun her and caught her, his brown eyes meeting her green ones, holding her gaze with his.

"Why? What benefit would it be to be married to someone like you?" she retorted, eyes flashing furiously.

"I said nothing about marrying me, just that you should be my fiancée." Dominic grinned.

"Does not one usually follow the other? In general, an engagement is made when two people intend to be married," Lady Charlotte said in an overly patient tone, as though she were a governess explaining something to a particularly obstinate and difficult child..

"In general, yes, but not on this occasion."

"Are you always so frustratingly opaque in your speech?" she asked, frustration clear in her voice.

"Sometimes. Are you always so impatient?" he countered.

"Yes." Her candour took him aback.

"Well, that is good to know." Dominic managed to recover. I must get this situation under control. "Tell me, what do you know of the Dowager Duchess Caverton?"

"That she is a rather eccentric character and that the rumour is she is richer than half the ton combined. And she happens to be some great aunt to my stepmother." Lady Charlotte glanced towards his grandmother.

"She is also my grandmother. And as you say, she is incredibly wealthy. She has declared that only those of my family who compete and win in her ‘Dowager Dabbles' will be left any of her vast fortune." Dominic emphasised the word vast, knowing that it would pique Lady Charlotte's curiosity.

"And what does this have to do with me?" she asked.

"Well, it seems she does not wish for me to compete unless I can prove that I have intentions of being a family man. After all, if I die without an heir, the duchy and her fortune will likely go to the crown." Dominic just managed to keep the frustration from his voice.

Lady Charlotte clearly picked up on it and asked suspiciously, "So what exactly are you proposing?"

"Pretend to be my fiancée. Only for the games, and we shall be engaged in name alone. Once we have won the Dabbles, we can dissolve the engagement and never have to speak to one another again," Dominic explained, moving his lips as little as possible, barely speaking above a whisper.

"And why would I do this?"

"Because I will share the winnings with you."

"What, a few hundred pounds?" Lady Charlotte scoffed.

"Seventy thousand pounds." He said the sum and knew he had her. It was more money than most people could even dream of. It would be enough for anything she wanted for herself and her family.

Lady Charlotte gaped at him. "Seventy thousand pounds."

"Yes. That money would be yours. Think what you could do with such a sum. Think what it could do for your family. For your sisters." Dominic watched as Lady Charlotte glanced towards her sister and then back at him.

"And all I would have to do is pretend to be your fiancée? How long will I have to keep this pretence?"

"Only as long as it takes to win. I do not imagine it will be overly long." Dominic shrugged.

There was a pause as Charlotte appeared to mull things over. Dominic forced himself not to press her for an answer. These things cannot be rushed. You have laid out the snare; now, you must wait.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Lady Charlotte's green eyes found his. They searched his face as though looking for some kind of joke or trick.

"I assure you, I am telling you the truth. Pretend you are my fiancée, speak to any of my family, and they will confirm to you what I have just said about the Dowager Dabbles." He willed her to see the truth of his words.

"The Dabbles are in a fortnight, and we will be staying at her estate. Knowing my grandmother, they will not last overly long. And would it not be worth it for your chance at such a fortune?" Dominic murmured.

"I am thinking of my sisters. If this scheme is to be of benefit to them, we cannot officially end our engagement until they are both married." Lady Charlotte looked at him seriously. "Though I suppose we can be engaged with minimal interaction between us."

There was another pause and then, Lady Charlotte said, "Bring me a contract to sign, and we will win these games together."

And just like that, Dominic had found himself a fiancée.