Chapter 9

"What on earth am I going to do?" Violet asked Ivy morosely. "Without a match maker helping me, I do not know how I am supposed to find a suitor and time is running out."

Ivy continued to brush her hair silently. Thank goodness, because Violet did not want to hear that she had made her own life more challenging by refusing William"s help.

She already knew that.

But her pride would not allow her to back down.

Not when he seemed so incredibly smug all the time.

"It would be far easier if Paul was ever here for me to talk to. Why is he never here? It is ridiculous."

She knew where he was. In some gambling hole somewhere. Violet could understand why he did not want to be home as well. There was no way that Paul would like all the changes going on in Eagleton Manor.

But still, he was happy to leave here there, dealing with everything. Again. Even though he was the one who lost their home…

"I cannot sit around and wait for the Season," Violet complained. "It is too far away and I do not have the time."

Ivy made a sympathetic sound, but it was clear that she had no solution to offer Violet. Much as she understood this, it was incredibly frustrating.

Someoneneeded to know what she should do, right?

She had all this time on her hands now that she did not have to do all the house work, but she did not know how to use it to her advantage.

Just as Violet was about to rant some more, a sound coming from the front of the house caught her attention.

Who was that coming inside?

As far as she knew, William was in the room which used to be Paul"s study, and the butler was not announcing anyone…

Could it be Paul?

Was he home?

Nerves zig zagged through Violet.

She rose to her feet, unsure of how she should react to Paul. What mood would he be in? It usually depended on how his gambling games had gone.

Her heart pounded like crazy as she tiptoed towards the door to get a glimpse of him.

There he is.

Paul did not even look her way.

He must have sensed Violet"s presence, but he walked right by her.

"Paul?"

Maybe she should have stayed quiet, but she was quite frankly sick of trying to deal with all of this alone.

"Where have you been? What is happening?"

He spun around and glared her way. "Why are you being so nosy, Violet? My life has nothing to do with you."

Violet narrowed her eyes at him. "Your life has everything to do with me. Everything that you are doing affects me directly. Have you been gambling again, Paul? What have you lost this time?"

Paul scoffed angrily. "I have not lost a thing. You are being ridiculous…"

The air thickened. Violet could feel another intense argument brewing.

Good, she had a lot of anger within her that she needed to get out.

"My, my, how good it is to see you, Lord Eagleton." William"s teasing voice broke through the tension in the room, halting any potential row in its tracks. "Or do I still call you that? "Lord Eagleton"? Would that be my title now that I am taking over the house?"

A red rage descended over Paul, flooding his cheeks. "How dare you! You know that the title is not involved in the deal. The family seat is still mine!"

"I don"t know," William continued in a sing-song tone of voice. Violet recognized that he was teasing Paul, but her brother did not seem to realize. "I am not sure if we truly ironed out all the details."

Paul got redder. "You cannot talk to me like that."

William offered her a one shouldered shrug. "In my home, I believe I can say whatever I want."

Paul stared at Violet, wanting her to say something, but what could she do? She could not argue with William, because she had not gotten them into this mess. Plus, she had her own issues with William.

"I will not stand here and take this," Paul growled. "I will not be talked to like that…"

He continued to mutter under his breath as he left the room, stewing in his rage.

Truth be told, she had not yet recovered from the words that Paul had thrown her way, acting like he had done nothing wrong.

But now William was staring at her like she owed him a thank you.

There was no chance that she was going to thank him.

"Are you all right?" he eventually asked, breaking the silence. "That did not sound like a very pleasant conversation."

Still frustrated and irritated with everyone, including William, she shook her head at him. "I do not need you to step in. I can handle my brother. I have been doing so for years."

She tried to storm past William, but he stepped in her way, refusing to let her leave with ease.

Her shoulder brushed against him, and she could not avoid the sizzle of excitement that exploded within her.

Violet paused for a moment and looked at him, trying to see what was going on inside his mind. William was always so hard to read because he kept his cards close to his chest.

But this time, she could see the surprise in his eyes, and she knew that he was feeling it too.

That only made the desire careering through her veins that much harder to manage. She did not know what to do with herself.

"Excuse me," she practically growled at him, not even trying to remain polite. "I must excuse myself to my bed chambers. I have a lot that I need to do."

But William did not move.

Not right away anyway.

Not until she was on the verge of losing her mind and saying something that she perhaps should not.

Then he stepped to the side and let her go, leaving her stewing in the feelings she knew that she should not have.

* * *

Knock, knock.

Knock, knock.

Knock, knock.

Ther persistent banging on her door was not the way that Violet wanted to be disturbed. It was unusual as well, which was why she found herself hesitating before she finally swung open the door.

"Violet, at last!"

It was Paul, and he had a wild eyed look that made the hairs on the back of Violet"s neck stand on edge. What on earth had he done now?

"I have sorted it. I have solved everything. You must come with me."

He tried to grab her arm, to tug her along with him, but she refused.

"What are you talking about, Paul? I am not going anywhere with you." Violet snatched her arm away and stared at him fiercely. "You have sorted what out? Please tell me you have not been gambling again."

Paul tutted and shook his head.

"No, I have not. I told you before that I would sort this out. Why do you have no faith in me? Come and see what I have sorted."

When it became obvious that Violet was not going anywhere, he rolled his eyes and continued.

"I have secured you a match. A perfect match. You must come and meet him."

Confusion flooded Violet. "What do you mean?"

"He is downstairs now. I need you to come with me, to meet him. I am certain you are going to simply love him."

A tight knot of anxiety filled Violet"s stomach.

She could not wrap her head around the words that were coming out of Paul"s mouth.

How had he secured her a match, just like that? What on earth was happening?

Now that Paul had torn off down the stairs, it left her with very little choice.

She was going to have to find out who this man was.

"Ivy, I must get dressed," Violet hurriedly told her maid. "If this is a peer, then he cannot see me like this! I need to be in my finest gown."

Just because this was unexpected did not mean that Violet was going to ruin the chance. Since she was not sure how else she was supposed to secure a match, this might be the only chance she had.

"I wonder who he is," Violet said excitedly as she looked through her gowns. "I do not know who Paul is connected to in London really, so I cannot speculate as much as I would like. But I am sure he has found me someone suitable. He owes me that much!"

"I do hope so, Miss Violet. That would be wonderful news."

Violet could not calm her racing pulse down the whole time she was dressing. Thank goodness Ivy was there with her or she might not have been able to fasten her corset at all.

But finally, she was ready, in her sky blue gown which she hoped the suitor would like the moment he laid his eyes on her.

Paul was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her. Unfortunately, William was by his side with a bemused smirk playing on his lips.

Could she not do anything without him there, teasing her?

It was very frustrating, but Violet did what she could to push all of that to one side.

This was not about him, this was her chance to meet the match that her brother had made for her.

She needed to focus on the new man in her life.

Taking the stairs carefully so she did not fall, giving a terrible first impression, Violet edged closer to the men.

It was only when William stepped to one side, revealing the gentleman standing behind him…

A man who took the wind out of Violet"s sails.

Who is he?She thought desperately to herself as she ran her eyes all over him. It was safe to say that this was not what she was expecting.

The gentleman was ridiculous looking in over dramatic clothing which was the sort of thing only worn by those who were not wealthy, but wanted to act like they were. It was not the sort of clothing that would be acceptable at events with the ton.

Was this a joke?

Was Paul trying to wind her up?

"Violet, this is my friend, Mr. Charles Cook," Paul declared in a proud voice, allowing her to see that he truly was serious about this. "And Charles, this is my sister, Lady Violet Lambourne."

"Charmed, my dear," Charles declared as he stepped forward with a bow. He extended his hand to her, expecting her to offer him hers. "You might be the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen in my life."

"Right… yes," Violet replied awkwardly.

She curtsied before allowing him to take her hand. She did not want him to touch her, but it was the polite thing to do.

He grabbed her and pawed over her hand, before forcing a kiss on to her delicate skin.

It was far too much for a first meeting.

This man clearly did not know the expected rules.

"Your brother did not do you justice," Charles laughed loudly. The sound was shrill and far too noisy for Violet"s liking. "You are far prettier than he described. I am a very lucky man to have you as my bride."

My bride.

Those words made Violet feel sick to her stomach.

It was almost as if it had already been decided, which was not what she wanted.

She agreed to meet this man to see who he was. She did not know that she was going to be forced in to a betrothal already.

Especially not with this strange, eccentric man.

This was not someone that she would ever want to be seen in public with.

How on earth was she going to escape this?

"I suppose you do not know much about me though," Charles continued in his pompous tone, clearly not sensing her inner turmoil. "So, I will tell you everything that you need to know…"