Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“What…wha…?”

“Amelia, this is Edmund Prescott, the Earl of Silverton. The Duke of Blackwood’s son.” Downe sounded very proud of that, as if he was pleased that a duke’s son was in his house.

Amelia recovered enough to glower at her father.

“I know who he is, Father. We met years ago. At the park?”

“Really?”

“Yes. And why is Lord Silverton here? You didn’t have a good relationship with his father, as far as I know. So why is he here?”

Downe cleared his throat and turned to Edmund, who looked slightly amused at the interaction.

“Forgive my daughter, my lord. She’s very outspoken.”

“I remember that from before, Lord Downe.” Edmund gave Amelia a smile. “It’s something I’m used to.”

Amelia felt a prickling along her spine. She was certain that there was something going on with all this. After the way he had treated her the previous evening, why was Edmund here? What was he up to? She folded her arms.

“What is he doing here, Father? I don’t particularly wish to converse with Lord Silverton after the last time we met.”

Edmund winced, and for a moment, he looked chastised. Downe didn’t appear to notice this, his whole demeanor having changed, so now he looked very pleased. Amelia was getting nervous now. What was going on? Had Edmund come to apologize or something? What was he planning? There had to be an ulterior motive for his coming here, unless he had arrived to apologize for the way he had behaved. Amelia definitely deserved an explanation for that.

“Well, Lord Silverton came to see me this morning about a proposition. One that involves you, Amelia.”

“Me?” Amelia squeaked. She coughed and tried again. “What could he possibly want regarding me?”

“He wanted my blessing to court you.”

Amelia thought she had misheard. It felt like she was in a strange dream, and she was listening to this from a different perspective. Edmund wanted to court her? Why on earth would he want to do that? His behavior from before showed he wanted to do anything but court her.

She spluttered as she tried to think properly.

“I…what…he wanted to court me? Why?”

“Why else would a gentleman want to court a lady?” Edmund said before her father could respond. He gave her a disarming smile as he approached her. “You made an impression on me before, and I simply would like to get to know you better. After all, things are different now, aren’t they?”

“Oh, really? You think they’re different now?” Amelia narrowed her eyes at him. “So, what was the show you put on last night? When I tried to greet you, and you practically ignored me for a beautiful young woman? Am I supposed to get the impression from you that you wanted to get to know me better?”

Downe looked surprised at that. Edmund’s cheeks went a little pink and he cleared his throat.

“I’m afraid you must forgive me for the way I treated you then, Lady Amelia. I was in the process of taking care of Lady Colette Reed. She’s also relatively new to Society, and she asked me to accompany her for the evening. I didn’t want to distract myself when I promised that I would look after her.”

“Oh, really?”

Amelia didn’t believe that at all. It sounded far too convenient. And this was just strange. What was going on? Her father looked happy about it, for some reason, but Amelia wasn’t. This was suspicious.

“Anyway,” Downe said, breaking into Amelia’s thoughts. “I think this is an excellent match, so I gave my blessing for the courtship. All you need to do is agree to it, Amelia.”

Amelia didn’t miss the underlying tone in his voice. This was the only offer of courtship she had been given, and it was from the son and heir of the Duke of Blackwood. It would certainly be an advantageous courtship despite her parents’ dislike of the Blackwood family. They were always hoping to further themselves with everything.

But this was not settling with Amelia at all. Edmund had treated her with kindness and respect in their first two meetings, and then the third was completely different. Which one was truly him? Amelia didn’t really want to find out. She was still annoyed and upset from the way she had been treated at the ball. So to have this, especially after his friends had been staring at her for most of the evening, felt really odd.

Now she was here, expected to agree to a courtship that she didn’t want. If Edmund had been the same last night as he had been before, Amelia would have considered it more favorably. She didn’t trust this at all.

However, if she agreed to the courtship, then her parents would stop pressuring her to find a suitable husband. Not for long, as Amelia had no intention of entertaining this forever, but it would work for a little while.

It was when she was actually being courted by Edmund that she needed a bit more finesse. She needed to get out of it somehow, but openly saying no right now was going to make her father more upset with her, and Edmund would be hurt. Despite how he behaved last time, Amelia liked him a little bit.

She couldn’t forget how her body reacted toward him when he was helping her with her carriage or how her heart raced whenever he smiled at her. It was doing that now, even with her suspicions that something was going on. Amelia wasn’t sure why that was happening, but she wasn’t sure about putting them to one side.

Maybe courting him would help her to figure out his true intentions, to figure out what was happening. Amelia didn’t like it when people played their cards close to their chests. Then again, she was going to do that herself if she agreed.

Taking a deep breath, Amelia squared her shoulders.

“May I speak to Lord Silverton alone, Father? I don’t wish to converse with my parent standing over us.”

“Of course. I’ll get Taylor to come and chaperone you.” Downe headed toward the door. “I won’t be long.”

He left the room, and then Amelia was alone with Edmund. The tension was prickling the air, and Amelia could feel it weighing on her shoulders. Edmund looked amused.

“He wanted us to have a chaperone, and yet he left us alone?”

“The door is still open, and I don’t see us doing anything untoward.” Amelia didn’t move. “Unless you’re thinking about doing something incredibly stupid, my lord?”

Edmund held up his hands.

“I’m not about to do something like that. I’m very respectable.”

“That’s coming from someone who was particularly cold toward me,” Amelia shot back.

“I must apologize for that. I was focusing too much on one person.”

“I noticed,” Amelia said snidely. “You were so focused on the beauty on your arm, and your friends, that you couldn’t be bothered to extend courtesy toward me. And I even made an effort to speak to you first. That is not something I do at all.”

“Really?”

“No. I hate going to social gatherings of any kind. I told you that before. And I wanted to leave, but that’s easier said than done when you have a parent breathing over your shoulder.” Amelia scowled. “I decided to approach you to talk, and you simply turned your back on me. How do you think that’s supposed to make someone feel when you act like that?”

At least Edmund had the decency to look embarrassed about his actions. He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.

“I…I really messed up with that, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.”

“And you’re not a forgiving person, are you?”

Amelia snorted.

“Why would I be forgiving of a group of people who are more worried about connections and wealth than anything else? They’re disrespectful and snobbish. I have no time for either. Like your friend, Lord Sutton.”

“Sutton?”

“I saw you talking to him. I’m sure he told you that I sent him away a while ago.”

Edmund’s mouth twitched.

“He did mention that to me. I was surprised at that. Lord Sutton is rather popular with the ladies.”

Amelia resisted the urge to burst out laughing at something so ludicrous.

“He’s a mean, rude man who thinks with something that’s not his head. It was very clear when he was speaking to me.”

“Ouch. You didn’t tell him that, did you?”

“I could have done that, but I didn’t. I just ignored him and carried on with forcing myself to enjoy the evening. Then I had to deal with him sulking in the corner, scowling at me until I was able to leave.”

“He’s not very good with rejection.”

“He could have fooled me,” Amelia muttered.

Edmund chuckled, and Amelia wished that he wouldn’t. The sound of his laughter made her stomach flutter again. What was it about him that had her reacting in such a way? It was so annoying. Amelia didn’t want to deal with this. She wanted to get back to more important things.

And yet she couldn’t bring herself to move. Her feet were rooted to the floor, and she wasn’t able to lift them up so she could just leave the room. Her dilemma was running through her head.

If she left now, then her father would be furious and he would be scolding her for turning down a prominent man like the Earl of Silverton. Then the pressure to find someone suitable to marry her would increase again. Amelia hated it, and it didn’t end no matter how often she told her parents.

But if she agreed, then the pressure would ease off. She would be left alone for now, albeit being courted by someone like Edmund. He had a motive for this that wasn’t pure, she was certain about it, and he knew that she didn’t care for marriage. She had to find out what his plan was.

All she had to do in the meantime was to be insufferable enough toward him that Edmund regretted his choice and ended the courtship. That would be ideal for her position. If she was lucky and acted heartbroken afterward, then her father would take pity and stop bothering her about getting married.

Edmund would more than likely tell people how she behaved during their courtship, which would mean others would continue to ignore her and keep their distance as if they had no choice.

Amelia hadn’t intended to grow up with the intention of alienating herself, but that was how things had happened for her. As long as everyone continued to leave her alone.

So she fixed Edmund with a tight smile.

“I guess we could talk about this courtship. But if this is for the wrong intentions…”

“It isn’t, I promise you,” Edmund said quickly, raising his hands. “It’s all with good intentions.”

“I’ll hold you to that, because after last night…”

“You won’t be able to trust me properly. I understand that. And I’ll do whatever I can to show that I can be trustworthy.” He paused. “I don’t back away from my promises.”

Amelia was about to say she didn’t believe anyone at face value when Taylor came into the room, china clinking away on the tea tray. She nodded at both of them with a smile.

“Tea, my lady? My lord? The marquess thought that it would be a good idea for both of you.”

Amelia was about to say that she had wanted to have tea alone, away from everyone else. That’s what she had asked for, after all. But she couldn’t do that now; she had to be a somewhat gracious host. She gestured at the chair across from the settee.

“Take a seat, my lord. Perhaps you can start trying to impress me and make sure that I don’t change my mind.”

Although Amelia was certain that she had made up her mind about this madness. She was going to get out of it as soon as she could. No matter how much she found Edmund to be attractive, Amelia was not going to allow herself to be moved around like this.

Nobody told her what to do when she preferred her freedom over everything else.

***

Edmund was really confused as to what was happening right now. He had followed through on the wager to ask Downe for his blessing to court his daughter, and that part had worked. According to rumors, the Marquess of Downe was getting frustrated at the knowledge that his daughter was unmarried and had no prospects. Despite the dislike he had for Edmund’s father, it was the realization that someone wanted to court his spirited daughter that would be enough for him to agree.

The hard part had been getting Amelia to agree to it. Edmund still remembered her conversation with Mathilda about how she had no interest in getting married. That was fair enough, although Edmund didn’t understand it. He just had to get her to agree to it, which would be the tougher part.

And she had. He wondered what was going through her head for her to agree to this. Maybe she liked him, or maybe she knew what he was up to. She was a clever woman, so she had to know something was going on. Edmund couldn’t blame her for being suspicious after the way he treated her the evening before. The fact that she hadn’t rejected his courtship was a surprise.

But that meant there was more work to do.

This was going to be an interesting courtship, he knew that much.

“Where are you going?” Mathilda asked as Edmund stood in the foyer collecting his hat and cane from the butler. She was coming out of the morning room, still yawning despite having been awake for a while. “I didn’t know you were heading out today.”

“I’m just going to the park to meet some friends,” Edmund replied, hoping that vague response would be enough that his sister didn’t pry. “I’ll be back later.”

“Can’t I come with you? I have nothing to do today.”

She said that just as she started yawning again. Edmund laughed.

“Maybe you should rest and get yourself feeling more awake before you do anything. It’s not very ladylike to yawn so much.”

Mathilda glared at him.

“That’s hardly my fault, is it? We have a couple of foxes that like to make a lot of noise in the garden, and they like to do it right under my window.”

“How about you shut the window?”

“In this weather? It’ll be too warm.”

Edmund ruffled her hair, which made Mathilda squeal and smack his hand away.

“Don’t! I spent ages getting this to look right this morning.”

“You mean your maid spent ages,” Edmund corrected her.

“It’s the same thing. Don’t mess with my hair, Edmund.”

“All right, I’ll leave it alone.” Edmund tapped her on the nose, which made Mathilda hit his arm. “Anyway, I’ll be back soon. You don’t have to hover around me all the time.”

Mathilda pouted, which just made Edmund smile and kiss her on the forehead. He didn’t mind that his sister wanted to follow him around, but he didn’t want to do that just now. As soon as Mathilda knew that Amelia was meeting him, she would beg to come along and then she would hijack the time by talking to Amelia. Edmund needed to have that space to use his charm on Amelia without his little sister figuring out what was happening.

So he escaped the house quickly and made his way to the park not far from his house. As he entered the park itself, Edmund cast a look toward the lake, reminding himself of what happened that day when he came upon Amelia and her parents.

They had had a few moments sitting there, eating and talking, but it had been pleasant. Edmund had been nineteen at the time, at the age when he wasn’t too keen on interacting with younger children apart from his sister. But there had been something about Amelia that he wanted to know more about.

Now, they had met again, and he had inadvertently been drawn into something that was going to make more than a few people upset. Edmund couldn’t believe that he had agreed to this, and wished that his pride could be swallowed. But he didn’t, and now he was going to have to court Amelia for at least thirty days to get that fifty pounds.

A person’s life was worth more than that, but Edmund wasn’t about to back down.

He was a fool.

“Lord Silverton.”

Edmund turned and did a double-take. Amelia was walking toward him, her lady’s maid slightly behind her, the other woman’s face one of slight bemusement and fighting the urge to laugh. And Edmund could see why. Amelia’s hat was something he had never seen before.

For some reason, she had a bird on the top, looking very real as it sat there surrounded by lots of brightly colored flowers. A small group of women walking the other way looked at it in surprise and then giggled to each other as they moved away. Amelia ignored them, although Edmund couldn’t be sure; with the weight of the hat, he could barely see her face.

Where on earth had she gotten that monstrosity?

“Good morning,” Amelia said tersely, managing to curtsy without the hat falling off.

“Good morning…what is that?”

“Oh, you mean this?” Amelia gestured at that bird. “This is just something I saw in a shop a while ago. I’ve been looking for a reason to wear it, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity.”

The bird was clearly stuffed, but it was unnerving, watching Edmund with its beady eyes. He couldn’t look away, even though he wanted to. The thing was hideous. How could Amelia think that this would be perfect for a walk in the park? She could barely see, from what he could tell, and it looked like the most inappropriate thing to wear for a walk in the park.

Edmund had heard of women styling their hair in this way, but this was something else.

“Do you like it?” Amelia asked.

“I…”

“It’s going to be one of my favorites, I just know it.”

Was there a dangerous tone to her voice? Did she dare him to disagree? Edmund cleared his throat.

“It’s a lovely hat,” he said weakly. “Although I’m concerned that you might fall over. It looks rather heavy.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I have it sorted for myself.”

“Right.” Then Edmund saw the pouch nestled next to the bird and among the flowers. He couldn’t help himself from staring. It seemed really strange to have on the hat. “What is that?”

“Hmm?”

“The pouch.”

“Oh! That!” Amelia lifted her hand into the hat and brought it down to open it. “This is so we could feed the birds. I always come into the park to feed them. Any park, really. They deserve a lot of love and attention, don’t you think?”

She showed him the contents, which was a mixture of sunflower and pumpkin seeds. This was outrageous. How was this happening to him right now? Edmund couldn’t believe that something like this was actually occurring.

He wasn’t able to hold it back, and he just started laughing.