Chapter 3

CHAPTER3

I must have heard that wrong.

Bridget couldn’t get a hold of her heart. It seemed to be beating madly in her chest as Lord Ramsbury danced with her, escorting her around the floor. She was all too aware of the way his hand rested on her waist, his fingers curving softly around her. It wasn’t something they had ever done before—danced. Though as they did so now, she wondered why they had not.

“Is that what you want, Lady Bridget?” he asked with a smile. “Would you like me to teach you how to seduce Lord Burnington?”

“I…”

It was very difficult to think of Lord Burnington at all when she was staring at Lord Ramsbury.

Bridget couldn’t deny she was an admirer of the Earl of Burnington. He was handsome, and always had attention, where she did not, but it would be a lie to say he was the only man she found handsome in that room. The other was dancing with her now, the strong line of his jaw even more pronounced with the stubble now that she stood so close to him. His heavy cheekbones were pronounced, and she wondered absentmindedly what it would be like to be kissed by his thin lips.

“I…” Bridget urged her tongue to work.

She wanted to be married. She was ready for the next stage in her life. She longed to join in on Rachel and Emily’s conversations about married life and children. She wished to wake up every day thinking of something other than just being lonely.

“Is it mad to wish to be married?” she whispered.

“Of course, not.” Lord Ramsbury swooped her around the dance floor. When they nearly collided with other dancers, his hand slid further across her waist, and her stomach clenched at that touch, as she realized she wanted more of it. “And do you wish Lord Burnington to consider you as a potential wife?”

Maybe…

Lord Ramsbury twirled her around, giving her a chance to look over his shoulder at where Lord Burnington stood. He was once again surrounded by women, making them all laugh with some jest.

“I can show you how to turn his head,” Lord Ramsbury whispered in her ear.

“Why? Why would you do that?” She looked sharply at him, not sure what to make of his suggestion. “Why would you bother to help me at all?”

“Consider it an act of a friend.” Lord Ramsbury smiled. It was far from the flirtatious smiles he so often gave her, but something softer. She couldn’t help returning that smile. “I wish to see you happy, Lady Bridget. As much as you like the corners of rooms, I do not think you always wish to be there. Am I right?”

“Why is it you see so much of me when others do not?” Bridget murmured as he led her through the dance.

They were now so close that her heartbeat was fluttering even more in her chest. She could practically feel it thudding against her ribcage.

“I notice you,” Lord Ramsbury said with that soft smile still in place. “Tempted by the offer?”

“Very,” she confessed, chewing on her lip.

It was a mad idea—wild, indeed—to take seduction lessons from one man she found attractive in order to capture the attention of another. What else was to be done, though?

Bridget did not wish to live in her father’s house forever. She was ready for the next step, to be married, and she knew that Lord Ramsbury’s reputation as a rake meant he would certainly never marry. She would have to consider another, and the only gentleman that came to mind was Lord Burnington.

“If I were to say yes—”

“Hurrah!” Lord Ramsbury turned her around fast, his arm sliding further across her waist.

“I said, if—” she stressed, mockingly glaring at him, while he simply offered her an innocent smile. “Your arm…”

“It caught his attention.”

Bridget looked into a mirror at the side of the room, trying to make sense of the reflection. Amongst the sea of heads, she saw her own face and Lord Ramsbury’s back, and then she caught another’s expression.

Lord Burnington was watching the pair of them intently, his dark eyes never once blinking.

“If I say yes,” Bridget said, “no one can know.”

What would Rachel and Emily say?

She could picture their reactions at once.

“Go for it!” Emily would boom with a laugh, and then promptly try to give tips of her own.

“How could you do something so underhanded?” Rachel would say in complete contrast, with her hands on her hips, acting like a mother as usual.

“Only you and I could ever know,” Bridget insisted.

“You have my agreement.” Lord Ramsbury took her hands in his, making her eyes shoot toward his. “Only you and I need ever know. As we stay in this house, I can show you the art of seduction and push you and the Earl together as much as you wish. Who knows, perhaps this time next year I shall have to address you as Lady Burnington instead of Lady Bridget?”

Strangely, he didn’t smile with the words.

The music ended, and they stepped back from one another. Bridget curtsied as Lord Ramsbury bowed. When he took her hand in his again, it was gentle.

“Are we in agreement?”

Can I truly do this?

Bridget wasn’t sure what had filled her mind with such determination. Was it the desperation to have a life of her own? The possibility of catching the eye of a man like the Earl of Burnington? Or was it the thrill of having the wine in her system that made her agree to something so mad?

“We are,” she whispered in a rush and shook his hand as if they were agreeing on some business deal.

“Excellent. Then come with me, for I know exactly what we shall do next.”

Lord Ramsbury tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow and drew her away from the other dancers. They stopped a little distance from the dance floor and within sight of Lord Burnington.

Slowly, Lord Ramsbury took her hand from his elbow and lifted it to his lips. Despite the fact she was wearing long, white gloves that reached her elbows, it didn’t stop Lord Ramsbury from turning her hand over and kissing the back of it, just beyond her knuckles. As he did so, his green eyes lingered on her, never once blinking.

It is fake. He does this to help me, not because he wishes to kiss my hand.

Yet, at that moment, it was all too easy to believe that Lord Ramsbury might want to kiss her. She was lost, staring into his green eyes before he lowered her hand between them.

“A man like Lord Burnington wishes to be the first man in every young lady’s mind.” He moved closer and whispered in her ear, “He will now think I am whispering words of love to you, and I guarantee you this. Within two minutes of me walking away, he will come and talk to you.”

“How can you be so certain?” Bridget asked in surprise.

How could he know that Lord Burnington would come over? The Earl could brush it off, thinking they were a courting couple and think no more of her.

“Trust me.” Lord Ramsbury stepped back and winked. “I know what I would do in his place.”

He released her hand, and strangely, she felt cold without his touch. He walked away and didn’t bother to glance back, even as she stared after him, wishing she could indulge in their dance again.

He would never consider marriage.

Bridget had to remind herself of that fact. Daniel had as good as told her to her face once that Lord Ramsbury was too far gone in being a rake. He wouldn’t ever marry.

If I wish to marry, I must stop finding Lord Ramsbury so attractive or responding to his flirtation at all.

“Lady Bridget?” a voice startled her.

She turned around, shocked to find Lord Burnington was in front of her.

“How do you do this evening? I understand your dance card is quite busy, so forgive me for taking this chance now.” He offered her his hand.

Bridget smiled and took his hand. As she was led to the dance floor, she looked back to see Lord Ramsbury leaning against the wall in the corner they had abandoned a short while ago. His arms were folded, and his green eyes were pinned on her.

He was right. His ruse worked.

* * *

Bridget kept turning over Lord Ramsbury’s words in her mind as she poured out a second glass of wine. She had not long left her dance with Lord Burnington, his words ringing in her ears about wanting to dance with her.

Lifting the glass to her lips, she took a hefty gulp, but before she could take a second sip, the glass was swept out of her hands.

“Oi,” Bridget complained as she came face to face with Rachel.

“How many of these have you had?” Rachel asked, eyeing the glass carefully.

“Not nearly enough,” Emily answered for Bridget, appearing on her other side. “Mama Rachel, leave her be and allow her to have a little fun.”

“That is where you and I disagree.” Rachel’s voice was sharp as she put the glass down on the table beside them. “Bridget, you danced with Lord Ramsbury.”

“I did. He asked me, and my dance card was empty.” Bridget’s answer was tight. She would not be giving any hints as to the fact it had all been a game to get Lord Burnington’s attention.

“I thought I had warned you about him.” Rachel’s tone stayed harsh. “He is a rake.”

“Yes, and no one in this family has ever married a rake, have they?” Bridget asked pointedly and glanced at Emily, who smiled, the perfect picture of innocence.

“Well, I can hardly argue with that, can I?” Emily giggled. “Oh, Rachel, leave poor Bridget alone. It was just a dance.”

“A dance with an utterly scandalous man!”

“Lord Ramsbury is your friend, and one of your husband’s closest friends,” Bridget felt the need to remind her sister. “You said the other week that he gives the kindest gifts to your son at Christmas and on his birthdays.”

“That he does.” Rachel nodded. “He is a good friend to us all, but just because he is a good friend, doesn’t mean that he’s a good… a good…”

“Suitor?” Emily finished for her.

“Emily!”

“It was one dance. She’s not about to marry the man.”

“Marry!?” Bridget spluttered, looking between her sisters. “This has spiraled beyond my control, has it not?”

“I’ll second that notion,” Emily said with a sigh. She took the glass off the table and returned it to Bridget’s clutches. “You may need this to get through the rest of the conversation.”

“Thank you,” Bridget murmured, taking another hearty sip. “Rachel, I just danced with Lord Ramsbury, that is all. I know you like to be protective of us all, but even you must admit this is a worry too far.”

“It’s not that.” Rachel sighed heavily. She motioned for Emily and Bridget to follow her, and they retreated to the side of the room, where they were partly hidden by the cloths hanging from the ceiling.

“These are fun,” Emily said in approval as she swept one of the cloths to the side. “Jacob and I could have done all sorts of hiding behind these.”

“Emily!” Rachel hissed in reprimand again, and Bridget nearly choked on her wine in laughter. “Bridget, what I’m trying to say is that Lord Ramsbury sometimes worries me.”

“Why?” Bridget asked. “You have just agreed he is your friend.”

“And a rake,” Rachel said simply as she wrung her hands together. “Maybe it is just in my imagination, but sometimes over this last year in particular, I think I see you looking at him, and I wonder…” She blushed, as if ashamed to go on. “Well, I wonder if you may like him a little too much.”

“What’s too much?” Emily asked with a smile. “She’s hardly throwing her skirts in the air in a beckoning motion toward him, is she?”

Bridget laughed again until Rachel snatched the glass out of her hands.

“I am being serious,” Rachel said in a rush. “As much as I like Lord Ramsbury, I do not always trust him. My loyalty is to you, Bridget. I do not wish to see you getting hurt.”

“There is no danger of that,” Bridget insisted.

“Have you not seen she has also danced with Lord Burnington tonight?” Emily pointed out, snatching the glass back from Rachel once more.

“Yes. Yes, I have,” Bridget confirmed quickly. “If a dance is a declaration of marriage, then I must be marrying two men tonight.”

“I am simply offering caution,” Rachel said, her tone somber. “I wish to protect you, Bridget, so I’m saying this now. Lord Ramsbury cannot be trusted when it comes to women.”

“He is not nearly so bad as you think.” Bridget found the words sharply falling from her lips.

Had he not offered to help her this evening? Had he not been kind and seen something of her heart when she tried to hide it from all others? Had he not found her in that dark corner of the room?

“He can be a gentleman,” Bridget added.

“When he wishes to, I’m sure,” Rachel scoffed. “Very well. I can see you two are both looking at me as if I am as mad as a box of frogs, but I do not think I am so mad here to put you on your guard, Sister.”

“She does it out of love,” Emily drawled, with her hands on her heart. “It doesn’t mean you have to listen to her lecture, though.”

“You are not helping, Em.” Rachel glowered at her.

“I came to help Bridget, not you.”

“Let me put this argument at an end now.” Bridget stepped between her sisters, acting as the peacemaker she so often was. “I thank you both for your words, but, Rachel, let me assure you of this. My heart is in no danger from Lord Ramsbury. I am quite safe.”

“Very well.” Rachel sighed and hung her head forward. “I just want you to be happy, Bridget.”

“I know.”

Yet, Bridget was distracted now. She was wondering why her heart had leaped in her chest when she had declared she was in no danger from Lord Ramsbury.