Breaking the Rules

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  The corner of Aaron’s mouth curled up. “If I remember correctly, you weren’t all that supportive of my decision two years ago.”

  “I admit that I thought you were misguided in not at least seeing if any of the ladies having their Season would appeal to you, but you’re in a much better position than I am right now. Who am I to argue that your way isn’t best?”

  “Ladies are often more trouble than they’re worth, but they’re required if one is to get an heir. What’s a gentleman to do? He can’t avoid marriage forever. At some point, he needs to get a wife. I just don’t see any reason to rush it. I’d like to spend the better part of my life in peace and quiet.”

  Lord Edon came up to them. “Are you gentlemen interested in going to the other room to place your bets on a wager?”

  “That depends on what the wager is,” Aaron replied, his eyebrows raised in interest.

  “Mr. Robinson thinks he can frighten Lord Roderick in a public place,” Lord Edon said. “No one can tell Lord Roderick about the plan, even though we have to wait until next spring for Mr. Robinson to try to frighten him. Lord Roderick is at his estate until then.”

  “You better not let Lord Clement find out,” Aaron replied. “He’d tell Lord Roderick and spoil the whole thing.”

  “Why do you think we waited to make the wager until Lord Clement wasn’t here?” Lord Edon asked.

  Aaron drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “How does he plan to scare Lord Roderick?”

  “He hasn’t decided yet,” Lord Edon replied.

  Aaron glanced at Roger. “What do you think? Are you interested in placing a bet?”

  “Lord Roderick doesn’t frighten easily,” Roger said.

  “Then you’ll want to bet Mr. Robinson can’t do it,” Lord Edon replied.

  “Is this because Lord Roderick made Mr. Robinson muck out stalls and empty chamber pots?” Roger asked. “The idea of scaring someone is rather petty.”

  “A gentleman has the right to protect his pride,” Lord Edon said.

  “Oh come on,” Aaron told him as he stood up. “This is in good fun. It’s not like Mr. Robinson is going to hurt him. He’s only going to scare him. Or, at least, he’s going to try.”

  “He’ll fail,” Roger dryly commented.

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” Aaron shrugged. “Either way, it’ll be a good distraction to focus on a frivolous wager, won’t it?”

  His friend made a good point. It would be nice to be a part of something ridiculous for a while. Who knew? It might provide some good laughs next spring when he watched Mr. Robinson try in vain to get the best of Lord Roderick.

  Roger got to his feet and nodded. “All right. Let’s make a wager.”

  Not hiding his excitement, Lord Edon led them to the other room.

  Chapter Two

  Once Lilly’s lady’s maid finished pinning her dark hair up, she set the blonde wig on Lilly’s head. Ever since she was a child, Lilly had worn blonde wigs. She’d once overheard a gentleman telling her father that blonde ladies were more attractive than those with red or brown hair, and if there was one thing she most wanted to be, it was attractive. She credited her wigs to her success in getting more attention from gentlemen than most other ladies did.

  She had tried talking Claire into wearing a blonde wig, but Claire hated wigs. Claire had once commented that they made her scalp itch too much. Lilly had to admit Claire had a point, but what was a little itch compared to being admired by gentlemen? Beauty required some discomfort.

  Lilly had worn wigs so much by now that she hardly noticed how they itched. In fact, she felt naked without them anymore, and her head felt much too cool without one on. It was much nicer to have the wig. Plus, wigs always looked great because she never messed it up when she slept. And better yet, she didn’t need to spend a half hour or more sitting while her lady’s maid set the wig into a fashionable hairstyle. She was free to pick out something to wear instead. It saved her time on getting ready for social activities.

  The lady’s maid had done a wonderful job of making her wig attractive this afternoon. It was just a shame Mr. Morris wouldn’t get to see it.

  She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. She must not cry. She’d already done too much of it last night. She’d woken up with splotchy cheeks and puffy eyes. It’d taken all morning to get her appearance back to normal. Her parents were expecting friends to come over for a dinner party. The last thing she needed was to embarrass them by showing up, looking as if the world had collapsed all around her.

  “Are you satisfied with the way the wig looks?” her lady’s maid asked.

  Lilly smiled. “It looks perfect.”

  Lilly’s gaze went lower to her pink gown which had a white ribbon just under her breasts and gathered lace flounce at the wrists and low-cut neckline. The white pearls in her wig complemented the gown very well. She was beautiful. She only wished she was going to dress like this for Mr. Morris’ benefit. It almost seemed like a waste to look this lovely when he wasn’t going to see her.

  A knock came at her bedchamber door. While her lady’s maid went to answer it, Lilly turned around and inspected herself from the back. If only Claire was here to tell her if the gown did an adequate job of presenting her backside in a flattering way. The lady’s maid would tell her she looked as good from the back as well as the front. Even her mother would tell her that. Only Claire would tell her the truth. But Claire was at her husband’s estate in the country.

  Her lady’s maid came over to her. “Miss Stewart would like to know if you’re receiving visitors.”

  Lilly nodded in excitement. Emilia had decided to pay her a surprise visit. She could use the reprieve from thinking of Mr. Morris. “Tell her I’ll be down soon.”

  Her lady’s maid nodded and returned to the door.

  Lilly went to her jewelry box and picked out a pearl necklace. Then she selected pink slippers to complete the look. She recalled the hours she’d spent in the market selecting all of the items to go with the gown. She’d fallen in love with the gown as soon as she saw it. The other things had been purchased with it in mind. Sure, her father hadn’t been all that happy when he saw how much everything cost, but it had been worth it.

  Few things could make her feel better than dressing in one of her favorite outfits, and if there was anything she needed today, it was this outfit. Granted, she was still in despair over Mr. Morris’ words, but she could cope much better in front of other people with this outfit on.

  She took a deep breath and took another look at herself in the mirror. She released her breath and smiled. There. Now no one would know her heart was breaking.

  She left her bedchamber and proceeded down to the drawing room, keeping her steps light as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

  Emilia stood up from the settee as soon as Lilly entered the room. “What were you thinking when you told Lord Valentine that I was interested in him?”

  Lilly’s steps slowed. “I told him no such thing.”

  Emilia crossed her arms. “Then why did he just come by my townhouse and tell me he had no idea that I fancied him until you told him so last night at the ball?”

  “I never told him you fancied him.”

  “Well, you said something that made him think I did.”

  Lilly thought over her conversation with Lord Valentine. It was hard to remember the details since all she could really see in her mind was Mr. Morris and that lady having an enjoyable time as they danced.

  “Lilly!”

  Lilly blinked and forced her mind back to the topic. “He was telling me that he has a lot of money and doesn’t mind if his wife spends it. He was hinting that he wanted to be my suitor. I was trying to get his attention off of me, so I told him he could have his pick of ladies.” She cleared her throat and offered her friend an apologetic smile. “I made a little reference to you, but I only said you were talking about him the other day. And you were.”

  “Not in a good way.”

  �
�Yes, that’s true.” Lilly winced. “But I couldn’t come out and say what you really thought of him, could I?”

  “Yes, you could have. I have no interest in him at all, and you know it.”

  “It would have been terribly rude of me to say that you think he’s funny looking and boring. No gentleman wants to hear that.”

  “No lady wants to find out her father is going to arrange a marriage between her and a funny-looking gentleman who also happens to be boring, either.”

  Lilly gasped. “Your father isn’t going to do that!”

  “You want to make a wager on that? When Lord Valentine came over this morning, my father took him to the den, and they spent an entire hour working through all of the details of my upcoming marriage.”

  “Maybe you can explain the situation to your father,” Lilly suggested. “Tell him that Lord Valentine misunderstood what I said. Tell him that I only meant to imply that he should look for a lady other than me to marry.”

  Emilia’s cheeks grew pink as her expression hardened. “My father will say your ploy worked. Lord Valentine did pick another lady. And I happen to be that lady!” She shook her head in frustration. “My father’s happy about the match. Lord Valentine has a title, is wealthy, and loves to read. He’s everything my father’s been hoping for since I entered my first Season. When Lord Valentine was leaving, he and my father were laughing and talking as if they’d been friends for years.”

  Again, Lilly winced. “Oh. That does complicate things.”

  “It does more than complicate things. My whole life is ruined. I’m going to be forced to be Lord Valentine’s wife whether I want to be or not.”

  Lilly had no idea that a simple slip of the tongue could result in this travesty. “There must be something we can do to stop it.”

  “There isn’t. It’s hopeless.” Her friend let out a frustrated groan and plopped down on the settee in despair. She put her face in her hands and started to cry.

  “I’m so sorry.” Lilly hurried to sit by her friend. “Please, believe me. I never thought this would happen. I don’t care for Lord Valentine any more than you do. I wish I hadn’t been so flustered. I was so busy watching Mr. Morris fawning over another lady that I wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying.” When her friend only continued to cry, Lilly put her arm around her and added, “I wish I could go back in time and unsay it. Or better yet, I would have refused to dance with him. Then I wouldn’t have risked doing something this stupid at all.”

  “I’m going to be miserable. I’m already miserable, and I’m not even married yet. He’s going to bore me to the point where I’ll lose my mind.”

  “No, that must not happen. We can’t let it happen.”

  Emilia looked up at her. “It will happen. When he was at my townhouse, he spent fifteen minutes telling me all about a book he read. It was so dull. I don’t know how anyone can find an elaborate description of a city interesting.” She gagged. “I don’t even remember the name of the city. All I remember is that it had a lot of buildings that were inspired by Greek architecture. I only remember that because he kept repeating the word ‘Greek’ over and over.”

  That did sound boring. Lilly didn’t know why he thought any lady would be interested in such a dull topic.

  Emilia wiped the tears from her cheeks. “If I hadn’t been so mortified that he believed I was in love with him, I would have fallen asleep.”

  “I’ll get you a handkerchief.” Lilly jumped up from the settee and ran over to the desk. She opened the top drawer and sorted through the items in it until she found a couple of clean handkerchiefs.

  “I wonder if I should run away,” Emilia said. “Certainly, there must be a lady or two who’s done that in the past in order to avoid marriage.”

  “Don’t be silly.” Lilly picked up a handkerchief and shut the drawer. “You can’t run away. You don’t have the money for it.” She returned to her friend, sat down, and gave it to her. “How soon does your father want you to marry Lord Valentine?”

  “I don’t know yet. They’re going to talk to a vicar about it.”

  “Do you think they’re going to rush the marriage? Claire married quickly right after the scandal.”

  “No, they’re in no rush, thankfully.” She wiped her cheeks with the handkerchief. “My father wants time to introduce Lord Valentine to family and friends. He also wants a seamstress to make me a gown that will rival anything a queen would wear.”

  “Oooh! A gown like that sounds exciting.”

  Emilia glared at her.

  Lilly offered her a contrite smile. “Well, you have to admit having such an elaborate gown would be nice.”

  Lilly might be tempted to marry Lord Valentine if she was Emilia. Emilia’s father had a good eye for fashion, and he had a tendency to spoil Emilia because she was his only child. Emilia would probably be getting a lot of jewelry and fashionable accessories to match the gown, too.

  “Everything is all about appearances with you,” Emilia said. “It’s why you said no when Mr. Morris proposed. I’m telling you I’d rather be with someone like Mr. Morris than Lord Valentine. At least Mr. Morris is interesting to talk to and handsome.”

  “Yes, I was wrong to tell Mr. Morris no. I should have listened to you, Claire, and Kitty when you told me to accept his proposal. Now he won’t have anything to do with me, and I can’t blame him.”

  “Mr. Morris still loves you.”

  “He did love me.”

  “No. He loves you even now.”

  Lilly bit her lower lip. Mr. Morris had told her he didn’t love her anymore, but he could have been saying that to preserve his pride. Still… “You weren’t at the ball last evening. You didn’t see the way he was talking to other ladies. He was very charming with them.” As charming as he’d once been with her.

  Emilia rolled her eyes. “You were about to marry Lord Hedwrett. What other choice does he have but to look for another lady to marry?”

  “At the ball last evening, I told him I’d marry him, but he wasn’t interested.”

  “I’d say I wasn’t interested, either, if I was him. You made a fool of him. No gentleman wants to be with a lady who made him the laughingstock of the Ton.”

  “I didn’t make him a laughingstock.”

  “Are you going to tell me you’re so wrapped up in what you want that you never noticed the rumors?”

  Lilly felt insulted. Surely, she couldn’t have been so narcissistic that she didn’t know what people were saying about Mr. Morris.

  Emilia sniffed and dabbed the handkerchief on her nose. “Of course, you don’t notice the rumors. They don’t affect you. Poor Mr. Morris. He’ll never get over you. He’ll love you until the day he dies. It doesn’t matter if he marries another lady or not. His heart will always belong to you.”

  It would? Lilly’s heart leapt with hope. So it wasn’t too late? She could still marry him and be as happy as Claire was with Nate?

  Emilia let out a resigned sigh and rose to her feet. “I promised my mother I’d be home by three. She invited my aunt over to discuss the wedding breakfast.”

  Noting the way her friend’s voice cracked, Lilly jumped up and took her friend by the arms. “There’s got to be a way out of this marriage.” Her eyes lit up. “I know! Create a scandal with the gentleman you really want to marry! Then your parents will have no choice but to let you out of the marriage to Lord Valentine.”

  “I can’t do that to my parents. They worked hard to earn their place in London. A scandal would ruin my father’s business connections, and my mother would lose some notable friends. My parents aren’t influential like yours are. If you created a scandal, it would be fine. Look at your sister. She was rolling around on the lawn at a ball, and no one talks ill of them.” She shook her head and set the handkerchief on the desk. “My course is set, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  Looking as if her world was coming to an end, Emilia left the room. Lilly was tempted to insist she stay and continue t
o talk. Surely, there had to be something they could do to help her friend get out of marrying Lord Valentine that didn’t involve a scandal. But at the moment, her mind was blank.

  Lilly would have to think about it. Since Emilia’s parents weren’t going to rush into a wedding like her parents had done for Claire, she had time to think about it.

  In the meantime, she had something more pressing to contend with. She needed to secure a marriage with Mr. Morris before he did something foolish like propose to another lady. Emilia had just given her hope. Mr. Morris still loved her. He’d only said he didn’t in order to avoid getting hurt again.

  Now it was time for her to rectify the situation. He was too proud to come back to her, so it was up to her to ensure they married. The only way she could think to do that was to enact a scandal. Then she could take the blame for it and leave his pride intact.

  A couple of months ago, she would have avoided the very notion of getting involved in a scandal. She had been careful to follow the rules of the Ton. It was part of why she had managed to secure as many suitors as she had. But in order to get the one she wanted, she was going to have to start breaking some rules.

  Already, a plan started to form in her mind. With a smile, she sat down and began to work out the details.

  Chapter Three

  Roger shifted in the chair. Once again, his mind had wandered. He forced his gaze back to the lady in front of him. Her mother sat close by in order to chaperone the afternoon’s visit.

  “I don’t know,” Miss Willoby said after she sipped her tea. “I like the cooler weather of autumn, but it’s sad to see summer end.”

  “At least summer comes back every year,” her mother replied. “That’s one thing I like about it. It’s here long enough to appreciate but not so long that it gets boring. I don’t think I’d like having things be the same all year long.”

  “Yes, I suppose there’s something to be said for things getting cooler,” Miss Willoby said after a moment.