‘If you win, Georgina and I will never mention marriage or try to pair you off again.’
Already Alex felt the smile spreading across his lips. He would be free to accept invitations to dinner without having to worry whether some eligible young miss would be placed next to him, expecting to be wooed.
‘And if he loses?’ Georgina asked.
‘Then he has to seriously look for a wife.’
Alex waved a hand dismissively. Admittedly the stakes were high if he lost, but he wasn’t in the habit of losing and didn’t plan on starting now. How hard could it be? Most of the young women in attendance at the Pottersdown Fair were the daughters of the country gentry. Even if he were unlucky and a servant or shop girl was selected, six weeks was a long time. He was sure he could teach them the basic etiquette for the ballroom.
‘Who chooses the woman?’ he asked.
‘We’ll leave it to chance. Once we’ve agreed and shaken hands, it’ll be the next unmarried woman of an appropriate age to walk past us.’
‘And if she doesn’t agree?’
‘That is part of the wager, my dear fellow. You have to persuade her.’
‘And you’re not allowed to pay her,’ Georgina added quickly.
Alex nodded slowly. There was a small chance the woman or her family might flatly refuse to be part of this, but Alex was charming and eloquent and there weren’t many things he couldn’t persuade people to do. Besides, what young woman wouldn’t want to be bought beautiful dresses and escorted to sumptuous balls?
‘I’m in,’ Alex said, holding out his hand and suppressing a smile as his sister squealed in delight. He shook Pentworthy’s hand, then slowly all three turned to look to see who would be the next eligible young woman to walk past.
He saw the brightly coloured skirt first and with his heart sinking in his chest he slowly let his eyes travel upwards to confirm his fears. Beside him, Georgina was in hysterics, laughing in a very unladylike manner. Even his brother-in-law was chuckling softly.
‘Do you want to give up now?’ Pentworthy asked quietly.
Alex shook his head, but even he knew it would be a stretch to transform the pretty gypsy girl into a member of the gentry. Gypsies had a bad reputation, much of it unfounded, but Alex knew the young woman walking towards him would be more at home dancing around an open fire than waltzing through a ballroom.
Copyright © 2017 by Laura Martin
ISBN-13: 9781488021923
Besieged and Betrothed
Copyright © 2017 by Jenni Fletcher
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