by Heather Boyd
Once safely there, he was confronted by his mother pacing the entrance hall. Given she was worrying her lips, something she rarely did, he immediately tensed. “Mama, why are you looking like you have bad news to share with me?”
“Oh, dear. Well.” Mama stared at him imploringly. “I’m afraid I’ve gone and put my foot in it rather badly.”
He ushered his mother into the study and shut the door. Only Theodora was at her desk at this hour, nearly hidden behind piles of paperwork. “How?”
“Well, Lady Berkley came to call, as you likely saw. You know how much I detest her. We came out the same year, married the same month, and had the same number of offspring more or less. Every year, our friends are forced to choose between attending my ball or hers, because she somehow always holds hers on the very same night as mine.”
Quinn nodded, well aware of the rivalry between the women. It was a nasty little competition between women who could have been friends and allies, if not for their stubbornness. “Go on.”
“We were talking about how my event would not happen this year, because of your father, and she was looking very smug, and one thing led to another and…I don’t quite know how she got the better of me.”
“What did you say to her?”
Mother lifted her gaze to the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention. “I told her you were engaged to be married.”
“Mother!” He took a pace back, stunned. Behind him, Theodora gasped, too. He heard her stand and start shuffling papers as if she meant to flee the room. Quinn would, too, if the situation were not so dire and involved him. “How could you do this to me?”
“I am angry about this, too,” Mother complained, beseeching him with bright, tear-filled eyes. “I am so sorry! She was so obviously pleased about the timing of your father’s death. And then she told me her son had won the hand of Lord Corby’s daughter, who you know I’ve always adored, and I just blurted it out.”
He clenched his jaw to hold back a sailor’s curse his mother had never approved of. He took a moment to rein in his temper. “Who did you say I am engaged to?”
“Now, Quinn, darling—”
“Mother. The name,” he snapped. “And it better not be that squeaking mouse Father wanted me to marry last month. I’ve finally gotten rid of her father.”
Theodora fled toward the door.
“Well, I did not say a name exactly, but…” Mother’s attention followed Theodora.
He stared at her in shock. “How could you allow Lady Berkley to leave believing that I am engaged to Miss Dalton?”
Theodora gasped as her hand fell away from the doorknob. “Why me?”
Mother shook her head quickly, and then stretched imploringly for Theodora to come take her hand. “I am so sorry, my dear!”
Quinn’s heart began to beat very fast at the idea of being married to Theodora. It wasn’t panic that stirred his emotions, though. It was longing and excitement. “Mother, I am very cross with you. You will have to call on Lady Berkley immediately and renounce your statement.”
“You will make a liar out of me?”
“Mother, you are a liar,” he said crossly, keeping an eye on Theodora’s face. He was rather relieved that she did not seem offended by the idea of marriage to him. At least not yet.
“But Quinn, if I deny it, all everyone will talk about is my state of mind. They will say your father’s death drove me to delusions.” Mother turned away, walked a few steps and sagged into the nearest chair. “I’ve been trying so hard to look everyone in the eye after what he did. I’m always worried someone knows where he fell ill and who he was with. What she was to you,” she whispered. “I’m afraid I’ve made things ten times worse now.”
She sniffed and then dropped her head into her hands.
Quinn moved to her side, squatted down next to her chair. “Mother, if I do not correct Lady Berkley now, she will gossip, and what then happens to Theodora’s reputation when the lie is revealed, as it must surely be? Her presence will be questioned, rather too coarsely for my taste.”
“I could do it,” Theodora said quietly behind him. “I could be engaged to you.”
He swiveled around to stare at her. Yes, she knew him well enough to play the part of a besotted bride, but this was too much. “Don’t even think of going along with this nonsense.”
Theodora beckoned him to follow her across the room, and he did so, unable to predict her next words. She stopped by the far window, a frown marring her pretty features. “There is no reason to further embarrass your mother,” Theodora whispered quickly. “I am here, and we already assumed people would misunderstand you hiring a woman as your secretary.”
“This is grossly unfair to you,” he complained. “Mother needs to correct her mistake.”
“And she will, or we will, eventually.” Theodora winced. “From what I can tell, Lady Templeton has suffered a great deal at your father’s hands, everyone has, and I will not have it on my conscience that I helped her lose the respect she deserves. I cannot imagine what she must be feeling right now. I have met Lady Berkley before, and she’s a spiteful, mean old biddy. She will lash your mother from morning to night for weeks to come, should the truth come out. You don’t want that.”
“But you’re more than happy to pretend that you like me enough to marry?”
“I do like you.” Her shoulder lifted as she shrugged. “If we went along with it for a little while, what’s the harm? So much less than what could happen. Let society think what they like for now, and later, after a time, I can go away, and your mother can simply say we did not suit after all.”
He considered the matter. It was asking a lot of Theodora to play along with this charade, just to help his mother save face. “No.”
He turned back to his mother.
“Quinn, you know me,” Theodora began as she caught his upper arm. “I would never insist you go through with the engagement. Let your mother save face with this small lie. Any gossip later on will blow over very quickly.”
Of all the women he’d known, only Theodora could convincingly play the part of his betrothed. They were already intimately involved. His real problem lay in her insistence that she would never expect to marry him. “Don’t you think it would feel odd to play at being betrothed to each other?”
“Not really.” Her lips lifted into a soft smile. “I’ve been engaged before and know what is required of a proper engagement.”
“I’m not sure I’d be convincing,” he warned.
Theodora’s brows drew together in a frown. “It would help to explain why Mother and I are still here, when we should have already found a new home for ourselves. No one believes a woman could be competent as a secretary, or enjoy the work as much I do.”
He caught her fingers. “Fools.”
“This will not be the disaster you fear,” Theodora promised. “We make a good team already, don’t we?”
A shiver of desire swept over him. If Theodora was really his betrothed, there were any number of small indiscretions they could share and be forgiven for. He could also keep an eye on her better, too. If Small was the fiend he feared, and watching them even now, Theodora could be his next target.
Unwittingly, Mother had ensured Theodora’s safety.
“So, we are engaged?”
Theodora’s eyes lit up with pleasure as she smiled at him. “Indeed.”
He smiled, liking the idea very much. “Shall I go down on one knee, too?”
Her eyes widened. “That is perhaps overplaying your part.”
“It would be expected if we were in love.”
“But we are not in love,” Theodora promised.
“Are you sure you’re not a little in love with me?” Confident his mother could not see what he did, Quinn lifted Theodora’s hand to his lips. At the last moment, though, he placed the tips of her ink-stained fingers against his lips.
Theodora gasped softly as he kissed several of them.
“Being engaged could be ver
y enjoyable for us,” Quinn whispered against her fingers. “But being married could be better.”
Theodora gently pulled her hand back. “Just remember this is a temporary engagement.”
Not if he had any say in the matter.
Now that the moment presented itself, he knew Theodora should be his wife. No other would do. He liked her. His mother seemed to like her, too. He could also hand over the estate affairs to her if she wanted control of them, without a qualm. Or they could do everything together.
“I’ll do my best to remember this is all meant to be pretend, but I make you no promises I always will.” He turned about to face the room.
His mother was watching them, worrying her lower lip. “Well? What did you decide?”
“We are engaged,” he announced.
His mother beamed at both of them. “I knew you would understand.”
“Later, we will unravel the mess that you’ve made of our lives,” Quinn warned her. “I will expect your full support and participation to make this situation convincing.”
Her smile fell.
“Lady Templeton,” Theodora began, stepping around him.
“Yes, dear,” Mother replied, another bright smile bursting over her lips. “And my name is Maggie when we are alone.”
“Maggie, there is just one small matter to discuss.”
Quinn frowned, wondering what might be bothering his betrothed now.
Theodora turned to him. “Would you excuse us a moment, my lord? I need to have a private conversation with your mother, if you do not mind.”
That seemed ominous. He nodded slowly. “Don’t yell too loudly at Mama, my dear,” Quinn advised.
He left the room, but instead of retreating entirely, he lingered on the other side of the door to listen. Quinn thought it a good idea to know how Theodora and his mother spoke to each other when he wasn’t around. He eased as close to the gap in the doors as he dared to listen.
“…have the truth between us,” Theodora was saying in a firm voice. “Lady Berkley did not goad you to do this, did she? You announced an engagement for a reason you will not reveal to your son. What is it?”
Quinn gaped in the telling silence.
“You are as perceptive as your mother has always claimed,” his mother complained.
What was this? Quinn moved his eye to the crack between the doors and peered through.
Theodora was standing over his mother, hands on hips. “Do not change the subject, Maggie dearest. I am very cross with you right now.”
He almost laughed at how his mother pretended to cower. Theodora just stood there waiting.
“Clever women like you are always a pleasure to deal with,” mother exclaimed after a moment, then sat up straight again. “But we’ll rub along together quite well, I suspect. That is why I chose you for this endeavor.”
“The reason—and no more delay with flattering me!”
Quinn had never heard Theodora so angry before. She was cold and unforgiving. He couldn’t be more impressed. Mother had ruled the roost for a long time. Many women gave way to her immediately, but not Theodora Dalton apparently.
“Oh, very well,” mother grumbled. “We are in mourning, and then the season will begin. Louisa will have her chance to charm the gentlemen, and my son will be back among the ton where he belongs. It worries me that my son will be the Duke of Rutherford sooner than we ever planned for. I cannot have him make a mistake at such a time that might see him matched with an unsuitable woman.”
“I doubt he would make such a mistake and marry the wrong woman.”
“I am not so sure of that. Quinn’s long-term friendship with that mistress he had is proof that he’s just like every other man.”
“That woman underestimated his appeal. I’ve already seen to it that she never bothers him again.”
“Did you now? Well, that is well done of you.” Mother beamed. “A betrothal will take him off the marriage mart before the season even begins…”
“…and allow him to make the right choice at a time of his choosing,” Theodora finished.
“Exactly.”
There was a long pause, and Theodora’s hands slid off her hips. “So, you are using me.”
“Well, yes. I hope you don’t greatly mind the part you must play in all this.” Mother fell silent a long moment. “Never think I would deliberately entrap anyone I care about into a loveless marriage such as I had?”
“I would never agree to that,” Theodora promised. “Neither would he, I believe. I am surprised he is willing to go along with such a lie.”
He was going along with it because marriage to Theodora was what he wanted in the end. He’d settle for a temporary understanding, and a real engagement—complete with a proposal, flowers, and loving whatnots—would come when he was sure Theodora’s feelings for him were reciprocated.
“My son is imminently sensible and very forgiving. Patient, too.” There was another long pause, and Quinn strained to hear anything. “All I want is for him to marry someone he loves.”
“As do I.” He pondered what Theodora wanted for her future as she began to pace the room. “I want your promise that you will not make any arrangements for a marriage to actually take place. No new gowns ordered, no inquiries sent to the church. If you do anything that commits either one of us to actually marry, I shall call the whole thing off immediately and let you drown in your embarrassment. Do we understand each other?”
“Absolutely, my dear. You and I will get along famously, don’t you agree?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
Quinn smiled widely and backed away, delighted with what he’d heard so far. A fake engagement engineered by his mother should have been alarming, but he should have known Theodora was more than a match for his mother’s own managing tendencies.
She would indeed be the perfect wife for him one day. Just as soon as she realized she was already part of his family.
Chapter 26
“I had a thousand things to do tonight,” Theodora whispered as she smiled at the footmen still lining the sides of the dining room. The six servants were waiting for everyone to retire to another room so they could clear the dishes from the formal dinner she’d just shared with her faux betrothed.
“Work can wait long enough for us to share a meal, surely,” Quinn murmured, as he strode along at her side.
She glanced at him, and then toward Lady Templeton. “That is, word for word, exactly what she said to me earlier.”
Quinn smiled quickly. “Did you never dine with Daniel when you were engaged?”
“Of course I did.”
“Then this is no different,” Quinn promised as he linked their arms together.
He was probably right, but being suddenly engaged today, and being paraded about the house on Quinn’s arm like this, made her acutely conscious of her shortcomings. Her hair had been hurriedly redressed for dinner because she hadn’t noticed the late hour, and the only gowns she had to wear were dark and rather dreary creations. Dining formally amid the splendor of Lord Rutherford’s dining room had made her rather uncomfortable. She was in mourning and, given this engagement wasn’t real, it was difficult to feel anything but an imposter.
“Lord Templeton, might I have a word in private,” her mother asked him suddenly.
“Of course,” he said, a slightly worried expression dawning on his face.
“It won’t take long. Perhaps we could go in there.” Mama gestured to the drawing room and they disappeared, leaving Theodora and Lady Templeton behind.
“I wonder what that is about?” she asked the countess.
“I’ve no idea.” Lady Templeton replied, glancing up at the incessant barking made by her mother’s tiny companion somewhere above them. “She’s very pleased about the engagement. I told her everything, of course, and she agreed it was a sensible precaution all round to protect your reputation.”
Theodora winced inwardly. Mama hadn’t actually been pleased to hear that she’d agreed to
a false engagement with Quinn. Mother had asked Theodora if she’d lost her mind entirely. Only after assuring her of the temporary nature of the engagement, the necessity of sparing Lady Templeton embarrassment, and their mutual agreement to end it once the season was well underway, had mother ceased protesting.
But she had reminded Theodora that once the engagement ended, they would have to move away immediately.
Quinn and Mama returned, quiet and unsmiling. “I am ready now,” Mama promised Lady Templeton.
“Mrs. Dalton and I are going to read together in the upstairs parlor tonight,” Lady Templeton explained, looping their arms together. “Would you care to join us, Miss Dalton?”
Theodora shook her head quickly. Despite the engagement, she was still Quinn’s secretary at heart. She couldn’t let herself forget what she was here to accomplish. “I have a few matters left to finish up today.”
Lady Templeton sighed, but her mother nodded. “I thought you might say that. Don’t work too late, and I will see you in the morning.” Mother kissed her cheek, and then quickly followed the countess to the staircase.
They all heard Soot barking and whining again.
“Soot has become quite worked up in your absence,” Lady Templeton remarked to her mother as they began their assent.
“She’s not used to being left alone yet.”
“Well, it’s early days. When Soot is a little older and grown more sedate, perhaps she could join us in the dining room,” Lady Templeton suggested.
“But not today,” Mother warned. “She’s much too fond of tugging on the hems of our gowns to make her company tolerable in a dining room.”
“Exactly,” Lady Templeton said with another sigh. “At this rate, you’ll need new gowns purchased before the season starts. A pity your daughter denied me the perfect excuse. I so want us to organize the perfect wedding for them.”
“Never mind that for now.”
The pair disappeared, and Theodora glanced at Quinn. “Should we be concerned at how well that pair are getting along?”
“Probably, but let’s put that off until tomorrow, or even later. Today has been eventful enough.” He steered her toward the study by taking her elbow, and then shut the door behind them. The room was lovely and quiet—and the click of the lock quite noticeable. The room was quite free of the other two secretaries, thankfully. Theodora sighed and dropped her shawl onto a chair. She had grown to love spending time alone in this room with Quinn at night.