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. And I am heir to a great deal more. Then why? She gazed ahead along the path and absently noted the shifting patterns of bluish light andshade cast across it by the distant lamp. Why did you attend Lady Mannering s ball? I have been toldthat you had been to no other before it this Season.Why did you dance only with me? You went therewith that specific intention, did you not? You intended to offer for me before you even saw me.Am Iright? I had seen you in the park before then, he said. Remember? You are hard to forget. London during the Season was the great marriage mart.Viscount Ravensberg must be in his latetwenties, perhaps older.He was heir to an earldom.It was perfectly conceivable that he had decided itwas time to take a bride.But why her? And why sight unseen? She did not believe for a moment that hehad conceived a passion for her during that brief meeting of their eyes in the park while he was holdingand kissing the milkmaid.She did not believe he had conceived a passion for her at all.She turned tolook back at him.From this angle his face was more in the light.There seemed less laughter there thanusual. Your pretense of passion is insulting, my lord, she said. Lies are surely unnecessary.Why not simplythe truth? His features looked hard and chiseled without the customary expression of good humor.She couldimagine him now, as she had never been able to before, as a military officer. Insulting, he repeated softly. I have insulted you.And indeed you are right.I have. She had the distinct impression that her heart plummeted all the way down from her chest to her feet.She was right, then.He felt nothing for her.Of course he did not.And she did not want him to, anyway.She did not want his love or any man s.Especially not his.But she felt suddenly chilled.She wasnotbeautiful.She wasnotdesirable.She was simply Lauren Edgeworth, perfect lady and eligible bride for anearl s heir as she had been all her life, unless the man happened to find a more appealing bride before itwas too late.She turned her head to confirm what her eyes had seen earlier without really noticing arustic seat.She walked toward it and seated herself, arranging her skirts carefully about her so that shewould not have to look at him.He moved closer, but made no attempt to seat himself beside her. Honor has always been enormously important to me, he said, his voice so devoid of laughter that shescarcely recognized it. There was a time while I was commissioned when honor meant more to methan life itself, even the lives of those I loved.But There was a short silence before he continued. Inall my dealings with you I have acted completely without honor.I am deeply ashamed and I beg yourpardon.Perhaps you will allow me to escort you back to Mrs.Merklinger? She gazed up at him.Without honor? Merely because he had pretended a love he did not feel? And whydid that fact make her feel so very bleak? She had never believed him. I believe you owe me an explanation first, she said though she was not sure she wanted to know.For a long time it seemed to her that he would not answer.Footsteps approached along the path,accompanied by soft whispers and laughter.But whoever it was must have spotted them from a distance Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmland turned to go back.The music of another waltz intruded from what seemed to be a long distanceaway. Suffice it to say, Lord Ravensberg said at last after inhaling audibly, that I have wagered against threeother men that I will have wooed you and wed you by the end of this month. Lauren imposed control over herself by trying and failing to describe her feelings to herself with oneword.Shock? Anger? Bewilderment? Hurt? Humiliation? A wager? She was whispering. You were chosen, he said, because you have a reputation for unshakable dignity and gentility andrespectability.For being the perfect lady, in fact.My.friends considered you to be the lady least likelyto accept my proposal. Because you are a rake? This was all a game, then? Her tone, she realized, matched his own inflatness. But a remarkably foolish one.What if you had won? You would have been stuck for life with aprim, respectable wife.A perfect lady.A perfectlydulllady.That is what I am, Lord Ravensberg. The sharpness of her pain was ridiculous.She had never respected this man or believed his preposterousflatteries.She respected him even less now.What did it matter that he had made a wager concerning heronly because she was dull, dull, dull? For that was what dignity, gentility, and respectability added up tofor him.And he was quite right.She was exactly what he thought her to be.She had always been proudof being a lady.She wasstillproud.So the pain was not valid.She was not really feeling it.Onlyanger against herself more than against him
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