“And…”
Lavender’s lips tilted up as the memory of their lips touching filled her mind. There was no chance of her hiding it at this point. “We may have shared a kiss.”
Alice, being nearly as dramatic as Lavender was behind closed doors, squealed. Lavender tried putting her hand over Alice’s mouth but it wasn’t enough to hold back the sound.
“Hush!” Lavender scolded. “Vincent and Colin might hear you!”
“Oh, yes.” Alice sobered up quickly, though her eyes danced with excitement. “We wouldn’t want that, would we? Tell me how it happened, when, everything.”
Her excitement was infections. Honestly, even though she had spent the better part of last night thinking about their kiss, Lavender hadn’t truly come to terms with it. The man she had sat with this morning had been the same standoffish man she’d met, making her wonder if he cared about the kiss as much as she did.
But Alice’s excitement had the same feeling bubbling up in her and, before she knew it, Lavender was telling her every detail about her time with Austin from the moment she walked into his study until the second he kissed her goodnight.
It felt nice, she realized after a while, to simply sit and talk with her friends about mundane things such as kissing and feelings. She could admit to Alice that she might be falling for Austin. It didn’t seem so terrifying to say it aloud to her friend. It didn’t feel as if she was jumping headfirst into something that would leave her a broken mess in the end. Instead, she chatted and laughed and squealed about everything that had happened as if this wasn’t an arranged marriage. As if she wasn’t dragging an unwilling man around to help her in a quest for revenge.
As if she hadn’t known about her brother’s plan to ‘trap’ her future husband in a contract by paying him off to marry her and that that was the only reason why Austin tolerated her presence.
With Alice, Lavender could almost pretend as if Austin might be falling in love with her too.
Chapter Eighteen
Lavender was rather pleased with herself and had been since her walk through Hyde Park. How could she not be after she’d convinced one of the most difficult of men she’d ever met into attending the tailor with her and her brother? It was like wrangling a raging bull into a pen.
So pleased was she that she had not been able to wipe that smile off her face all throughout breakfast. Thankfully her brother had an early morning meeting to attend to and was not around to question her on why she was in such a good mood. What would she have said?
I am excited to purchase new clothing for Lord Derby so that he will look more like a proper earl while we carry out my plan for revenge?
It sounded odd even to her. But she couldn’t help the mounting excitement as soon as she was done with breakfast and headed up to her chambers to fetch her reticule and her bonnet. She told herself that she had many lovely dresses and she hadn’t put on this beautiful blue morning gown because she knew she would be seeing Austin today.
By the time she made it back downstairs, she saw Vincent in the foyer, returning home from his meeting.
“Vincent,” she greeted happily. “I hope you are not too tired because it will soon be time for us to leave for the tailor’s. Lord Derby will be arriving at any moment.”
“While we wait for him, why don’t we have a talk in the parlour?” Vincent suggested in a serious tone. He didn’t wait for her to respond, heading to the parlor instead.
Lavender frowned at the back of his head but said nothing as she trailed after him. She kept her question at bay until they were safely behind closed doors. Then she asked, “What is the matter, Vincent? Did something bad happen?”
“No, no nothing of the sort,” he assured her.
She ventured over to an armchair and sat, still frowning. “What do you want to talk about then?”
“You, Lav,” he said. He chose the chair directly across from her, looking concerned. “Do you truly want to be betrothed to the Earl of Derby?”
“Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?”
“Because I understand that I might have sprung this decision on you a little too quickly, without giving you much say in the matter. I have never been the type to control your life, Lav, so if this is not what you truly want then you should tell me.”
“You know I want to be married. I was the one who pressured you into enforcing Father’s old promise in the first place.”
“You did,” Vincent agreed. “But I chose the man for you. I did not even think that perhaps there might be other options. Like a love match, for example.”
“A love match?” she echoed. “Pardon me but I am quite confused by all of this. Where is this coming from?”
Vincent propped one leg over the other. “You should know that another gentleman has asked me for your hand in marriage. And this gentleman claims to be truly in love with you.”
“Surely you jest!”
Vincent chuckled, clearly taken aback by her surprise. Lavender couldn’t even smile back. She watched as her brother nodded. “I was quite shocked as well. And then I began to wonder if perhaps it would have been better if you married someone who actually loved you, even if you do not feel the same way about them.”
