She was dizzy. Her knees buckled, and she would have slipped to his feet had he not gripped her so powerfully against his hard body. She needed air, she needed time to think, to step away. Her hands came to his chest and she pushed.
Being the gentleman that he was, Hunt released her and moved back, but kept her lightly in his hold. “What’s wrong?”
“I need time to think, Hunt. Marriage is a serious business. I truly don’t believe you would be happy married to me. If you’re not happy, then I won’t be happy. We could spend the rest of our lives making each other miserable.”
He released her and took her hand, moving them to a small table against the balustrade. After pulling out a chair for her and settling across from her, he took her hands and covered them with his, resting them on the table. “I had planned to marry this year.”
She grinned. “Not me.”
“You must marry sometime, Diana. You were not made for spinsterhood. You are a warm, loving woman. You would make a wonderful mother.”
“And a wife?” Her smile dissolved. “That might be so, but I would have favored being courted and escorted to the theater and balls, and museums. I would have preferred to have a man on bended knee asking for my hand.”
He lifted their joint hands. “I have your hand.”
She pulled it back and laughed. “Not yet.”
“Very well. We will continue to have everyone believe we are betrothed. However, I will court you. If after a few weeks you decide we will not suit, we will quietly announce we have changed our minds and go our merry ways.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Do you think that would work?”
“We will make it work. I have no doubt that we will suit, but I want you to be sure.”
She shook her head. “What I am sure about, my lord, is that you must have had way too much brandy before you headed to the library to meet me.” She tilted her head and looked him in the eye. “And I don’t believe it has yet worn off.”
13
“Melrose, eh?” Sir Phillip DuBois-Gifford stood straight, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared out the window of his office, facing nothing but a gray sky, drizzles of rain and a near-crumbling building across the way.
“Yes, sir,” Hunt said, sitting on a chair in front of the man’s desk that seemed ready to collapse under his weight. “There is a possibility we were incorrect, but I saw no reason for a footman to be meeting with a lord in a bookstore.”
DuBois-Gifford swung around. “We? Was someone with you at the time?”
“Yes, sir. I was accompanied by my betrothed at the time.”
“Betrothed? When did this happen, Huntington?”
Hunt shifted, not comfortable with the look Sir Phillip cast in his direction. “Actually, sir, Lady Diana and I became engaged at the house party.”
“Lady Diana Pemberton? Rockingham’s daughter?”
“Yes, sir. Is there a problem here?” He might as well face whatever the man’s concern was immediately.
He studied Hunt with a piercing look that reminded him of his tutors in school when he fell behind in his work. “Is she not the young lady who has barely escaped several scandals? Did she not retire to Italy for a year due to some debacle?”
Hunt being surprised by Sir Phillip’s knowledge of Diana’s escapades was utter foolishness on his part. No one did the sort of work the man did and directed others to do without knowing just about everything about everyone.
Hunt lowered his voice, trying hard to keep the anger in check at Sir Phillip’s words. If the man used the term Lady Trouble, Hunt might be driven to flatten him. “Lady Diana did spend about a year in Italy visiting her mother’s family.”
To Hunt’s relief, DuBois-Gifford waved it off and moved to his chair behind his desk. “I will need some documentation to connect Melrose to this movement.”
“What information have you already?” Hunt asked.
“About five years ago, a woman by the name of Miss Charlotte Wilson started an anarchist newsletter, humorously entitled Freedom. We have reason to believe she has more than enough followers to actually stage a good attempt to overthrow the government.”
Hunt blew out a low whistle.
“Miss Wilson has been favoring a violent revolution, and I’m afraid she has more than one man of high power on her side.”