Yet now that he knew that she had not only considered wedding him, but she expected it, his entire perspective changed. Marriage with Katherine? It would never be dull, that was for certain, and there would be definite advantages to having her permanently in his life.
His chest swelled with pride at the very thought of her wanting to be his wife. He hadn’t thought she wanted to remarry after her disastrous first marriage, and he was oddly touched by her sentimentality. She must love him to wish to marry him! The beautiful and sophisticated Lady Katherine Vickers was in love with him and wanted to be his wife! It was like a miracle.
She wanted him.
The novel notion set his heart to pounding. He felt almost giddy with excitement.
“Phillip, would you please stop smiling like an idiot and answer me?”
He blinked in surprise at his mother, who glared at him. She was clearly unhappy with the situation, but at least she was no longer crying and blaming herself. He could not conscience that.
“Forgive me. What did you say?” he questioned, still a bit bemused.
“I asked if you were planning to marry that woman.” Her delicate eyebrows furrowed with worry and disbelief. “Is it true?”
Phillip knew the easiest, and safest, course of action was to tell his mother that the rumor wasn’t true. That Katherine had been speaking out of turn. That this was the first he’d even heard of it. But suddenly he wanted the rumor to be true. He loved the idea of Lady Katherine Vickers loving him and wanting to be his wife. And he couldn’t wait to talk to her about it.
The carriage came to a stop in front of Devon House.
“What if it is true?” he asked with a careless shrug. “Would that be so terrible?”
“Oh, Phillip! You can’t be serious! She will ruin you, humiliate you, and break your heart. She would never be faithful to you nor would she be a fit mother. You can’t wish to tie yourself to a woman like that!”
There was some validity to her words. There was no denying that. But he didn’t wish to acknowledge her accuracy. He was too annoyed with her.
“Perhaps I do.”
A groom, dressed in the Devon House livery, opened the carriage door to help his mother down. Ignoring her irate and astonished expression, Phillip watched her enter the house and then instructed the driver to continue on.
He certainly wasn’t going home tonight.
5
The Writing on the Wall
“Have you seen the latest American heiress to grace our fair city?” Edward Ainsworth asked as he adjusted his black cravat and smoothed his blond hair.
Phillip Sinclair sipped a glass of scotch as his eyes scanned the ballroom. “Can’t say that I have.”
He wasn’t terribly interested in wealthy American girls looking to marry into the British aristocracy. There’d been such a slew of them lately. No, he had his eyes on a far more seductive prize than an American debutante on the prowl for an Englishman with a title.
He was searching for Lady Katherine Vickers. After that dreadful scene with his mother earlier that afternoon, he’d gone to see Katherine, but she hadn’t been home. Phillip left word with Katherine’s butler that he’d see her this evening at the Braithwaites’ ball. But as he glanced around the grand ballroom yet again, he still had not found her among the throng of elegantly attired guests.
“Well, everyone has been buzzing about this Miss Remington. She’s a real stunner too. And worth millions in oil, I hear. I must admit that I wouldn’t mind lining my pockets with all those American dollars, while having a woman like that warm my bed at night.” With a knowing look, Edward Ainsworth motioned toward the far end of the ballroom.
Phillip idly turned his gaze to see a true beauty.
Miss Remington stood almost regally among a throng of admiring males. In a gorgeous gown of pale pink silk with black lace accents on the edges, she stood out from all the other debutantes. But the gown wasn’t the reason no one could take their eyes from her.
It was the way she carried herself. The sumptuous gown was a mere accent to her slim and shapely figure and flawless ivory complexion. Thick, lustrous hair, the color of chestnut, was styled in curls upon her head, exposing the graceful curve of her neck. Her face was incredibly beautiful, from the tilt of her elegant little nose to the determined point of her sweet chin. Wide blue eyes, fringed with thick lashes, danced with merriment, and the hint of a smile played around her luscious lips. Those lips . . . those eyes...
He’d most definitely seen them before. Earlier that day in fact.
At his mother’s bookshop.
Phillip grinned in satisfaction. He was correct. The pretty girl he had shamelessly flirted with earlier that afternoon was an American. And apparently, an heiress. Not that that mattered to him. Unlike some of his friends, Phillip’s father kept the family estate not only solvent, but also very profitable. Phillip had no need to marry for money.
Still, he was intrigued by the girl who had rebuffed him so carelessly in the bookshop. He liked that she wasn’t in awe of his status when most people fawned all over him. In fact, she most likely had no knowledge of who he was. But she would learn in due time.
What had those children called her? Mer . . . Merry? Merry! That was it! So the beautiful heiress over there was Miss Merry Remington from the United States. And as his friend had remarked, she was, indeed, quite a stunner.
The woman would have no lack of admirers, either, broke or not. Some lucky man would snap her up right away. She’d be married off in a matter of weeks.
An odd sensation pulled at his chest at the thought of her being married. Startled, he shook off the feeling and remarked to Edward, “Yes, she’s quite the catch.”
“I’m going to make an offer for her.”
“You haven’t even met her!” Phillip exclaimed after laughing at his friend. “You know nothing about her, Ainsworth. She could be a dreadful harridan.”
Even though Phillip instinctively knew she wasn’t, simply from their brief encounter in the bookshop, he unexpectedly bristled at his friend’s careless perusal of her.
“Doesn’t matter. With that beautiful face and body and all that money . . . She could be a witch, and I wouldn’t care.” Edward Ainsworth, already tall and lanky, stood straighter as he spoke. “Let’s go wrangle an introduction. There’s no time to lose. I already see our old chum Wilkerson sniffing around her. We can’t have that now. She deserves far better than the likes of him.”
Phillip followed after his friend, intrigued by the thought of formally meeting the bookshop girl. As they drew closer to the beautiful American and the group surrounding her, Edward sidled right up to one of the two matrons who watched over the girl like a hawk. Phillip vaguely recognized the older, stouter one.
“Good evening, Lady Eastwood.” Edward bowed in deference to the rather plump woman.
“Good
