The Wife Campaign. Regina Scott

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      Chapter Two

      Ruby was equally certain she would do no more than survive the fortnight as she and her maid were escorted to a lovely room overlooking the river. She’d tried to convince her father to return to London, but he’d refused, having Davis turn the coach once more and take them back to the Lodge, a quaint stone building tucked between the river and the rising hills.

      Her father seemed even more certain than before that Lord Danning was part of some plan God had for her. After all, the earl had been waiting for her when she’d jumped from the coach. She didn’t believe God worked that way. God’s plans involved momentous things—war and peace, sun and rain and stars falling. Surely He wouldn’t intervene in the life of one Ruby Hollingsford.

      Besides, she could take care of herself. She had her future all planned—good works, good books, a drive through the park and the opera on occasion. She didn’t need the unreliable companionship of a husband.

      Hadn’t she managed in London alone when she’d been a child and her father had worked as a mudlark, scouring the banks of the Thames for treasure? After their wealth was established, hadn’t she endured the four years of tutelage at the Barnsley School for Young Ladies, where half the students shunned her because of her past? Wasn’t she spearheading the creation of a school in poverty-stricken Wapping? Hadn’t she survived when the one man she thought she might love turned out to be a scoundrel? The Earl of Danning would find her made of stronger stuff than the dewy-eyed Society damsels he probably courted.

      But it did seem odd that, when she exited her room to try to persuade her father once more, the very first person she saw was the earl standing by the stairs.

      He’d changed into evening clothes. Had he been dressed like that when they’d met, she would have had no doubt he was a member of the aristocracy. The black coat and trousers emphasized his height; the tailoring called attention to his shoulders. Though he did not seem to know he was being observed, he held himself poised, as if posing for a portrait.

      She hadn’t noticed him on the riverbank at first, she’d been so angry at her father’s betrayal. This time she didn’t think he saw her, and for a similar reason. His hands were clasped behind his back in tight fists, and he was gazing down the stairs as if he simply couldn’t force himself to descend.

      She shared the feeling. But why was he so loath to start the house party he’d instigated? And why had he organized the house party at all? He’d said he only wanted to fish. She’d seen the other carriages being unloaded at the door. More people were attending this party than just her and her father. How would having a house full of people allow him time to fish? How would fishing allow him time to court a lady? Was he as big a liar as the other aristocrats she’d had the misfortune to know?

      She considered tiptoeing behind him for the room her father had been given across the corridor, but she thought Lord Danning would probably notice. She wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. She disdained the white muslin gowns young ladies were expected to wear because they made her dark red hair look like some sort of fire beacon. Instead, her evening dress was a smoky gray, with long sleeves wrapped in white lace and a band of the same lace around her neckline and hem. The gown tended to rustle as she moved. So he would either see her or hear her, and she’d be stuck making polite conversation anyway.

      So she decided to start the conversation herself. She walked up to him and nodded in greeting. “It appears I was mistaken, my lord. We meet again.”

      He pulled himself out of his reverie and bowed. “Miss Hollingsford. A pleasure to see you again, particularly as you are not a dead body.”

      Ruby couldn’t help chuckling. “I suppose I deserved that after my remark by the bridge. You may have noticed that I have a temper. I also tend to speak my mind.”

      “Really?” he said, though she could see the twinkle in those purple-blue eyes.

      “Surprising, isn’t it? And given that tendency, allow me to make something clear.” She leaned forward and met him gaze for gaze. “I meant what I said at the river. I’m not here for a proposal.”

      “Excellent,” СКАЧАТЬ