To Wed a Rake(5)

&##x2dth="1ex201C;It’s been three years,” Emma said, feeling a mild astonishment at the fact. She was so comfortable living as she was that she tended to forget her fiancé’s existence. “I was so glad not to hear from him during Mama’s illness, since I had no wish to leave her, that I haven’t taken close account. But he has been in mourning for his brother, you know.”

“Mourning!” Bethany shrieked. “From all accounts, he took himself to Paris and enjoyed himself there so much that he had to fight at least two duels with outraged husbands. And the only reason he wasn’t challenged much more often was because he’s so skilled with the short sword. He told the Prince of Wales, in front of a large group, that he had drunk so much wine every night that he wouldn’t remember if he had had an affair with the Empress Josephine herself.”

Emma laughed. “A formidable amount of wine must have been called for to reach such a state.”

Bethany scowled at her. “A disgrace! That man is a disgrace! You are a disgrace to let him behave thus! He hasn’t even come here to apologize for those remarks of last week, has he? The churlishness of it! Obviously Kerr already sees you as a dismal crow on the side of the ballroom.”

“The truth is, Bethany, we hardly know each other. I doubt we’ve met more than three times. Well, four, if you count his brother’s funeral. Perhaps the man resents his father’s actions in kitting him up with an infant bride.”

Bethany snorted. “He shouldn’t be such a fool. It’s an excellent match, with nothing against it but his own lackluster character and your placid acceptance of his neglect.”

Emma felt her temper rising. “And just what do you propose that I should have done? I spent three years nursing Mama, as you well know. When she died, should I have rushed to London and tracked the man down like an errant child who has missed his supper?”

“Of course,” Bethany said. “Women must needs think of matrimony, because men have no inclination to it. What possible incentive has the man to bring himself to the altar? He doesn’t need your inheritance, he clearly feels no need for an heir, and he’s fully occupied by flirting with every woman with a French lisp and a glad eye!”

“Distasteful,” Emma said, pressing her lips together.

“All men are distasteful by nature,” Bethany said with a wave of her hand. “Women are only distasteful if they wither into old age without a husband at their side.”

“Marriage has made you unaccountably vulgar,” Emma observed.

Bethany raised her chin. “It’s my duty as your sister to call a spade a spade. I mean to speak to Father as well.”

Emma laughed shortly. “Good luck with that. He’s recently discovered that a flightless bird has been observed in the Galāpagos Islands. I believe it’s a cassowary, or cassolary, or some such. He has hardly surfaced from his study in days, except for breakfast.”

Her little sister chewed her lip for a second. Then she said, “We can’t bicker over this, Emma. It’s too important.”

“I’m not worried about marriage. I have always had faith that Kerr would fulfill the terms of our engagement. I don’t know him well, but I would swear that he is an honorable man. In fact, I would guess that he is trying to drive me into terminating the arrangement as a sort of honorable escape.”

“Whether Kerr would eventually announce his intention to marry is irrelevantr is irrel. His rudeness necessitates that you find a new spouse. You cannot marry a man who speaks of you in such terms and without even a hint of apology!”

Emma could see that her little sister was fairly pulsating with anxiety. “I shall not become an old maid,” she said cheerfully. “I’m not beyond my last prayers yet, you know.” She smiled over her teacup. “If you’re looking for an appealing display of modesty here, my dear, you won’t find it. I have avoided London from disinclination, never due to fear of the competition.”

“Well, I know that,” Bethany said, eyeing her sister. Emma didn’t look decayed, by any interpretation of the word. No crow ever had copper-colored hair swept into an elegant knot from which a few curls tumbled onto creamy shoulders. Even a little sister could see her eyes had an erotic tilt to them. “You’re too beautiful and funny to become an ape leader.”

“As I said, I’m not worried,” Emma said with a trace of impatience. “I’m disappointed that Kerr has made himself persona non grata, but if it’s a challenge to find a husband at my age, all the better! I’ve never been one to shrink from a contest, have I?”