Seducing the Spinster Read online

  Though she obviously understood that he’d meant to rebuke her, Emma smiled. “Well, no wonder you collect Egyptian artifacts. Everyone needs a little something exotic in their lives. I’d love to see your collection.”

  Jane gasped audibly at Emma’s forward behavior, but Julian merely chuckled and gave her a covert wink. He liked this girl.

  Michael looked slightly stunned, as though he had no idea what to make of her. “I keep my artifacts in the country, at Sherbourne Hall, but perhaps something can be arranged.” He took a deep breath, as though girding himself for something unpleasant. “In the meantime, would you allow me to call on you? At your earliest convenience?”

  “Of course, you may call upon me,” Miss Marks replied graciously. “I’d be delighted.”

  “Excellent. You may expect me tomorrow morning.” Bowing stiffly, Sherbourne turned and left their box.

  Julian smiled and shrugged. “What can I say, Miss Marks? He’s an acquired taste.” Hoping Michael hadn’t ruined his chances with the heiress, he finally turned his entire attention to Jane “It was a pleasure to see you again, Lady Jane. You’ve been absent from Society for far too long.”

  Jane stared at him without comment, still unruffled, giving nothing of her feelings away.

  He met her gaze for a long moment, remembering the trick he had up his sleeve, surprisingly happy to be in her sweet, calming presence again after so long apart.

  Why didn’t I stay for her father’s funeral? She needed me, and I failed her. I can’t believe she isn’t ordering me to leave.

  Determined to keep things light, he laughed and produced a single red rose with a quick flick of his wrist. His older brother Nathanial had taught him the trick before he’d died, and for some reason, tonight he’d hidden the rose in his jacket with the intention of performing it for some lovely lady. He’d just never expected that lady to be Jane.

  “Oh, Julian.” Jane’s mask finally fell, and she accepted the rose, sudden tears filling her eyes. “It’s beautiful.”

  He stared down at her, wanting to tell her that she was lovelier than any rose could ever be, but he knew he’d lost his chance to whisper sweet words to her. Suddenly, he regretted the rose trick. This was Jane. She wasn’t like all his other conquests, not merely a game to be won. In fact, she was the only woman he’d ever loved. And as he gazed into her blue eyes, he wondered if he’d ever really gotten over her. Swallowing thickly, he whirled and left the box.

  His mind racing and heart aching, he hurried after Michael, who seemed determined to leave the theater entirely. Bloody hell. He’d never expected seeing Jane again to resurrect all those old feelings for her he’d thought long dead. But now that he’d seen her, now that he knew what had happened to her, how could he possibly ignore the fact that he was largely to blame for her reduced circumstances? She should have been his wife...

  He finally caught up to Michael on the bustling street outside. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about,” he commented, hoping to take his mind off of Jane. “I find Miss Marks quite refreshing.”

  Michael threw him an exasperated glance. “If you like her so much, why don’t you marry her?”

  Julian chuckled openly. “Because I don’t need her dowry, my friend. And I haven’t any relatives breathing down my neck, insisting I breed an heir. Besides, if I married her, what would you do? There aren’t any other heiresses of her ilk this season.”

  “I’m aware of that. Otherwise, I certainly wouldn’t be considering an American,” Michael snapped.

  “American or not, she’s one of the most exotically beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen.” Julian raised one brow. “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”

  “I prefer my women blonde and biddable,” Michael replied, still angry.

  “Blonde and biddable?” Julian scoffed. “You’d be bored to death in a month.” He shook his head. “If you ask me, I think your brother has the right idea. I don’t intend to wed until I find someone who makes me feel the way Dylan feels about Lady Natalia.”

  Michael gave him a disbelieving glance as Julian motioned for his driver to bring up the coach. “You can’t mean never to marry. What about your title? Surely, you don’t want your wastrel of a brother to inherit it?”

  “I don’t give a damn about my title,” Julian replied bitterly. “It’s brought me nothing but misfortune. Ethan is welcome to it, though I doubt he’d want it either.”

  Julian’s luxurious coach arrived, and they climbed in. He gave a sharp rap on the roof to signal they were ready to leave.

  As the lumbering vehicle moved through the crowded streets of Mayfair, they both settled against the blue velvet cushions.

  Having inherited his title and lucrative estates at a very young age, Julian had never had to deal with the sort of pressure Michael did. The viscount’s wastrel of a father was gambling their earldom into the ground while constantly pressuring Michael to wed an heiress to cover his losses. Julian’s own parents had been dead for nearly a decade now, and the title had always seemed like more of a burden than a blessing. It should have been Nathaniel’s, not his, and he was reminded of that fact every day.

  He met Michael’s icy gaze and gave him a sympathetic smile. “Sorry. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you. I’ll try to keep my jests to a minimum.”

  Michael managed a tight smile in return. “I do appreciate the introduction. I’d been at a loss on how to arrange it.”

  “Think nothing of it,” Julian said lightly.

  They both became lost in their separate thoughts of the women they’d just left. At least, Julian assumed Michael was thinking about Miss Marks. For his part, he couldn’t get Jane out of his mind. When he’d heard that she had let out her house and was sponsoring the American girl this Season, he’d been upset by the news, but now that he’d actually seen her again, he didn’t know how he could continue to ignore the situation.

  “I’ve known Jane since we were children. Although never official, there was always an understanding we would wed. I’ve always been ashamed of myself for not proposing after her father died.” As the words left his lips, Julian realized how badly this had been weighing on him, how much he’d needed to talk about it.

  “I’d forgotten all about that.” Michael offered him a sympathetic glance, seeming glad for the distraction. “It’s not your fault the marquess had a gambling problem. No one expected you to marry the girl without a dowry.”

  “You don’t understand. I treated her quite badly, simply walked away and never looked back.” Julian winced as he thought of the tears she’d shed that last day that he’d seen her. How many more had she shed because of him? “Perhaps I should arrange an anonymous bequest. I don’t want her to have to spend the rest of her life pandering to rich Americans.”

  Michael braced himself as the coach bounced over a deep rut. “You’re not the heartless rake you pretend to be.”

  “And you’re not the staid, joyless paragon you pretend either,” Julian retorted. “Come on, old man, admit it. Miss Marks is exactly what you need to make life interesting.”

  “I admit no such thing,” Michael countered, obviously aghast at the very thought.

  Julian sighed, turning away to look out the window once again. Now that he truly understood Jane’s circumstances, he couldn’t ignore them. And now that he’d seen her again, he couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t been his first—his only—love.

  She was certainly the only person in his entire life who’d ever truly loved him.

  WHEN JANE ARRIVED HOME from the theater, she bid Emma goodnight and then hurried up to the sanctuary of her bedroom. She carefully placed the rose Julian had given her in a vase on her dresser then sank down on her bed and stared at it, overwhelmed with riotous emotion.

  How dare he!

  For seven years, she’d mourned his loss. She’d watched him across crowded ballrooms as he’d flirted and danced with eligible young ladies without a care in the world. As though he’d never told he
r that he loved her, that she was his best friend, that he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her. He’d made her promises, then broken them recklessly.

  Then tonight, out of the blue, he’d decided to impose upon that old friendship. He’d told her that he was glad she’d returned to Society, when she’d never left it. Apparently, he hadn’t been avoiding her at all those balls and soirees, he just hadn’t even noticed that she was there, which was even more insulting! And then, he’d made that stupid silly romantic gesture, gifting her with the rose... and she’d somehow fallen for him all over again. Why did he still have to be so devastatingly handsome? He’d still been a lanky lad in some ways the last time they’d spoken, but now he had the power and grace of a jungle cat. His black hair had gleamed in the candlelight, and she’d wanted to run her fingers through it. His dark eyes still saw too much, holding a deep sadness she wanted to somehow soothe.

  I’m such a fool.

  She blinked back a rush of tears, furious, confused, and heartsick. How could she still feel something for that notorious womanizer, after everything he’d done to her? She should have refused to make the introductions, given him the cut direct. But she’d needed Emma to meet Lord Sherbourne, so she’d swallowed back the first rush of dismay upon seeing him, only to be taken in by his charm once more.

  Now, she had a very bad feeling that Emma and Sherbourne’s courtship would entail that she and Julian would be forced to see each other again. How would she bear it?

  She loved Emma, but she hated the dire financial straits that had required her to open her home and call upon all her social contacts to launch the beautiful American into the ton.

  Ever since her father’s death, she’d managed to hold on to her house and her small staff by being incredibly frugal and making a series of investments with her meager inheritance. But she’d only been able to make it last for so long, and last year, she’d been forced to look for other ways to support herself. Last Season, she’d rented her house out to one of her cousins, who’d allowed her to stay there as well. But she didn’t care for him or his wife, who had been unrelentingly condescending and treated her as though she were an unpaid servant, constantly finding faulting and demanding things be changed.

  This spring, Jane had started selling a few of the countless pieces of artwork that graced her home. She’d chosen things she didn’t particularly care for anyway, but she feared the day when she’d be living in an empty shell, every beautiful thing her family had spent generations collecting sold to keep her from having to sell the house itself.

  Then she’d received a letter from Emma’s mother, who’d been told that Jane was a lady of spotless reputation and sterling character. She’d begged Jane to launch Emma into society and offered her a staggering amount of money to do so. Enough to keep her finances healthy for another decade, at least. She’d had no choice but to accept the strange proposal.

  Despite her spotless reputation, she knew people were looking down their noses at her for her desperate attempts to save herself. Worse yet, they probably felt sorry for her, which was even more deplorable. She couldn’t stand the thought of anyone pitying her.

  If Emma managed to marry Viscount Sherbourne, Jane would probably make it through this for the most part unscathed, because Emma would take her own place in society, and the ton would have to accept her. But if Emma did anything to bring scandal down upon herself, Jane knew she’d be painted with the same brush.

  For that reason, it was incredibly important Emma marry Lord Sherbourne. If that meant that Jane had to deal with Julian Tremaine for the next few months, then she was going to have to find a way to endure it. Surely, he’d soon grow tired of trying to pretend that there was still anything between them.

  In fact, the more that she thought about it, the less likely it seemed that he’d continue to put himself in close proximity to her. She had to accompany Emma on all her outings, but there was no reason that Julian had to accompany Sherbourne.

  Feeling slightly better, she started to undress for bed, forcing herself to put all thoughts of Julian out of her head. She refused to entertain the possibility that tonight had changed anything between them. He’d already broken her heart once.

  She’d be the worst kind of fool to give him the chance to do it again.

  Chapter Two

  The next morning, while Jane was dressing for the day, her ladies’ maid informed her that Viscount Sherbourne had come to call upon Emma. Jane frowned, wondering why Emma hadn’t immediately alerted her. As Emma’s companion and chaperone, it was her duty to make sure nothing untoward happened between the courting couple. Giving herself one last look in the mirror, she noted that by piling her hair in a tight chignon and donning a steel-gray morning gown that did not flatter her in the least, she’d managed to age herself dramatically.

  The emotional upheaval of her interaction with Basingstoke last night had shown her that she could no longer pretend that she had any prospects whatsoever. She was twenty-five years old, and no knight in shining armor was coming to save her. She’d never be a wife or mother. The sooner she came to terms with her spinster status, the better.

  Her tumbling thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she entered the drawing room and caught sight of Emma. Her charge reclined upon a sofa wearing nothing but a purple satin robe, her lovely dark hair streaming around her slim shoulders. Jane was so stunned that for a moment she couldn’t even speak. This was bad. So very bad. She saw her reputation—the only thing she really had left— going down in flames along with Emma’s. What had the girl been thinking? Had she lost her mind?

  “Good God, Emma,” she finally managed. “Please tell me you didn’t receive Viscount Sherbourne in your dressing gown. Whatever must he think of you?”

  Emma grinned, seeming very pleased with herself. “He thinks I’m a little better than a whore. But he wants to marry me anyway.”

  The lecture on propriety died on Jane’s lips. “Sherbourne proposed?” Relief poured through her, and she raced across the room to give her young friend an exuberant hug. “Oh, Emma. How wonderful. He’s exactly what you’ve been looking for.”

  Despite Emma’s beauty and obscenely large dowry, finding her quality suitors had proved quite the challenge. Her brash, bubbly personality had proved too much for most titled gentlemen, who wanted meek and biddable wives.

  “Yes. He’s absolutely perfect.” Despite her brazen behavior, Emma seemed brittle in Jane’s embrace, obviously not as confident about the entire matter as she wanted Jane to think. “Sherbourne needs my dowry desperately.” Emma ducked out of Jane’s embrace. “He didn’t even try to deny it.”

  Jane frowned. “Well, we knew that, of course. But I expected him to propose more gracefully. He should have made more of an effort to court you.” Sherbourne’s actions had been just as disgraceful as Emma’s. What sort of gentleman arrived to propose at such an unreasonably early hour the day after they’d been introduced?

  “He considers his proposal a business arrangement.” Emma bit her lip, finally letting her doubts show. She’d insisted that all she cared about was getting a title, and marrying Sherbourne would eventually make her a countess, but she had to want more from her life than that.

  “Surely, romance will come in time,” Jane tried to reassure her. “I sensed a strong attraction between the two of you.”

  “He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever met.” Emma shrugged, a sudden smile curving her lips. “Perhaps I will marry your haughty young viscount,” she told Jane conspiratorially. “But I’m not going to give him an answer right away. In fact, I have every intention of making him wonder.”

  Jane forced a laugh, wishing she had even an ounce of Emma’s self-confidence. One did not make a man like Viscount Sherbourne wait! But even though Jane knew the rules and etiquette of polite society, she was wise enough to admit that she knew nothing of how to seduce a man, a knowledge Emma seemed to have been born with.

  “Well, I’m sure you and Sherbourne
will be able to work things out.” Jane fingered the high neckline of her unflattering gown, a surge of sadness overwhelming her. She wanted the best for Emma, but she had to admit that she’d enjoyed having the young woman around. She supposed she could take on another American heiress after Emma left, but then that girl would leave her, too.

  All she’d ever wanted was for someone to love her enough to stay.

  JULIAN WAS SURPRISED when his butler escorted Sherbourne into his study the next afternoon. Sherbourne had never arrived unannounced before As his old friend took a seat on the other side of Julian’s desk, he looked both terrified and excited.

  “I did it,” Sherbourne stated without preamble.

  “Did what?” Julian asked blankly, pushing aside the account books he’d been working on to give his friend his full attention.

  “I proposed to Miss Marks,” Sherbourne replied with a note of exasperation, as though Julian should have known.

  “Miss Marks?” Julian blinked, utterly taken aback. He’d known Sherbourne since they were lads and had never once known the man to do anything so rash. “You mean the girl you just met yesterday?”

  “I decided there was no reason to drag the matter out. If she won’t have me, I’ll have to find someone else.” Sherbourne shrugged uncomfortably. “The creditors are nipping at my heels. I don’t have much time before my father completely ruins us.”

  Julian knew how hard it was for his friend to admit such a thing. Sherbourne was nothing if not prideful. “I had no idea things had gotten this bad. Perhaps I could loan you enough to tide you over?”

  Sherbourne gave him a quelling look. “I appreciate the offer, but I couldn’t possibly take your charity.”

  “Well, think it over,” Julian insisted. “It seems a far better plan than marrying a girl you don’t know the first thing about.”

  Scrubbing a hand across his wan face, Sherbourne managed an uneasy chuckle. “Can I tell you something in the strictest confidence?”