“Who told him?” she demanded.
He raised his brows. “You would have preferred him to remain in ignorance of your indebtedness to Lord Ormskirk? Well, I can appreciate that.”
“I should prefer everyone to remain in ignorance of it!” she said hotly. “Am I to understand that Ormskirk took your cousin into his confidence? I must tell you that I find it incredible!”
“No, I apprehend that your friend, Mr Kennet, was the source of my cousin’s information.”
She bit her lip, and was silent for a few moments, a good deal discomfited. When she spoke again, it was with studied lightness. “Well! And if this is so I do not immediately perceive why you should interest yourself in the matter, Mr Ravenscar.”
“I might help you out of your difficulties.”
She suffered from a momentary dread that he was about to make her a dishonourable proposal, and gripped her hands together in her lap. It would not be the first time she had been the recipient of such proposals; she was aware that her position in her aunt’s house laid her open to such attacks, and had never permitted herself to receive them in the tragic manner, rather turning them off with a laugh and a jest, but she found herself desperately hoping that Mr Ravenscar was not going to prove himself to be just like other men. Then she recalled the hard light in his eyes, and felt so sure that whatever his motive might be it was not amorous that she dared to ask: “Why?”
“What would you wish me to reply?” he inquired. “I will endeavour to oblige you, but the truth is that I am no fencer.”
She was by now quite bewildered, and said in as blunt a manner as his own: “I don’t understand you! We met for the first time last night, and I did not suppose that—in short, I fancied that you were much inclined to dislike me, sir! Yet today you tell me that you might help me out of what you call my difficulties!”
“Under certain circumstances, Miss Grantham.”
“Indeed! And what circumstances are these?”
“You must be as well aware of them as I am myself,” he said. “I am perfectly willing to be more explicit, however. I am prepared to recompense you handsomely, ma’am, for whatever disappointment you may suffer from the relinquishment of all pretensions to my cousin’s hand and heart.”
She had been so much in the habit of regarding Lord Mablethorpe’s infatuation for her as an absurdity that this forthright speech fell upon her ears with stunning effect. She was quite unable to speak for several moments. A tumult of emotion swelled her bosom, and her brain seethed with a jumble of thoughts. The deepest chagrin battled with a furious desire to slap Mr Ravenscar’s face, to assure him, without mincing her words, that she would rather die a spinster than marry his cousin, and, after telling him her opinion of his manners, morals, and abysmal stupidity, to demand to be set down instantly. A strong inclination to burst into tears accompanied these more violent ambitions, and was followed almost immediately by a resolve to punish Mr Ravenscar in the most vindictive way open to her, and a perfectly irrational determination to show him that she was every bit as bad as he imagined her to be, if not worse. To relinquish her pretensions, as he had the insolence to call them, to Lord Mablethorpe’s hand and heart for the mere asking, was no way of punishing him. She perceived that she must forgo the pleasure of slapping his face. Overcoming the constriction in her throat, she said, with very tolerable command over her voice: “Pray, what do you think a handsome recompense, Mr Ravenscar?”
“Shall we say five thousand pounds, ma’am?”
She gave a tinkle of rather metallic laughter. “Really, sir, I am afraid you are trying to trifle with me!”
“You rate your claims high,” he said grimly. “Certainly: Your cousin is quite devoted to me.”
“My cousin, Miss Grantham, is a minor.”
“Oh, but not for long!” she said. “I am not impatient: I can afford to wait for two months, I assure you.”
“Very well,” he said. “I do not choose to haggle with you, ma’am. I will give you exactly double that sum for my cousin’s release.”
She leaned back in the curricle, very much at her ease, schooling her lips to smile. Mr Ravenscar observed the smile, but failed to notice the dangerous glitter in the lady’s eyes. “Paltry, Mr Ravenscar,” she said gently.
“Come, Miss Grantham, that won’t serve! You will get not a penny more out of me, so let us waste no time in haggling!”
“But only consider, sir!” said Miss Grantham, smoothing her lemon kid gloves over her wrists. “You would remove from my grasp at one stroke a fortune and a title!”
“Rest assured, ma’am, that there is not the slightest possibility of your enjoying the possession of that particular fortune or title!” said Ravenscar unpleasantly.
“My dear sir, you underrate my intelligence, believe me!” said Miss Grantham, softly chiding. “You would not have offered me money had it been possible to detach Adrian from me by any other means. You are quite in my power, you know.”
“If you refuse my terms, you will discover your mistake!” said Ravenscar, anger hardening his voice.
“Nonsense!” said Miss Grantham coolly. “Do, I beg of you, be reasonable, sir! You cannot, I am persuaded, think me so big a fool as to let such an advantageous marriage slip through my fingers for the sake of a mere ten thousand pounds!”
“How old are you?” he demanded.
“I am twenty-five, Mr Ravenscar.”
“You would do well to accept my offer. Nothing but unhappiness could be the sequel to your marriage with a boy barely out of his tutor’s hands. Think this over carefully, Miss Grantham! Adrian’s calf-love will not endure, I assure you.”
“It is very possible,” she acknowledged. “But I do not anticipate that it will wane within the next two months. I shall be at such pains, you see, to keep it alive.”
She had the satisfaction of knowing that she had succeeded in putting him in a rage. A muscle twitched at the corner of his mouth; she thought the expression in his eyes quite murderous, and wondered indeed if her body would be found in some secluded corner of the Park one day.
“Let me make it plain to you, Miss Grantham, since you will have it, that there is nothing I will not do to prevent my cousin’s marrying a woman of your order!”
She gave a gasp, but rallied enough to retort: “Very fine talking, Mr Ravenscar! In fact, there is nothing you can do.”
“You will see, ma’am!”
She yawned. “I protest, you are unreasonable, sir! Pray, what is to become of me if I whistle your cousin down the wind? I have made up my mind to it that it is time I became eligibly settled in the world.”
“As to eligibility, ma’am,” said Ravenscar, through his teeth, “I apprehend that Ormskirk has plans for your future which should answer the purpose admirably!”
The palm of Miss Grantham’s hand itched again to hit him, and it was with an immense effort of will that she forced herself to refrain. She replied with scarcely a tremor to betray her indignation, “But even you must realize, sir, that Lord Ormskirk’s obliging offer is not to be thought of beside your cousin’s proposal. I declare, I have a great fancy to become Lady Mablethorpe.”
“I don’t doubt it!” he said harshly. “By God, if I had my way, women of your stamp should be whipped at the cart’s tail!”
“Why, how fierce you are!” she marvelled. “And all because I have a desire to turn respectable! I dare say I shall make Adrian a famous wife.”
“A wife out of a gaming-house!” he ejaculated. “One of faro’s daughters! You forget, ma’am, that I have been privileged to observe you in your proper milieu! Do you imagine that I will permit the young fool to ruin himself by marriage with you? You’ll learn to know me better!”
She shrugged. “This is mere ranting, Mr Ravenscar. It would be well if you learned to know me better.”
“God forbid!” he said with a snap. “I have learnt enough this morning to assure me that no greater disaster could befall my cousin than to find himself tied to you!”