“I beg your pardon?” Her head was beginning to spin once more from Lord Danvers’s unexpected offensive.
“What are you willing to do for emancipation from my guardianship?”
A great deal, was her immediate thought. “Why?”
“I cannot renounce my responsibility for you, but I can have my solicitor draw up a legal document granting you complete control over your own affairs. For you and your sisters.”
“To what end?”
“To provide me a legitimate opportunity to court you.”
“To court me? Why the devil would you want to court me? I already told you I won’t marry you under any circumstances.”
“I want the chance to change your mind. If I cannot persuade you to accept me for your husband in say, a month, I will give all three of you your freedom and make you legally and financially independent of my guardianship. Close your mouth, sweeting,” the earl added when she stood there staring at him. “You are much too lovely to be gaping like a landed fish.”
Arabella complied, even though she felt completely out of her depth. “Let me see if I understand your wager, my lord. You will give us our freedom if I can resist your ‘persuasion’?”
“Precisely.”
“You have an astounding faith in your powers of seduction.”
His mouth curved. “You could put it that way. In exchange, you must allow me to woo you properly. And if you cannot resist me-if I can make you admit you want me for your husband-then you will have to marry me.”
The arrogance of the man, thinking he could seduce her into accepting his offer of marriage! He wouldn’t be able to…surely.
When she hesitated, Lord Danvers shook his head sadly. “I never expected you to turn craven. You’re afraid I will win the wager.”
He was purposely goading her again, she realized. “I am not afraid!” Arabella insisted. At least not much. She might be susceptible to his stunning kisses, but there was little risk she would ever want him for her husband, for she planned never to marry. “You won’t win, my lord.”
“Then you should have no trouble agreeing. After all, I am offering you the chance to gain exactly what you say you want most. Your independence.”
“Very well, I will take your blasted wager!”
The glimmer in his eyes indicated his satisfaction and pleasure, which made Arabella almost regret her capitulation. She had let him provoke her into accepting his challenge, despite the danger of her fierce attraction to him.
And yet the stakes were irresistible: Not only could she ensure financial security for her sisters, but they could be rid of the earl’s unwanted guardianship for good. He would no longer be a threat to their independence. He would have no right to try to marry them off, or to force them to give up their positions at the academy.
No, truthfully, Arabella reflected, she was utterly delighted for the opportunity to win their freedom.
An entire month was out of the question, however. She was not that confident she could resist the earl’s determined seduction for so long-not that she would ever admit her doubts to him.
“However,” Arabella qualified, “the duration of the wager must be shorter. Two weeks, no more. I couldn’t endure your impossible arrogance any longer.”
Lord Danvers hesitated the briefest instant before saying, “Done. You drive a hard bargain, sweetheart.”
“I must be utterly mad,” Arabella muttered.
“No more so than I,” he said amiably. “As long as we are discussing terms, I must insist on a sporting chance to win. You will agree to spend time in my company regularly, no less than four hours each day. And it must be at a time of my choosing.”
Arabella frowned. “It cannot interfere with my teaching duties.”
“Fair enough. I will order my bags packed for an extended visit and brought to Danvers Hall from London.”
It unsettled Arabella to realize Lord Danvers intended to stay at the estate for a fortnight or longer, even though his ownership gave him every right. She quickly shook her head. “You cannot remain at the Hall when I am unchaperoned. You are no blood relation, even if you are our guardian.”
“You should have thought of that,” he replied wryly, “before you sent your sisters into hiding.”
She eyed him with exasperation. “If you insist on living there, I will take refuge with Lady Freemantle.”
The earl raised a black eyebrow. “Is that where you’ve concealed your sisters?” When she declined to answer, he shrugged. “We will have an army of servants to play duenna. My staying there might offend the highest sticklers, but it shouldn’t put your reputation at any real risk.”
“True,” she said, striving to repress the edge of bitterness in her voice. Her reputation was already tainted beyond redemption because of her parents’ scandals, so it was pointless to question the propriety of her new guardian living in the same manor house with only a servant staff for chaperones. Besides, if she never planned to marry, it wouldn’t matter if her reputation was not entirely spotless, although she couldn’t afford a genuine scandal. She had her academy to think of, after all.
Yet she had no doubt her pupils’ parents would be awed at her claiming such an illustrious connection as the Earl of Danvers. They wouldn’t look too closely at his living arrangements. Nor were the lower classes nearly as judgmental as the gentry, who considered themselves strict arbiters of society.
“You could always bring your sisters home,” his lordship suggested in prodding tones.
The notion had already occurred to Arabella. Her sisters’ presence would offer her more protection from the devilish earl-but then who would protect her sisters from his machinations?
“I am not that desperate,” she said sweetly.
He studied her thoughtfully. “Perhaps it’s good that your sisters are away. It will allow us more opportunity to be alone together for our courtship.”
The thought discomfited her for a moment, but then Arabella squared her shoulders. She ought to be able to handle Lord Danvers for two weeks. She had every intention of winning his blasted wager.
He must have read the determination in her eyes, for he smiled. “I suspect our wager will prove enjoyable to us both.”
To you perhaps, Arabella thought in vexation. No doubt it would be a diverting game for him, trying to make her desire him for a husband.
But perhaps she could play his game, as well…
She was contemplating that intriguing possibility when the earl suddenly changed tacks again. “Come here, Arabella,” he murmured, his voice beguiling.
Instinctively, she resisted. “Why?”
“Because I intend to claim another kiss to seal our pact.” When she stood stock-still, he prodded gently, “You agreed to let me woo you, remember?”
“I did not agree to let you kiss me.”
“But kissing is part of wooing.”
“Your sort of kisses are not! No proper suitor kisses the way you do.”
The laughter lurking in his eyes was irresistible. “I don’t mean to assault you again, I promise. I had in mind something much more pleasurable.” His voice was warm, teasing, more seductive than it had any right to be. “Come now, a simple kiss, nothing more. I won’t even embrace you. You have my word.”
But still Arabella hesitated. He had the most sensual, unsettling gaze of any man she had ever met, and it was supremely dangerous to go anywhere near him. “How can I trust you won’t take advantage of me?”
“If I try, I give you leave to darken my daylights.”
“I will, you may be certain of it.”
“I consider myself duly warned. Now, stop being so missish. It’s entirely beneath you.”
His lazy, provocative grin made Arabella’s pulse quicken alarmingly. She couldn’t believe she had let herself be lured into this perilous situation. How was she supposed to resist so charming a rogue?
“Arabella…” he said leadingly.
She forced her feet to move until she stood a few steps from him. His eyes were locked on hers; she couldn’t think.