had to do as well as fighting off her importunate suitors.â
âOh, I hardly think you fall into that category, Miss Courland. Indeed, I doubt any man would be brave enough to try to make you do anything you didnât wish to. Anyway, I can hardly throw you out into the snow with nothing but the clothes on your back when youâre known to be a considerable heiress, and one whoâs very fastidious indeed about her suitors.â
She hadnât thought local society took much notice of her or her potential marriage, except to criticise her for acting as her uncleâs steward and refusing to employ a duenna to look down her nose at such a poor example of a lady. She had much to learn about her new occupation of doing very little in a suitably ladylike fashion.
âYouâll be much sought after now that youâre free to be entertained by your neighbours,â he went on as if attempting to reassure her. Roxanne could tell from the glint in his apparently guileless blue eyes that he was secretly enjoying the notion of her struggling to adapt to her new role, and tried not to give him the satisfaction of glowering furiously back. âYouâll have time on your hands enough to visit all of them now, Miss Courland,â he went on smoothly, as if he was trying to be gallant and not utterly infuriating, âand they certainly wish to visit you if the vicar, his wife and their promising son just down from Oxford are anything to do by.â
âIâm glad my uncle taught me to discern a false friend from a true one then,â she replied stalwartly, trying not to let a shiver of apprehension slide down her spine at the very thought of such an existence. âIâve no desire whatsoever to be wed for my money.â
âNor Iâperhaps we should wed one another to avert such a travesty,â he joked, and she felt a dart of the old pain, more intense if anything, and cursed that old infatuation for haunting her still.
âSince thatâs about as likely as black becoming white, I suggest you look elsewhere for a bride, Sir Charles,â she said scornfully.
âIâll settle into my new life before looking about me for a lady brave enough to take me on,â he parried lightly.
Roxanne tried not to be disappointed as he reverted to type and took on the shallow social manners common among the haut ton, at least if her memory of her one uncomfortable Season was anything to go by. Sheâd felt out of place and bored for most of her three months in the capital, and as glad to come home again as Uncle Granger was to see her. Her sister Maria had delighted in that milieu and had worked her way up the social ladder from noble young matron to society hostess, but Roxanne hadnât felt the slightest urge to join her, let alone rival her in any way.
âIndeed?â she replied repressively.
âIâll need to feel my way among local society after usurping a long-established family,â he replied with apparent sincerity, then looked spuriously anxious as he watched her struggle to remain distantly polite. âBut first I insist you find a congenial companion, Miss Courland. No lady of your years and birth can live alone withoutbeing taken advantage of or bringing scandal on herself and her family. If you donât look about you for a chaperone, Iâll do it for you. The local matrons will consider a respectable duenna essential now Iâve come amongst you, and no lone damsel can be considered beyond my villainy, and Iâve my own reputation to think about, after all.â
âYou donât have one, at least not one any lady dares discuss and be received in polite society. As for employing a duenna for me, I have already told you it would be highly improper. Iâd be ostracised if I took one of your choosing,â she said haughtily, her gaze clashing with his.
âI promised your brother Iâd look after you in his stead,â he