Free Catch a Falling Heiress: An American Heiress in London by Laura Lee Guhrke Page B

Frederick in the pagoda, he had let go of her and was pacing the library. By the time she told of Featherstone’s unexpected arrival, he was biting his thumbnail, and by the time she got to the impending approach of her mother and Mrs. Dewey, she knew his shrewd, businesslike brain was appreciating the possible consequences and coming up with stories to offer the papers. But Featherstone’s marriage proposal must not have figured in Ephraim’s chesslike calculations, for news of it stopped him in his tracks.
    “But I thought you said you don’t even know this man.”
    “I don’t. I’d seen him in the ballroom, that was all. Mother pointed him out to me, but I never spoke to him. And when I went down to the pagoda, I never dreamed—”
    “My God, Lin.” Her father sighed and raked a hand through his silver hair. “My God, do you know what you’ve done?”
    “I didn’t do anything,” she flared. “Why does everyone always blame the woman in circumstances like these?”
    “Maybe because the woman in question put herself in these circumstances by sneaking off to meet with a cad.”
    Those words, coming from the man she’d always adored, felt like a slap across the face, but Linnet strove to maintain her dignity. “Frederick is not the cad in this. His intentions were honorable.”
    “Honorable?” her father echoed in disbelief. “That’s not what I’d call it.”
    “He was there to propose marriage.”
    “This Lord Featherstone had the same intention, apparently. Would you call him honorable, too?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Then what’s the difference?”
    “Featherstone didn’t just propose. He—” She stopped and gave a grimace. “It’s worse than that, I’m afraid.”
    “Tell me the rest. There is nothing you tell me,” he added when she hesitated, “that could be worse than what I’m imagining.”
    “He kissed me.”
    “Kissed you?” Ephraim roared, and Linnet cast another alarmed glance at the closed door.
    “Sssh. Daddy, keep your voice down. Things are bad enough already. If someone overhears—”
    “I’ll kill him,” her father muttered between clenched teeth. “I’ll kill that British, fortune-hunting son of a bitch.”
    Linnet might have been warmed by that show of paternal outrage but for the suspicion that his anger wasn’t solely on her behalf. “Killing Featherstone won’t save my reputation. Mrs. Dewey heard his proposal and saw what he did. No doubt she’s telling everyone in the ballroom all about it right now. The one thing that will stop the scandal is an announcement of my engagement, followed as soon as possible by my wedding.”
    “You’re right, of course.” Her father stepped around her. “Which means there’s no time to lose.”
    “Where are you going?” Linnet turned, watching as he strode toward the door. “What do you intend to do?”
    “I’m going to find Franklin MacKay and tell him what’s happened before he hears it from someone else. You and Davis will have to become engaged right away.”
    “What?” Linnet started across the room after him. “But I’ve already told you I can’t marry Davis.”
    “You don’t have a choice. As you said, you have to marry someone.”
    Desperate, she tried again to dissuade her father from his course. “Franklin MacKay won’t agree to let Davis marry me. Not now. Mr. MacKay has a puritanical sense of respectability.”
    “We’ll soon find out.” Her father paused, hand on the doorknob, and when he looked at her, his smile was grim. “Let’s hope the appeal of profits overcomes his scruples.”
    “But I want to marry Frederick.”
    Her father didn’t argue the point, but his eyes glittered with all the ruthlessness she’d seen earlier. “Maybe you do,” he countered, “but after this, what makes you think Frederick will still want to marry you?”
    The question took her by surprise. “What do you mean? Of course he wants to marry me. He proposed, didn’t he?”
    “So you tell me,