An Unexpected Gentleman

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Authors: Alissa Johnson
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Historical
Engsly cut him off. “We have established your opinion of the gentleman, Sir Robert.”
    “Of course.” Another long, dramatic breath. “What happened today is entirely my fault. I should have taken better care. I should have known he would seek out and attempt to injure what I hold of value. I failed to warn you, and I failed to protect you. I do, and shall always, regret this error bitterly. I can only beg your forgiveness now and plead for the opportunity to make amends.”
    This speech was met with silence by the group, with the exception of Connor, who muttered something that sounded rather like, “Bravo.”
    Adelaide was inclined to agree. It was a fine speech. Unfortunately, it also confirmed the suspicion that he was a coward.
    “Allow me to make this right,” Sir Robert continued. He cleared his throat in a dramatic, and regrettably affected, manner. And then he said, “My dear Miss Ward, I most humbly and arduously beg the honor of your hand in marriage.”
    She had the sudden urge to yank her hand free and run.
    “Oh. Oh, I . . .” She looked around her with the vague and inexplicable notion that someone else might answer for her. “Er . . . Sir Robert . . .”
    “Don’t be a fool, Adelaide.” Connor’s voice was low and dangerous. It put the hair at the back of her neck on end.
    Lady Engsly was not similarly affected. She leaned over and hissed at him, “She’d be a fool not to accept, thanks to you.”
    “She has other options.”
    “Not unless you’ve offered for her,” Lady Engsly snapped. When he merely lifted a brow, she blinked and straightened in her chair. “Have you offered for her?”
    “I have.”
    “Well, why didn’t you say so?” Lady Engsly’s transformation was instant. Her pretty face lit up with a smile, and she very nearly bounded off the settee. “That changes things considerably.”
    Bewildered, Adelaide could only stare and sputter a few halfhearted protests as Lady Engsly detached her from Sir Robert and ushered her toward the door.
    “It seems you have quite a bit to consider, Miss Ward. I suspect a nice long lie-down will put everything into perspective. Come along, Freddie.”
    Adelaide tossed a dazed look over her shoulder as she was bustled out of the room. “I thought we were to settle things.”
    “We have,” Lady Engsly assured her with a quick pat of the arm. “You received an offer of marriage. Two in fact. We’ll leave the gentlemen to bicker over the details.”
    “Shouldn’t she have some say in those details?” Lady Winnefred asked with a hint of indignation.
    Adelaide nodded in enthusiastic agreement. If anyone was to be bickering, it ought to be her.
    Lady Engsly stopped at the bottom of a back stairwell and turned to address Adelaide with the sort of gentle patience that put her to mind of a governess. “You have the only say that truly matters, Miss Ward. And you’ll be pressured from both sides to make that say known as soon as possible. Do you want to face that pressure now, or do you want a bit of time to think the matter through?”
    “Time,” Adelaide replied without hesitation and wondered that she hadn’t seen the wisdom in leaving for herself.
    “Excellent. Freddie and I will spread the word that offers have been made. It won’t silence the gossip, I’m afraid, but it will certainly temper the censure.”
    She wouldn’t have seen the wisdom in that either. Her mind was so muddled, her emotions so turbulent, it was a miracle she was able to put two words together.
    Adelaide looked at the two women before her and wondered what she would have done without their assistance today. Gone to her room without a much-needed proposal or accepted a proposal without much-needed consideration. Either might well have proved disastrous.
    “Lady Engsly—”
    “Lilly, dear. And Winnefred,” she added with a quick look at her sister-in-law for agreement. “I should think we’ve come far enough in our friendship for given

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