Free Betina Krahn by The Last Bachelor Page B

whether their morning chocolate has settled or if their yellow or blue bonnet would suit better … for they have neither morning chocolate nor an abundance of hats.”
    “Females who actually work? It gives one pause to considerjust what sort of women you consort with, Lady Antonia.” He stepped still closer and looked down his straight, aristocratic nose at her. “No lady of my acquaintance would be caught dead with a mending needle in her hand, wiping a child’s nose, or dealing firsthand with sweaty tradesmen. They prefer to languish on their divans, spend money as if pound notes fall from the sky like raindrops, and complain endlessly that their husbands spend too much time at their clubs. To my way of thinking it would do women a world of good to have to learn some of the stern realities of the world outside their pampered nests.”
    “Pampered nests?” She nearly choked on the words. “I fear, my lord, that you are in dire need of an education where women are concerned. You haven’t a clue as to what women’s lives and women’s work are really like … for if you did have, you would never spout such drivel about women and their place in our nation’s homes. And you would certainly never air such monumental ignorance in public.” There were several gasps, a few titters, and a hearty chuckle or two from the guests around them.
    “Oh?” He poured his dark, liquid gaze over her in a way that made her send a trembling hand to cover the buttons that trailed down her waist. “Ignorant and in need of an education, am I? And just who do you propose should educate me in the work and contributions of women?”
    She hoped her pleasure wasn’t too obvious. He had walked right into her trap!
    “Me.”
    “You?” He glanced around him with widened eyes that elicited suggestive murmurs and chuckles from the men present; then he focused his unsettling attention on her. “An intriguing possibility, I will admit. But I am afraid I must decline, madam. I am long past the schoolroom regimen,and I haven’t the slightest desire to apprentice myself to a skirt … no matter how fetching it may be.” He slid an appreciative glance down the side of her panniered skirt, and there were gasps and titters. Her pulse fluttered disconcertingly, but she pressed on.
    “I would never suggest anything quite so rudimentary as a schoolroom for you, my lord. What I propose for your education is more along the lines of … a wager.”
    “A what?” He leaned back on one leg with a surprised but wary look.
    “A wager, sir. A bet. A gamble. The risk of something of value upon an uncertain outcome.” She glanced archly at the men around them. “Come, come … surely you’ve heard of it. It is my understanding that the gentlemen of London fritter away a majority of their time and money concocting and carrying out wagers of one sort or another.”
    He frowned. Clearly, he had not expected this. “What sort of wager?”
    She smiled, hoping that none of her vengeful urges showed in her expression. “Two weeks of your time, my lord.”
    His frown deepened. “Against what?”
    “Against two weeks of mine.”
    The rumble of consternation around them gave voice to the confusion in his expression. For a brief moment her heart all but stopped. Everything hinged on his next words. Was he arrogant enough or sufficiently challenged by what had passed between them to consider such an involved undertaking?
    “Two weeks of my time?” Interest edged into his scowl. “Doing what?”
    She had him!
    “
Women’s work
, my lord.”
    All went silent around him while he blinked, stared at her, then dissolved into a surprised laugh. “Women’s work?You wish me to lie around all day, eating chocolates and ordering servants thither and yon?” The tension around them erupted into laughter. Antonia also smiled, though from a very different cause.
    “What I propose, my lord, is that you do
an average woman’s work
each day for a fortnight. If at the