Free Barbara Metzger by Rakes Ransom Page B

fit best, while she sat benumbed.
    “But I thought we didn’t have to have a real engagement. You said we could just put it about that we had some kind of understanding.”
    “And so we do, don’t we? Never fear, that’s not the Claibourne diamond, just a little piece from the family collection. We’ll have to fatten you considerably in London if you’re to wear the real thing, else you’d not have strength to hold up your arm. There’s a tiara and a bracelet, besides the wedding set. I simply thought you might like this.”
    “Oh, I do, Leigh. It’s just that, well, if we’re not really engaged, is it proper for me to accept such a gift?” Regretful, she looked over to the facing sofa, where the older ladies sat, pretending they weren’t watching her every move.
    “What, are you going all prunes and prisms on me? Fancy gowns, elegant hairdos, the perfect hostess, and now the picture of respectability! You must be a changeling; I’ll wager you’re some other brat Lord Trevaine’s trying to foist off on me so he can keep the real thing to himself.” He drew out his eyepiece and surveyed her slowly through it with all the affectation of a Bond Street Beau. From her side, of course, his eye looked like a distorted blue billiard ball.
    “Silly, I suppose you’d prefer it if I still set frogs loose in the dining room.”
    “‘Still’?”
    “Only once. I put some frogs under the covers of the serving dishes so when Phipps opened them to serve…”
    “No wonder the man has white hair! And no, pet, I don’t mean to encourage you to such pranks. Just know that I like the bandit as well as the belle, so you don’t have to playact for me.”
    “Since you are being so agreeable, Leigh, there is something we should discuss.”
    “Uh-oh, I’m beginning to recognise a particular golden flicker in your eyes that betokens some deviltry or other, and I misdoubt that tone of voice. What horrible scheme are you concocting?”
    “I want to take Pen to London with us. She’ll be unhappy here without me and won’t get enough exercise, so I’ve decided she has to come along. Either she comes or I don’t,” Jacey ended militantly.
    Smiling, Claibourne raised Jacelyn’s hand, the one with the ring, to his mouth for a sweet salute. “Of course, Jay-bird, it’s all part of the deal.”
    “What deal?” she asked with suspicion.
    “Why, the deal I made with your father and Bottwick, of course. Your father agreed not to call me out if I took you off his hands, and Squire agreed not to challenge me if I agreed to take the dog out of the county.”
    “Do be serious,” she told him, meanwhile very aware that he had not released her hand.
    “Serious? Then listen, Jacelyn, I’m not your father, nor even the squire, to call you to account for your actions. I want us to be friends, not keep coming to cuffs over foolish things. Agreed?”
    Jacelyn nodded, though she couldn’t help wonder if he meant she should be as complacent about his behaviour as he seemed prepared to be over hers. What if he meant he’d overlook a huge dog in the drawing room, in exchange for her turning a blind eye to…to a fancy piece in his flat! They didn’t have a real engagement, of course, but even the idea sat like a lead weight in her chest. Many men had mistresses, she knew, yet how could she bear the earl’s ever touching another woman’s hand the way his thumb was stroking hers? Or smile that warm, slightly lopsided grin at someone else? She’d toss her in the Thames, decided Jacelyn, and see how easygoing his lordship was at that foolishness!
    “About the ring.” Jacelyn thought it best to change the subject lest she blurt out her intentions. “I don’t understand why you’ve kept all these beautiful pieces in a vault somewhere gathering dust, when you needed money so badly. You could have sold them long ago and reinvested the money in the estates, or whatever, couldn’t you?”
    “The diamonds were handed down from