An Infamous Proposal Read Online Free PDF

ignore the lesson?”
    “I have decided to set my own boundaries, especially when I am with friends. We are still friends, are we not?” she asked archly.
    “Thus far.”
    “Good,” she said, and picked up her book.
    Nicholas took it as a hint that she wished to resume her reading. He glanced at the title and was surprised that it was not a gothic novel, but a tome on Grecian antiquities.
    “I didn’t know you were interested in Greece,” he said.
    “There is a good deal you don’t know about me, Nick. It occurs to me that in the several years we have been acquainted, we’ve never talked about anything serious—except estate matters, since John’s death, of course. I wonder why that is.”
    Nick cocked his head and grinned. “Perhaps it’s because you’re young and pretty.”
    “Or perhaps it’s because you’re a gazetted flirt. I don’t know why young gentlemen think ladies’ heads must be gray before their owners are allowed to enjoy sensible conversation. I’ve often discussed Greece with Bounty. He’s quite an expert. Did you know they had slaves?”
    Nick felt a sting of annoyance at the recurrence of Bounty’s name. “So I’ve heard.”
    “It is shocking that everyone puffs Greece up as such a fine model of society. The ladies were treated abominably.” She slanted a long, enigmatic look at him. “Even worse than we are treated in England.”
    “You’re sitting at ease in your own garden, which the law allows you to own outright. You control your own estate, your finances. I cannot think you are too hard done by in England.”
    She gazed off into the trees. “Yes, but everyone still treats me as a child. I know Papa will send Aunt Hildegarde sooner or later. I haven’t the freedom of a married lady, yet if I marry, my husband will expect to bearlead me.”
    With a thought to Lord James, Nicholas said, “What you ought to do is find a biddable husband. You will satisfy the proprieties and still keep the upper hand at home.”
    “That is exactly what I have been thinking myself. But where is this pineapple of perfection, a biddable husband, to be found?”
    “You never know, Emma. He may show up sooner than you think.”
    “No, I won’t find him here. No point fishing for a trout in a rain barrel. Such gentlemen are only to be found in London.” She said the last word reverently, as if it were sacred.
    “I caught an excellent trout in my own river,” he said, smiling.
    “I was speaking metaphorically, Nick.”
    He took his leave in good spirits. James would not be a severe husband. He was an easygoing fellow, good natured and handsome. Perhaps a little too easygoing for a girl in Emma’s frame of mind? He shook the wisp of doubt away. The situation was too volatile to leave as it was. Most certainly Emma would marry someone very soon, and it was best to make sure that someone was a proper gentleman.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Emma assumed it was one of those coincidences, whose long arms are so famous, that brought Derek Hunter to Whitehern the next afternoon. Miss Foxworth had been putting her nephew forward as a parti ever since John’s death. And now, just when it was possible for Emma to be thinking of marrying, he appeared in the flesh.
    In fact, Miss Foxworth had had more to do with it than had coincidence. She regularly dispatched notes to her favorite nephew. In the last she had said that Lady Capehart was now putting off her crape and going into Society again.
    Derek Hunter waited only long enough to have his hair trimmed and to lay his watch on the pawnbroker’s shelf to pay for his new jacket before setting off for a visit. The tailor refused to part with the vestment without some payment for past services.
    Hunter made an unfashionable and inconvenient arrival mere moments before dinner. As it was only his aunt and Emma who were there, it was no matter. Miss Foxworth was sufficiently recovered from her sniffles to come down to dinner.
    Emma was curious to see this Adonis