The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne Read Online Free PDF

cause to think I favored him at all.”
    “You speak as if none of this mattered, yet your color is rising,” Cassandra said. “I think his proposal annoyed you for reasons beyond his presumptions.”
    Emma rolled the tiny links of the delicate chain between her fingers. “He also assumed that I would claim my father’sestate,” she admitted. “He thought that he proposed to a wealthy heiress. When I disabused him of that notion, he tried to convince me of my brother’s death, and spoke cruelly and harshly on the matter.”
    Cassandra’s lips pursed the way mouths do when their owners are swallowing words. Since Cassandra did not have a small, bowed mouth, the effect could not be missed.
    “Is there something you want to say? Do not hold back on my account,” Emma said.
    “I have nothing to say. Although, if I did, it might be a little scold that it is not fair to hold it against a man if he thinks someone who was on a sinking ship did not survive. There is an undeniable logic to that point of view.”
    “I explained to him—and to you, many times—that in this case the person in question did survive.”
    “Calm yourself, Emma. Pray, continue with the denouement of this proposal.”
    “It ended with merciful speed after that. He left with no employment and no wealthy fiancée, and I was left with no future husband and no exhibition room manager. I will sorely feel the latter loss.”
    Cassandra did not appear nearly sympathetic enough. “Emma, could you not have arranged to have him remain, at least until after the next auction? Could you not have put off your decision on his offer, for example?”
    “Could I not have left him dangling, you mean.”
    “Could you not have left him
hopeful
, while you assessed your emotions, I mean.”
    “I knew my emotions already. It would be dishonest to allow him to think there might be a marriage.”
    “I suspect Mr. Nightingale would have settled for less. Even the possibility of winning your affection, if not your hand, might have induced him to stay.”
    “I hope that you are not suggesting that I should have flirted with him.”
    Cassandra laughed. “You say that like it is a crime. I know that you believe plain speaking is best, but a little flirting is harmless. You should try it sometime. Really, youshould. It would do you good. Actually, Mr. Nightingale is reputed to flatter in the best ways at the right times, and some of his flattery might have done you good too.”
    Emma had not yet mastered how to decipher some of Cassandra’s subtle meanings and entendres, and she interpreted them wrong at times. “You are not speaking of his verbal flatteries, are you?”
    “As long as his lovers are left believing in his admiration, I doubt they care how it is communicated.”
    Emma felt her face warming. Cassandra now referred to things Emma knew little about. She was of an age when she found her own lack of experience annoying sometimes.
    “I have no interest in that man’s flatteries, of any kind. As for admiration, he made it clear that he had none. Please spare me the humiliation of describing just how clear.”
    Impish lights sparkled in Cassandra’s eyes. “We must find you another man, then, one who knows better than to insult you when trying to win your favor.”
    “You will do nothing of the kind, Cassandra. I will be much too busy for such silly diversions. Now, enough of that. Let us talk about your exceptional jewels.”
    “If you insist. However, I look forward to the day when you learn there is never truly enough of that.”
    “Cassandra!”
    “Oh, dear. I have shocked you. Yes, let us move on to a boring discussion of my financial misery, and my only hope to rectify the disaster.” Cassandra gazed down on the collection that she had brought with her. The jewelry covered the table like a bed of deeply hued, glittering flowers. “I will cry when they are sold, but I have no choice unless I want to return to my brother’s house and live the