A Daring Masquerade by Mary Balogh

Author:Mary Balogh [Balogh, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-08T21:00:00+00:00

Nicholas hesitated slightly when the Marquess of Uppington drew his partner to a halt at the stone fountain in order to examine its architecture. Angela Lacey and Charles Dalrymple were already strolling into the formal gardens, though the night was somewhat darker than they had expected. The sky was clear and the stars were bright, but the new moon gave only a minimum of light.

“Do you suppose we should also circumnavigate the fountain in order to admire the naked cherubs?” Sir Harry asked Kate in his most studied drawl. “Or would such a sight put you to the blush, ma’am?”

“Neither,” Kate said. “I wish to walk as far as the roses in the center of the gardens. Their smell from here is mixed with the perfume of other flowers, and I think nothing lovelier than the fragrance of a rose.”

Nicholas gave her a sidelong look. “I perceive this is the moment of the grand proposal,” he said. “Was it the fond papa or the misguided maiden herself who has warned you to keep your distance?”

Kate was thankful for the darkness, which hid her blush. “Lord Barton,” she said. And then, forgetting how pointless it was to talk so with such a man, “Poor Lady Thelma. I fear she will have no choice. And she will lead a dreadful life with that man.”

Sir Harry looked at her, cynical eyebrows raised above half-closed eyes. “She will be a marchioness,” he said. “A duchess at some time in the future. He has position, she wealth. Would you ladies not describe such a match as a marriage made in heaven? What more could she possibly want?”

“Respect, perhaps,” Kate snapped back. “Love. The assurance that she will be important to her husband.”

“My dear Mrs. Mannering,” he sighed, “you must be one of those women addicted to sentimental novels. This is the real world, ma’am. Lady Thelma will be of infinite importance to her husband. She will produce his heir.”

Kate would have removed her hand from his arm if the path had not been so dark. “Yes,” she said, realizing as she heard the word come from her mouth that she sounded nettled. She would certainly not win an argument if she lost her temper. “Yes, Sir Harry, you are a thoroughly predictable male. A woman to you is a machine, just like those in the new factories, but used for breeding. And is a wife to consider her life’s goal fulfilled if she can but have the good fortune to produce a male child?”

“I have angered you, my dear Mrs. Mannering,” Sir Harry said, sounding surprised. “But I see how it is. I should have been more sensitive to your feelings. You, of course, failed in your quest to become a fulfilled woman. You had no child, male or female, did you? And how long did you say you were married to Mr. Mannering?”

“Oh!” Kate withdrew her hand from his arm as if it were a red-hot bar of iron and stood still on the path, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

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