An Engagement with the Enemy by Sally Britton

Author:Sally Britton [Britton, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pink Citrus Books
Published: 2023-09-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Reclining in the shade of an oak, his eyes watching the border of his property for sight of his neighbor, James tossed a stick for Ottis. The dog dashed off to fetch it and returned again. A simple way to pass the time, James let his thoughts wander as he played the game with the little dog.

Lady Helen and her brothers had left without more than words of friendship spoken between them. And James couldn’t tell who was more relieved when she bid him farewell—him or the young lady. It was much easier to say that his father was the most disappointed of everyone.

Until the next guests arrived. And then the next.

The fortnight that followed Lady Helen’s visit was a whirlwind of guests and formalities, as a relentless tide of suitors, each with their eyes sparkling with matrimonial intent, descended upon Amoret Castle. From James’s perspective, it was a parade of eager faces and hopeful hearts, all vying for his attention. It would have been overwhelming if not for his pact with Jessica.

The future duke and his daughter, who had arrived just days after Lady Helen’s departure, had made their stay very short. Then came the brother-in-law to an earl with his eldest daughter and three sons. James had worked diligently to keep all three of them from seeing Jessica as a potential wife.

Today, the seventeenth of July marked the midway point of the month, yet weeks remained of his father’s summer scheme.

James counted each day he remained unattached and unengaged as a victory. His father’s plans could feasibly stretch across the summer until Michaelmas, at the end of September, if Lord Retford felt desperate enough.

Hopefully, he would give up before then.

If only to spare Jessica from men so blind to her attractive qualities that he could dissuade them with only a few exaggerations of her less attractive habits and features.

“Feather-brained fops and addlepated clodpoles, all of them,” he muttered aloud.

Ottis barked, recalling James to his duty as stick-thrower.

He checked his watch. Jessica wasn’t late. He’d arrived early. Perhaps too early.

James didn’t want her to think him eager for their meeting.

Even if he was eager.

Every other morning, they convened at the kissing gate, a landmark which had become their private council chamber.

They discussed their plans, their strategies to put off each new hopeful. They were masterminds of subtle mischief, dropping delicate hints about her aversion to early mornings and his undying commitment to his books, even going so far as to highlight his supposed inability to hold a serious conversation without quoting Rob Roy. It was a fine line they walked, maintaining the boundaries of propriety while planting seeds of doubt in the minds of their would-be suitors.

As each suitor came and left, discouraged by their well-spun tales, the success of their strategy only grew. Their mornings at the kissing gate had taken on a strange familiarity, a comfortable rhythm that soothed the discomfort of their social engagements.

In company, they maintained their distance. Though they often sneaked glances at each other, and he at times dared a wink.

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