The Earl's Lady Geologist by Alissa Baxter

Author:Alissa Baxter [Baxter, Alissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency romance
Publisher: vinspirepublishing
Published: 2020-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Cassy rushed upstairs to her bedchamber, where she threw herself onto the bed and gave in to a storm of weeping. Rothbury’s shocked words resonated in her head: You wish for my love? The worst thing of all had been the note of surprise in his voice as he’d said them—as if it had never once occurred to him that she might want to be loved.

He was a cold-blooded scientist, with no heart or soul. He was infuriating; he was callous; he was unsentimental. But the worst thing of all…he was indifferent. Truly indifferent. What kind of man proposed to a woman based entirely on a list he had compiled? The reality of his calculated proposal was horrible, and she was better off without him.

She sat up and pulled off her bonnet. The real problem was that she didn’t feel better off without him. She loved him. And Rothbury’s many serious deficiencies failed to alter the fact.

She had tried so hard to keep him at a distance, but she was undone by the thread of understanding which linked them and their shared sense of humour. However, even had he told her he loved her, Cassy remained terrified of marriage. Nothing had changed. Even though Mama had written in her letter that she must be courageous, she’d found it impossible to put such a fundamental fear aside.

Besides, Mama had also written that she hoped she would choose a man who loved her. And Edward did not. So there really was nothing more to be considered. She would find it painful to see him during the rest of the Season, but soon she would return to Lyme Regis and her old life there, even if such a move meant she must suffer Cousin Agnes’s exclusive companionship once more.

She sighed. Not engaging with other human beings would be much simpler, especially those of the male variety…and even more especially of the handsome male variety.

In Edward’s vicinity, she lost the ability to be calm and collected and spinster-like. Instead, she became flustered, lost her train of thought, and became quite embarrassingly impassioned.

She cringed when she recalled their recent encounter. How could she have wept in front of him? Which reminded her—she still had his handkerchief. She would ask Robins to launder it so she could return it to him in the pristine condition it was in when he handed it to her. What a pity her traitorous heart couldn’t be returned to her in the same state. Damaged beyond repair, she doubted that part of her would ever be whole again.

***

Cassy received three more proposals that week, all of which she turned down. Edmund Lymington, Sir Nicholas Ratcliffe, and the Honourable George Reynolds had been assiduous in their attentions during the past couple of months. The fact that it was well-known amongst the ton that all three gentlemen were on the look-out for a wealthy bride made it no easier for her to reject them. Dashing their hopes was not something she relished, even though she knew their desire to wed her was purely mercenary.

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