Page 6 of A Convincing Arrangement with a Brute (Deals of Marriage #4)

Lavender didn’t like it when things didn’t go as planned. She was used to detailing every step she made, ensuring that she always put her feet in the right spot. So when there was a single misstep, especially if it was out of her hands, it felt as if everything was crashing down around her.

When that happened, all she could do was breathe. In and out. Take a step back. Reassess the situation and figure out what to do next.

But with the Earl of Derby standing in front of her, she hadn’t a clue how to go forward.

It seemed the scowl was permanently fixed on his face. Lavender tilted her head to the side as she watched him speak to the coachman. She hadn’t a clue what they were conversing about and she didn’t care. The mere fact that she’d convinced him to escort her to Hyde Park was a feat in and of itself. Though he might describe it as forcing rather than convincing…

Even so, it was a step in the right direction that they were here together, even if everything else had gone wrong. That long plan she’d written out months before she turned ten-and-eight—and had tweaked now and again—was currently under review all because of the man she was now betrothed to.

Lavender had expected her brother to follow through on his promise. She just hadn’t quite expected it to be to a gentleman like the earl.

***

Lord Derby nodded to the coachman and then began making his way to her. His steps were long and commanding, his hands tight into fists at his sides as if he was always prepared to throw a punch. That scowl on his face did not hide his natural handsomeness. When he didn’t speak, she could at least admire that he was pleasant to look at. Those deep green eyes, that sharp jawline, and his plush lips could make a lady’s heart flutter if he didn’t look as if he hated every human being within a mile of him. And he was dressed far finer than he had been yesterday, the cut of his waistcoat and breeches clinging to his large, muscular build.

Quite a handsome man , she thought as he drew closer. It is a shame his personality is so sour.

“What are you looking at?” he snapped the moment he made it up to her.

Lavender resisted the urge to sigh. Her brother had truly made the next few months far more difficult than she’d expected them to be. “I am looking at you, my lord. Was it not obvious?”

His scowl, as impossible as she thought it was, deepened. “Why?”

“I was observing you. You will make things quite difficult for me, you know.”

“What are you talking about?”

She could not hold back her sigh this time. The park was rather populated at this hour and they were standing quite close to the road. It wouldn’t do to stand around here any longer.

Lavender took a step towards him and slipped her arm through his. She felt him stiffen and begin to pull away but she whispered under her breath, “Do not pull away, or else you will cause a scene.”

He didn’t pull back but his arms laid stiffly against his side. “No one is looking at us to even notice.”

“That is what you think,” she pressed. “But they are always looking. And once you misstep, it will be spoken about for days to come. I didn’t come here to cause a scandal, my lord. I came here to set my plan in motion and brief you on all the things you need to do.”

“Dearest Lord, pray tell me what tangled web have I unwittingly ensnared myself in?” he muttered under his breath.

“Language,” Lavender chastised. She schooled her expression into a more pleasant one, even though her annoyance was now sending heat to her cheeks. As discreetly as she could, she tugged on his arm and hoped that he would catch the hint.

Thankfully, he didn’t protest this time. He bent his arm to accommodate hers and allowed her to lead him down a less traveled path, though they were still well within view of everyone else.

“To answer your question, my lord, I was observing you,” Lavender went on. “Admiring you, to an extent. Though you did make it quite difficult with your crass manner of speech.”

“It’s how I’ve always spoken,” he grunted. “No one has ever complained before.”

“Perhaps they have just been too frightened,” she mused. “In any case, I shan’t allow you to frighten me nor will you deter me from my plan.”

“To usurp that countess.”

“Yes, that countess. The countess,” she pressed. “But in order for my goal to come to fruition, I need your compliance.”

“I am here walking with you,” he grumbled. “What more do you want?”

“Well, for one, I would like for you to look a little happier to be here.” Lavender peered up at him, giving him a soft smile. “Like this.”

Lord Derby looked down at her as if she were an alien creature. “Don’t do that.”

Lavender’s smile fell. It took everything in her not to give in to her irritation. Surely, this man was difficult.

“We’ll get there,” she said, mostly to herself. “I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised at your personality. I will just have to learn how to use it to my advantage.”

“You know nothing about my personality,” he protested.

“I know more than you think. Last night, after Vincent informed me of our arranged betrothal, I had my maid tell me everything she knew about you.”

She could sense his surprise, even though her attention remained on the beaten path before her. “Your maid?” he growled in question.

“Yes, my lady’s maid. Her name is Betty and she is quite talkative once she is comfortable. Since there is a divide between new money and old, I am unable to garner as much information about you as I would have if I had been born with a title, sadly. But servants tend to talk amongst themselves, you know, no matter who they work for. And she had a lot to say about you. ”

“I hear a lot of judgment coming from the lady whose only ambition is to become a part of a class of people who only want to exclude her.”

How typical. He thought she was nothing but a simple-minded lady with no interest but to attend parties and climb up the social ladder. She supposed she couldn’t fault him for assuming such, but it still bothered her.

Lavender rolled her eyes at his sarcastic drawl. “It isn’t that simple.”

“Oh, pray tell, my fair lady, how complex it is.”

“My ambitions do not rest in being accepted by the ton alone, my lord,” Lavender expressed, struggling to keep her tone civil. “I want to infiltrate the very same ton that humiliated my father at his most vulnerable moment and caused him to live in shame for the rest of his life. I will make them remember that moment and then regret it until the day they die. They will know the error of their ways and they will know it by my hand. And if I am given a gentleman like you to help me then I suppose I have no choice but to take it.”

“A gentleman like me? Why on earth do you think I will assist you with any of this nonsense?”

“Because you have reason to invest in my ambitions,” she stated. “You are a bastard, after all.”

***

You are a bastard, after all.

The words rang through Austin’s head like a gong. Every bone in his body went rigid, his heart instantly banging against his chest at a rapid pace. Emotions he could hardly contain raced through his body—horror, surprise, rage.

He settled on the rage. That was easy. That was something he was used to.

Austin pulled away from her and then caught Miss Lavender’s elbow. She gasped in alarm—or perhaps pain—but it didn’t stop him from dragging her off the path behind a large willow tree.

“Are you mad?” she gasped, eyes wide and cheeks red. She looked frantically around them. “Do you know how scandalous it would be if we were caught behind here by ourselves? We must be within view at all times!”

He couldn’t believe his ears. This maddening woman had the gall to say such a thing after calling him a bastard right to his face?

“I do not give a damn what anyone thinks,” he growled. “And clearly you do not either.”

Miss Lavender pulled her arm from his grasp and took a step back, frowning in confusion. She pulled her shoulders back as if she was preparing herself for a fight. “You will have to be a little clearer than that if you want me to understand to what you’re referring to,” she said stiffly.

“A bastard,” he pushed through gritted teeth. “How bold of you to say that to my face.”

“Is it not what you are?” she said. She seemed to catch herself, then draw in a deep breath. “Forgive me. It was what you were.”

A harsh laugh barked from his throat, making her stiffen. He stalked away from her, running his hand through his hair. He couldn’t understand the frustration that consumed him. Austin always knew his birthright. Everyone in England knew that the late Earl of Derby had been unfaithful to his wife with a maid and he had been the result of it. Once upon a time, he’d carried the title of a bastard like weight on his shoulders. More recently, he liked to think that he wore it like a badge of honor.

But hearing her referring to him as one with such gumption, something that he hadn’t heard since he’d been in school, threw him. His title as an earl did not matter to his lady. Only his former status as a bastard did.

“I did not mean it as a slight, my lord,” Miss Lavender spoke again. She had the audacity to speak as if he was the one misunderstanding her. “I only thought to be transparent with you. We could work together to—”

“You forget yourself, miss,” Austin snapped, barely keeping his voice under control. She stiffened but didn’t step back when he advanced on her, tilting her head to meet his eyes. “I am not here to cater to your petty need for revenge. So while I may not be the gentleman you are hoping for, I am not a tool to be used for your purposes either. My only interest was to marry you and then continue with my life as if you do not exist.”

She thinned her lips. Somehow, anger brought her face to life. A fire to her deep brown eyes, redness to her cheeks, the pink of her tongue darting out before she bit her bottom lip as if she were struggling to hold back the words she truly wanted to say.

“I apologise—” she began but Austin didn’t care to stick around to hear the rest of it.

“I have had enough of this,” he muttered to himself, then turned and headed back the way they came.

He didn’t think she would come after him. He walked briskly and Miss Lavender would have to run to catch up to him. So when he made it halfway to the carriage, though he had no intention of taking it, he was surprised when she caught his arm. There was enough force within her grasp to stop him.

“You will receive an invitation later tomorrow for tea hosted by Mrs. Heather Lawrence at their family manor. You will be expected to escort me.”

Austin curled his upper lip in disgust, pulling his arm away from her. He ignored the pinch of disappointment at her words. He’d expected another attempt at an apology but her mind was focused on one thing alone, it seemed. Like every other vapid lady in London.

He didn’t respond, stalking away instead. He had half a mind to go straight to Vincent Latrice and tell him that he could no longer do this. Had it not been for the weight of money in his wallet, he would have.