Page 76 of In the Prince's Bed

Sydney gave his usual gentlemanly bow. “I’ve come to take you to Lady Purefoy’s party. Apparently there was a misunderstanding. She said you’d told her not to send a carriage.”

“We did,” Katherine said tightly. “Lord Iversley promised to take us, but he’s not here.”

“He was detained at his estate,” Mama said hastily. “I’m sure he’ll be here any moment, however.”

Katherine squared her shoulders, then descended the last few steps. “I’m not waiting to find out. Neither should you, Mama. If Lady Purefoy was kind enough to send someone for us, the least we can do is go.”

In the end, Mama couldn’t stand the possibility of missing her friend’s birthday party, so she allowed Sydney to take them off.

Katherine hardly knew what to think of Sydney’s strange behavior toward her on the way there. He shot her earnest glances, toyed nervously with his cravat, and in general seemed very disturbed. What did he want to talk to her about? Why had he quarreled with Lord Napier? Could he be reconsidering his rude behavior toward her of late?

And how on earth would she break the news to him about her engagement to Alec? Or should she even do so, when she was so uncertain of Alec herself?

By the time they disembarked at Lady Purefoy’s, Katherine was so agitated that she didn’t know whether to be relieved or alarmed when Lady Purefoy commandeered her mother after they entered, leaving her alone with Sydney.

A waltz was struck, and Sydney held out his hand. “Will you honor me with this dance, Kit?”

She nodded. Right now she needed the steady comfort of being with Sydney, who’d always been her lifeline in the storm that was her family.

But as they danced, that steady comfort evaded her. Being with him felt…unfamiliar. Awkward. And she’d never felt awkward with Sydney in her life.

“Have I lost all chance with you then, Kit?” Sydney asked in a low voice.

With a start, she gazed up into his worried face. Had he read her mind, for goodness sake? “What do you mean?”

“I hear Iversley is courting you. And if I were to judge from that kiss you gave him at the reading, you are not…averse to the courtship.”

“Sydney—”

“No, let me say this first. I know you’re unhappy with me, but I can make it up to you. If you’ll consent to marry me, I’ll go to Mother now and tell her. I’ll announce it at this very party, before I even tell her, if that is what you wish.”

She gaped at him. Alec’s little scheme, false as it had been, had worked. Sydney was actually proposing.

“Why?” she asked. “What has made you suddenly eager to marry, when you haven’t spoken to me for a week?”

“I’ve finally realized what’s good for me. And you’re good for me.”

She arched one eyebrow. “Like eating well and taking exercise?”

“No…that is…you’ll keep me from doing anything foolish or reckless.”

She managed a smile. “You couldn’t do anything foolish or reckless if you tried.”

He swallowed and looked away. “You never know. Temptation lies everywhere.” His gaze swung back to her. “So will you do it? Marry me, I mean?”

She stared at him, temporarily at a loss for words. Sydney was the same man she’d always known, the same man she’d imagined marrying for years—kind, attentive, a brilliant poet. He was still her friend, with the same handsome, aristocratic features, the same close-shaven chin and artfully arranged curls.

But when she tried to imagine him kissing her as passionately as Alec, or making her heart race with a word, she couldn’t. She simply couldn’t.

Still, that was a good thing, wasn’t it? With Sydney she would never feel the hollow pain of the past two days, the cruel uncertainty, the fierce desires that came to her unexpectedly in the night. Everything would be courteous and quiet and peaceful.

Sounds boring to me.

Alec’s words pounded in her ears. Cursed arrogant scoundrel—it was so like him to invade her thoughts! Look what he’d done to her. He’d ruined Sydney for her. He’d made her as bad ashewas—eager for excitement and dissatisfied with the quiet life.

And a breaker of rules.

Sydney watched her with pain in his face. “Does your silence mean ‘no’?”