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" L ord Blackburn," James said. What a pleasure to see you out today."

Victoria looked the gentleman up and down.

He appeared to be a few years older than she was herself, with curly blonde hair and a serious looking face.

"A pleasure to see you as well, Your Grace," he said, holding eye contact with James and ignoring Victoria altogether.

"It's been many years since we saw you here in London. "

"Indeed," James replied. "I'm glad to be back after all these years. Though I must say, things are not exactly as I left them. Not quite the way I remember them."

Now, Lord Blackburn did look at Victoria.

Though his gaze made her feel shy, she forced herself not to look away.

She wondered whether he was one of those who believed all the rumors that had been spread about her.

He probably was, because after all, nearly everyone in London believed the things that had been said about her.

He would be a rare man indeed if he were the one to recognize the truth.

"I wonder if you have been introduced to my late cousin's wife," James said. "Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess of Stormwell."

"Of course I have heard many things about the dowager Duchess," Lord Blackburn said. "But I don't believe we had had the pleasure of meeting in person yet."

"No, we haven't," Victoria agreed, though she wasn't sure she would've described this meeting as a pleasure.

She wasn't yet sure what she thought of Lord Blackburn.

She had yet to see a smile on his face. Surely anyone who was making someone's acquaintance for the first time could be troubled to smile at them.

Then again, she wasn't sure she had yet smiled at Lord Blackburn either. Perhaps the reason he looked so serious was that he was waiting for a smile from her. She could offer that. Though it felt forced, she managed a small smile.

Lord Blackburn did not smile back. He did incline his head slightly in acknowledgment of her, but that was all.

"She isn't quite as you described her," Lord Blackburn remarked.

His words were like a stone in Victoria's heart. She turned to face James. "You described me? Do you mean to say that the two of you have discussed me?"

"His Grace told me that the two of you would be in town today," Lord Blackburn informed her. "He requested that I come and meet you."

"I believe I also requested that you not share details of our conversation," James said, his voice tight.

Anger bubbled up within Victoria. "Your conversation? So I'm right—the two of you have had a discussion about me."

She couldn't believe that she had trusted James even for a moment.

She felt like a fool. How could she have begun to question her initial impression of him?

How could she have begun to think that there was a chance he was on her side?

Hadn't he been clear about his intentions, right from the very beginning?

Hadn't he told her that the only thing that mattered to him was getting her married?

He had said so right from the start, and yet she had still allowed herself to be taken by surprise.

"Lord Blackburn is looking for a wife this season," James said.

It seemed he planned to completely ignore the accusation Victoria had made.

He wasn't even going to address the question of whether the two of them had had a conversation behind her back.

But Victoria didn't really need it answered.

She knew what the answer was. There was only one way this could have happened.

Lord Blackburn had known that he was going to meet them here, and the only way he could have known that was if he and James had planned this together.

Well, Victoria had no intention of making it easy for them. "I wish you luck in your endeavors, Lord Blackburn," she told him. "The marriage mart can be a difficult thing to navigate."

"I suppose you would know," Lord Blackburn said. "How long has it been since you made your debut?"

"Now, now," James interjected. "We are not here to talk about the past, after all. You are both looking toward your futures. Whatever the circumstances surrounding this meeting, I think it's fortunate that it happened, wouldn't you agree?"

"Naturally," Lord Blackburn murmured.

Victoria wouldn't have agreed with them at all.

Even if she had been happy to meet with Lord Blackburn — which she wasn't — she knew that fortune played no part in this.

This meeting had happened because of James's machinations.

She wasn't going to allow them to get away with it.

Wherever this was going, she wasn't planning on making it easy for them.

"I feel a bit faint," she said. She clutched James's arm all the more tightly, even though what she really wanted was to shove him away. "It must be the heat. I think we ought to return to the house. I've had enough of town for today."

James frowned at her. "We wouldn't want to just walk away from Lord Blackburn," he said. "Are you sure you can't manage?"

"I'm very sorry," Victoria told him. "I don't want to pass out on the street and force you to carry me all the way home."

"I'm sure His Grace could manage," Lord Blackburn said. "You're very slender. Very small. I don't believe you would be difficult to carry."

His words made Victoria's skin crawl. He hadn't said anything untrue, of course, but what he had said implied that he had made a thorough examination of her figure. It was very forward of him and she didn't like it.

Though it wasn't something she ordinarily would've done, she allowed herself to lean into James for support. "I really think we ought to go," she breathed, doing her best to sound weaker than she truly felt.

James put an arm around her. "Perhaps she's right," he said to Lord Blackburn. "Perhaps I ought to get her home. But I hope you will join us for dinner tomorrow evening, Lord Blackburn. That will give you the chance to get to know the Duchess a bit better."

"Is she always this delicate?" Lord Blackburn asked. "I prefer a lady with a bit more fortitude."

"I've never known her to be like this," James replied, shaking his head. "I think she's right — I think this must be due to the heat. It is a very warm day, after all."

Victoria felt furious that they were talking about her as if she wasn't there. She wanted nothing more than to get away from Lord Blackburn and away from this conversation. It was all she could do to prevent herself from turning in simply walking off, leaving them behind.

"Very well," Lord Blackburn said. "Perhaps it would be good to get to know her a bit better. That would enable me to make a decision about what course of action I wish to pursue. I would be happy to join the pair of you for dinner tomorrow."

"In that case, we will look forward to seeing you then," James replied. "Enjoy the rest of your day."

It wasn't until they were walking away that Victoria felt free to speak. "How could you have done that?" She demanded. "You ambushed me. Both of you ambushed me. It was so obvious that you made that arrangement ahead of time. You knew we were going to meet him today."

"You act as if I'd deceived you," James said.

"Do you believe that you didn't deceive me?" Victoria asked. "You told me that we were coming into town for a simple promenade. You led me to believe that's all it was. You didn't say that we would be meeting anybody at all."

"But you knew that my intention was to find you a suitor," James retorted. "You knew the reason for coming into town was to meet eligible gentlemen and to let them know that you were available for marriage. Are you simply angry because I had a specific one in mind?"

Victoria fumed. How could he not be understanding this? "I'm angry because you made this plan without telling me what it was," she informed him. "How difficult would it have been to simply tell me that we were meeting somebody today?"

"You wouldn't have agreed to come into town," James said. "You wouldn't have gone along with the plan if you had known what it was. A lady as stubborn as you is hard to find. If I had told you that I had someone in mind for you, you would have put up much more resistance than you did."

The frustrating thing was that Victoria couldn't even deny it.

He was right. If she had known what she was walking into, she would never have agreed to come into town today.

She knew that the only thing she could reasonably be angry at him for was his deception, but what she was really angry about was the fact that he continued to push this marriage.

That, and the fact that she had allowed herself to believe there might be a way out of it.

But, of course, she had only herself to blame for that. She had allowed herself to believe that, just because he knew she was innocent of murder, things might change between them.

But things were never going to change between them. He had made up his mind about her, about her future, and about his involvement in it. And now, it seemed he had also made up his mind about Lord Blackburn. The earl was coming to dinner, and there was nothing Victoria could do about.

The most maddening part was knowing that her anger wasn't even justified.

She had been entitled to be angry at him before now, of course, but nothing new had really happened today.

So she had discovered that there was a specific person he had in mind for her — that wasn't truly the upsetting thing, and she knew it.

She should never have gotten her hopes up.

"You aren't really feeling faint are you?" he asked. "You were putting that on. It was an act."

Victoria didn't answer.

"I'm disappointed," James said.

"I don't see how you can be," Victoria shot back.

"It's in keeping with everything you say about me.

Aren't you always saying how stubborn I am?

Don't you always tell me how insistent I am on having things my own way?

How can it come as a surprise to you that I let it be known when I was ready to leave today? "

"Well, you're going to have to be more courteous tomorrow night when Lord Blackburn comes for dinner," James said. "I expect you to do your best to make a good impression on him. It wasn't easy to find someone willing to overlook all the rumors about you and consider a marriage."

"I thought you just told me that you believed in my innocence," Victoria said. "Didn't you just say that I ought to ignore the people who spread rumors about me? You said I should keep my chin up and disregard the gossips."

"And so you should," James replied. "I wish I could say that ignoring gossip would make it go away. But you and I both know that it isn't that easy I don't like to see you upset when they whisper about you. That's why I told you to keep your chin up."

"Yes," Victoria agreed. "That, and also the fact that you want me to look dignified and unaffected. You think making that kind of impression will make me look more appealing to the gentlemen of society."

"I won't deny that," James agreed. "You must do all you can to make a good impression."

Rage built within Victoria, but there was nothing she could say. She didn't intend to cooperate when it came to this dinner with Lord Blackburn. But there was no chance of convincing James to call it off.

She would just have to find another way to let Lord Blackburn know that she was not available to him.