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Chapter Fourteen

Selina

S elina had quickly come to the unwelcome conclusion that nothing she could do would try Mr. Drake’s desire for her money to its limits. Thus far, everything she had thrown his way, he had caught deftly—and with that heart-stopping smile of his.

He seemed aggravatingly equal to anything.

He had civilized a monkey and entertained a group of sugar-mad children, but she was eager to see how his dignity would fare under the task of carrying around a dead pigeon and paying for a portrait to be painted of it—particularly when it had belonged to the deceased husband of the woman he was attempting to woo.

Surely his pride would smart under such a task.

Her one regret was that she would not be there to see the face of the artist when he made the request.

She went to sleep that night with a smile on her face, content at least that she was making Mr. Drake’s life considerably less pleasant.

The children begged for her to invite him back the following day.

“I would, my dears,” Selina said with a grimace, “but Pip must rest after yesterday’s excitement.”

There was a disappointed silence.

“Cannot Mr. Drake come on his own?” Teddy asked.

“Yes, let him come without Pip,” Kitty agreed.

Selina required a moment to school her consternation into a proper response. “I think we should allow Mr. Drake a rest as well. But perhaps he can come another day this week.”

She was obliged to resort to other tactics to appease the children and ended by taking them all to Gunter’s, where she was obliged to buy no fewer than five ice creams for Arthur.

The children were not to be put off indefinitely, however—not even by ice cream—and Mr. Drake called upon them the following day, accompanied by Pip.

Richard, Jane, and Phoebe had taken advantage of the opportunity to go out in search of a new bonnet for Phoebe and gloves for Jane.

Things between Selina and Jane were painfully civil after the difficult conversation, but Jane seemed determined to smooth things over.

When Richard had voiced slight concern over leaving Selina with a bachelor, his wife had swept aside his concerns.

“What sort of indecency do you imagine Selina and Mr. Drake might manage when they have four mischief-makers to watch over?”

“Jane,” Selina had cried out, her cheeks turning rosy in spite of herself.

Richard had seemed to take the point, however, and had made no more fuss over the matter.

Despite having been tasked with handling the preservation of an ugly dead pigeon, Mr. Drake arrived in high spirits, positively oozing charm and good humor.

Jane had dismissed Richard’s concerns over the danger Mr. Drake posed to Selina, but Selina had to privately agree with her brother after an hour in Mr. Drake’s company. He was more than usually vivacious, shooting her teasing looks and smiles that snatched the breath from her lungs.

He made no mention of the pigeon, but Selina’s curiosity was strong enough that she broached the subject herself .

“I hope I have not put you out too much with the care of Montague, Mr. Drake,” she said as they sat in the garden watching the children play.

“Not at all,” he insisted. “I am more than happy to help.”

More than happy to help yourself to my money . “I feel a wretch for taking such advantage of your kindness. Between Pip and Montague…”

There was a short silence before he responded.

“I have great admiration for the deference you have given your late husband’s wishes, Mrs. Lawrence.

I am certain he would be pleased to know the lengths to which you have gone to ensure his belongings—whether they be rifles or prized pets—are seen to in a way befitting the esteem in which he held them. ”

Selina avoided his eye and ignored the warmth creeping up her neck. She had given little thought to how George would feel to know how she had been using his name in this game with Mr. Drake.

“You must miss him,” Mr. Drake said gently.

She met his gaze, heart skipping at the suddenly sentimental turn.

How could he sit there, pretending to care how she felt about George when he had his eye on the fortune George had left her? In that moment, more than ever, she wanted to raise his hopes so that she could dash them into oblivion when the time was right.

“Terribly.” She turned her head away again and dug her nails into the skin of her hand until her eyes began to water from the pain.

“One becomes accustomed to having a strong, capable man at one’s side.

” She let her gaze rise to his, and her heart thumped at the strength of the implication she was making.

He searched her face, his own inscrutable. “I assure you, one would never assume you wanted for strength or capability, Mrs. Lawrence. But I suppose appearances can be deceiving.”

Her eyes locked on his, for she could hardly believe he dared utter such a phrase—and to look her in the eye as he did so.

Had he no shame in that entire well-formed body of his? Was there no part of him that cared a jot for decency? No stray bit of conscience niggling him?

Lou’s cry interrupted them, and they both hurried to her side, for she had fallen on the gravel path and scraped her knee while chasing after Pip.

“You are too quick for your own good, Princess Lou.” Mr. Drake scooped her into his arms and took her to the nearest bench.

After ensuring the scrape was nothing serious, Selina stepped back and watched.

The gentle care with which Mr. Drake attended to Lou, making her smile amidst her tears, tending to her injury, then encouraging her not to be put off from playing more—it confused and angered Selina.

What if she had not come upon Mr. Haskett that day in the pet store? What if she had continued on, ignorant of the truth about him?

She would have been utterly and completely taken in.

In Mr. Drake, she would have seen the incarnation of everything she had not allowed herself to want, everything she had never permitted herself to hope for.

For, try as she might, she could find nothing but genuine care and concern in his eyes as he sent Lou off after Pip.

He must be the most convincing and persuasive fortune hunter to walk His Majesty’s land.

So convincing and persuasive that Selina lay awake that night, trying to fight the part of her that encouraged her to reconsider his intentions—to entertain the possibility that his attention to her did not only stem from greed and selfishness.

What if she was not so gullible as she feared? What if his admiration for her, his desire to see her and help her, was pure?

It might be nothing more than coincidence that had led him to propose marriage to another heiress after a mere week of knowing her, then pivot his focus to Selina quickly after .

That such humiliatingly implausible thoughts were the ones she fell asleep to made her hate Mr. Drake all the more.

It was but two days later when a note arrived from Mr. Drake, asking when it would be convenient for him to call upon her.

Selina had still not decided upon the next action she would take against him, and the thought of again welcoming him into her home without that made her feel uneasy.

But Richard, Jane, and the children would be leaving the following day, and her nieces and nephews would never forgive her if they were not permitted to say farewell to Mr. Drake and Pip before their departure.

The fact that her entire family was so enraptured by Mr. Drake was equal parts reassuring and aggravating.

After all, it demonstrated that it was not some deficiency unique to her that made her react to his charm.

Yet, knowing that so many people she loved were so deceived by him made her all the more determined to teach him the lesson he needed.

So, she surrendered to the wishes of her nieces and nephews, aware of the irony of allowing them to see Mr. Drake once more despite the fact that he was not the man they thought him.

The joy on the children’s faces when he arrived had her suppressing a sigh. In the years Selina had been married to George, her nieces and nephews had never connected with him, and yet Mr. Drake had wrapped them around his finger within half an hour of meeting them.

“Shall you marry Aunt Selina, Mr. Drake?” Kitty asked as they sat in the drawing room, playing spillikins.

Selina’s eyes widened.

“Kitty!” Jane cried out, her tone half-censure, half-amusement .

“What?” Kitty said, not understanding what she had said amiss. “I did not like Uncle George half so much as I like him.”

“Neither did I,” Teddy said, his mouth turned down in disgust. “I am glad Uncle George is gone.”

“Heavens above,” Jane said, reaching a hand across Teddy’s mouth to prevent him saying anything else shocking.

He pulled it away. “What? He was so boring. Always falling asleep and complaining of gout.”

Mr. Drake seemed to be fighting off his own amusement, but as Lou was attempting to climb onto his lap, he had an excuse for not responding.

“You need not even ask Aunt Selina’s father for her hand,” Arthur said, “for he is dead too. But perhaps you could ask my father. He is bound to say yes, for he said last night that he thinks you a right good stick.”

The color of Selina’s face would have put any beet to shame in that moment, but she was obliged to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. She generally adored the naive frankness of children, but it was a different experience to be the one embarrassed by it.

The glance she stole at Mr. Drake only threatened her composure further, for his eyes danced in that particular way that made it so difficult to believe him the manipulative, selfish fortune hunter he was.

“That is very kind of your father,” Mr. Drake said, bouncing Lou up and down on his knee so that she giggled adorably. “I think him a right good stick as well.”

“Do you think Aunt Selina a right good stick too?” Teddy asked.

Mr. Drake’s eyes flitted to Selina just as Jane grimaced apologetically at her.