Silence descended upon the box, and every eye turned to Clarissa and Edwin. As her mother’s mouth dropped open, Clarissa froze. How dared he? She was going to kill him!
This time she was the one to start forward, and Edwin was the one to grip her hand where it clutched his arm. “Not now, not here,” he murmured, echoing her own words.
It was clear from Durand’s expression that he hadn’t believed the lie Clarissa and Edwin had told him. So he meant to corner them, to force them to either confirm his suspicion or admit publicly to an engagement.
If they didn’t admit it, he would be back to hounding her everywhere. But if they did, Edwin . . .
“Engaged?” her mother squeaked as she recovered her wits. She rounded on Clarissa and Edwin. “You’re engaged, my dears? How fabulous! I knew it would come—I knew it!” She limped up to Clarissa. “What did Edwin say? What did you say? How did it come about? Oh, do tell me everything!”
“You didn’t know about the betrothal, Lady Margrave?” Durand asked, with a veiled glance at Clarissa.
“Of course not.” Mama tipped her head to one side. “It just happened, didn’t it?”
As Clarissa stood there in a panic, Edwin stepped into the breach. “Not exactly. Forgive us, but we were waiting until Warren’s return to ask for his blessing at the same time we asked for your permission.” His voice sharpened. “Count Durand knew this, but apparently couldn’t abide by our wish that he keep silent on the subject.”
A small frown appeared on Mama’s brow. “Exactly how long have you had an understanding? And why would you tell Count Durand, but not me?”
“We didn’t tell him. He discovered it by accident.” Edwin leveled Durand with a cold glance. “And now he means to embarrass us with it, presumably out of a fit of pique over Clarissa’s rejection of his own proposal of marriage.”
For once, Clarissa was glad of his bluntness. Even though an audible gasp came from their guests, who looked scandalized by the public exposure of Count Durand’s motives, the angry flush rising up the Frenchman’s neck made her want to kiss Edwin.
Take that, Count. Perhaps next time you’ll think twice before confronting me and Edwin.
Although she did feel sorry for poor Lady Anne, who paled as she apparently realized that the count had merely used her to get admitted to Clarissa’s box.
“Edwin, for shame,” Mama said with a tsking noise. “I agree that the man shouldn’t have spoken out of turn, but there’s no need for you to lord it over him because you gained my daughter’s hand and he did not.”
If Clarissa weren’t still furious at the Frenchman, she would have laughed at his scowl in response to Mama’s words.
“They’ve been engaged for nearly a week,” Count Durand bit out, clearly determined to keep stirring up trouble. “I can’t imagine why your daughter wouldn’t at least mention it to you, madam.”
But it had finally sunk in with Mama that Clarissa would be marrying at last, and the man’s insinuations couldn’t ruin that for her. “A week, you say? Well.” She patted Clarissa’s shoulder. “I do wish you’d told me sooner, my dear, for we could have started the wedding preparations that much earlier. But no matter. Have you talked about when to marry? Where?”
“Mama,” Clarissa said, “let us discuss this later, if you please.”
“Why? We’ve no time to waste. We must start thinking about it all.” She began to muse aloud. “You could marry in St. Paul’s Cathedral. But it would have to be in summer, for the cathedral is very damp, even in spring. Or perhaps St. James’s? No, too small.” She turned to her friends. “What do you think? She could marry from home, but I would prefer a London wedding.”
Mama’s friends agreed with her, of course. A London wedding in a prominent church would be the height of fashion.
In the meantime, the rest of their guests were whispering about Clarissa and Edwin and their secret engagement. Her stomach roiled. By the time she and Edwin left the theater, everyone in the place would have heard of it.
And all thanks to the meddling Count Durand. The next time the man’s back was turned, she was liable to push him right off the balcony!
But she dared not let him see her true feelings. Given how intently he watched her, he was waiting for her to explode, waiting for her to give something away. She would not give him the satisfaction.
“Oh, well,” she said as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “It’s probably a blessing in disguise that the count revealed our secret.” With a syrupy smile, she stared adoringly up at Edwin. “It has been so hard to hide it from everyone, has it not?”
Edwin gazed down at her, his expression bland. “Yes, very hard.”
“And now we don’t have to.” She forced a smile to her lips for the count’s benefit. “Thank you for that, sir.”
Count Durand’s eyes narrowed on them both. Ha! If he thought she was going to fall into hysterics because of his machinations, he was daft.