Mistress - Amanda Quick [108]
“You remind me of your brother when you do that,” Iphiginia said dryly.
Bennet scowled. “When I do what?”
“Never mind. What was it you wanted?”
“Mrs. Bright, I will be blunt. The whole world is saying that my brother intends to marry a respectable young lady of the ton. But I know the truth.”
“You do?”
“He told me that it is you he plans to wed,” Bennet blurted. “It is a crazed notion, but I know him well and I fear that it is not beyond the realm of possibility that he would do something so … so …”
“So what?”
“So impossible as to wed a most improper female simply because he has taken a fancy to do so. He has no regard for Society’s opinion or for propriety or tradition.”
Iphiginia studied Bennet’s earnest features. “I have heard that your brother has withdrawn his objection to a marriage between you and Juliana Dorchester.”
“What in blazes has that got to do with anything?”
“Masters told me that he has many grave concerns about an alliance between you and Miss Dorchester. Yet he concluded that you were no longer a boy in need of his guidance. He feels that you are a mature man who has the right to make his own decisions.”
“He should feel that way. I am a mature man.” Bennet’s gloved hands clenched and unclenched. “But my own plans for marriage have nothing to do with this discussion.”
“Against his better judgment but out of respect for you, your brother has elected to stay out of your affairs. Don’t you owe him the same courtesy?”
“Damnation, this is an entirely different matter. Miss Dorchester is a perfectly respectable young lady without a single blemish on her reputation. An innocent. She is above reproach. Marcus had no right to raise any objections to my intention to ask for her hand.”
“You think not?”
“No offense, madam, but you are hardly in the same category as Juliana Dorchester. You are a woman of the world, if you do not mind my stating the obvious.”
“Your brother is a man of the world.”
“Yes, he is, but he is certainly not acting as though he were,” Bennet retorted. “He appears to be smitten by you, Mrs. Bright. I vow, you have put some sort of spell upon him.”
“What on earth makes you say that?”
“Why else would he violate his most closely held rule? He once vowed never to remarry. I confess, I had hoped he would change his mind. But I never dreamed he would do something so mad as to marry his mistress.”
That was too much. Iphiginia was at the end of her tether. She had been under a strain for too long and now something inside her snapped.
“I am sick of hearing about Masters and his rules,” she said forcefully. “He is not the only one who has chosen to live by his own rules. I happen to possess one or two myself.”
“One can only speculate about the sort of rules a woman such as yourself would choose to honor. Do you have one which states that you will take only wealthy men as paramours?”
“I do not need a wealthy man to take care of me. In case you have not paid attention, Bennet, I control a rather handsome fortune of my own.”
“Maybe it’s the title you’re after.”
“I assure you, gaining a tide is the least of my concerns. I value my freedom and my rights as an independent widow far too highly to surrender them for a mere title.”
“Then just what sort of rules do you abide by, Mrs. Bright?”
“There is only one that need concern you. I have an ironclad rule which states that I will never, ever marry a man who does not love me. And as your brother has never once said that he loves me, it does not require any great intellect to perceive that Masters is perfectly safe from me.”
Bennet stared at her. “Mrs. Bright—”
“Begone, sir. I hate discussions of rules. I wish to be left alone.” Iphiginia spun around on her heel and rushed toward the steps that led down into the garden.
She ran straight into Marcus, who had just emerged from behind a hedge.
“Ooph.” Iphiginia staggered and lost her balance as she crashed against his broad chest.
Marcus steadied her while he looked at his brother. “What