An Innocent Proposal. Helen Dickson
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for something to turn up. He’s always been like that. Ever since the death of our parents he has had so many misconceptions about life. The estate—such as it is now that most of the land has been sold and we are left with just the house and the tenant farms—makes demands on us that should, in all fairness, have been seen to before James allowed himself the luxury of pleasure.”
There was sympathy in Timothy’s eyes which told Louisa he understood exactly.
“I have to agree with you there,” he said.
“For a long time now I have lived a spartan existence at Bierlow, making do with just the bare necessities. The estate has never meant as much to James as it does to me,” she said with a trace of sadness. “I know that, and he’s always hated the country. When he did spare the time to visit he would cheer me and promise that everything would soon be all right again—and like a fool I wanted to believe him—but it never was. I love Bierlow, Timothy. It holds so many memories. It’s my home. I can’t see it go. You do understand, don’t you?”
Timothy smiled with understanding. “Of course. But you’ll have to leave one day—when you marry,” he stated gently.
“I know. I understand it can never be mine—not in the way it will be James’s—and I accept that, but I must keep it in the family. James may not appreciate it now, but I am sure he will in time—when he finds the right woman and marries and settles down to have children.”
“James doesn’t realise how lucky he is to have you for a sister. But I cannot let you go ahead with this. I am on your side, first and foremost,” he said soothingly, “and you shouldn’t be worrying about this sort of thing. It is for James to get himself out of this mess. Believe me, Louisa, it’s for your sake I say this. If you go ahead with this crazy idea your reputation will be in shreds in no time at all. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course, but I do not place my virtue above retaining all that is important and dear to me—to me and to James, even though he doesn’t yet know it. The shame is something I shall have to live with, but what I am about to do countless women have done before,” she said quietly. “No one will know who I am. Lord Dunstan will think of me as Miss Divine. He need never know I am James’s sister. I shall disappear from his life just as soon as I have what I want.”
Timothy frowned, his eyes piercing right through her. “You have seen Lord Dunstan since last night, haven’t you, Louisa?”
“Yes, I have,” she admitted. “At Mr Brewster’s bookshop in Fleet Street when I was there earlier to purchase a book I wanted. We met quite by chance.”
“And he approached you—propositioned you?”
“Yes.”
Timothy’s expression became violent. “Good God! Has the man no scruples?”
“Why should he?” she replied with slight irony. “I was at Lady Bricknell’s party, don’t forget. That alone condemns me in his eyes. It is only natural he would assume I am James’s mistress.”
“Louisa, please don’t do this,” Timothy pleaded. “You don’t know the kind of man Alistair Dunstan is—what you are letting yourself in for. You have no knowledge or experience of men like him and you could very soon find yourself out of your depth. The man is cold and ruthless and as hard as steel. He attracts women effortlessly, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake. If he wants you, he may refuse to let you go—and you may not want to—but if he tires of you he will discard you like a broken toy. Better James is sent to the debtors’ gaol than that.”
Louisa paled. “That I could not bear, Timothy. James would never survive it.”
“In my opinion a gentleman is better off dead or humbled than alive and proud at the expense of his sister’s virtue,” he scorned.
“Nevertheless, I have to do this—my mind is made up,” Louisa said in a curiously flat and unemotional voice. “I will be a quiet bedfellow for Lord Dunstan—not a willing one. I think he will soon be more than happy to be rid of me.”
As to that, Timothy very much doubted. Living in isolation, Louisa had no concept of men of Lord Dunstan’s calibre. If she did but know it, her face and figure were her fortune, and he couldn’t think of any man who would willingly part with her having once possessed her—including the formidable Lord Dunstan. His face took on a judicial look.
“And what will you tell James? You will have to tell him, you know. Do you think that for one minute he will agree to this madcap idea?”
“I have no intention of telling him. He mustn’t find out, Timothy. Please—please promise me you will not tell him,” she pleaded.
Timothy’s face was grim. “It seems you leave me with little choice, but I don’t like it, Louisa. James is my friend and there have never been secrets between us. If he should find out about this—and that I was a party to it—it could very well mean the end of our friendship.”
Louisa sighed, looking at his kind face and seeing it was full of concern for her. “I know. I am sorry to place this burden upon you, Timothy. But I do not believe it would come to that. Your friendship means a great deal to James.”
“Have you arranged a meeting with Lord Dunstan?”
“No, but James insists on accepting Lord Dunstan’s invitation and going to Dunstan House on Thursday evening. I shall accompany him, and I would like you to come too, Timothy, to keep an eye on him, just in case he is tempted to play cards and we find another stack of IOUs at the end of the evening.” She sighed deeply. “It will be difficult enough persuading one gentleman to return his IOU—any more would be quite impossible.”
“Yes, I’ll come, but do you think that once you have been with Lord Dunstan, and you have what you want that you will remain untouched, that it will be easy to forget and carry on as if nothing has happened? Because it won’t. You will not be able to leave your demons behind, Louisa, and the harder you run, the harder they will chase you. You are heading straight for your downfall. Not even the craziest gambler would risk this.”
“Then let us be thankful that, for James’s sake and my own, I am not a gambler,” she said, “otherwise nothing would be done.”
She frowned, suddenly thoughtful, thinking of all the painted and gaudily dressed ladies she had seen at Lady Bricknell’s house. “My biggest problem is what to wear. I do not possess any fashionable gowns, and heaven forbid I should be seen wearing the cream one I travelled up from Surrey in—the one I was wearing when I went in search of James last night—which is plain and deplorably out of fashion. All my other dresses are at Bierlow, most of them faded and mended anyway, so they would not do either, and I cannot possibly afford a new one. It is imperative that I make an impression.”
“Perhaps I can help there. My sister Amelia is about your size, I should think, and has more gowns than she knows what to do with. I’ll see what I can do.”
Louisa smiled gratefully. “Oh, Timothy, would she mind?”
He grinned. “No. If I know my woolly-headed sister she’d not even notice their disappearance if I took them without her knowing.”
“Oh, no,” Louisa said quickly, shocked that Timothy might do just that. “You mustn’t do that. You must ask her properly, even though she might refuse.”
In the midst of this grave situation a twinkle came into his eyes. “I think I can answer for my sister. I promise she will be only too pleased to lend you anything you might need. In fact, because of her fondness for James, which never ceases to amaze me considering his unappealing habits,” he said, not unkindly, “she’ll look on it as a pleasure.”
“Thank you,” Louisa said, her expression serious, her eyes troubled as she realised that Timothy had now become her ally as well as her friend. “I want to shine, Timothy. I have to dazzle Lord Dunstan. He has to want me enough to pay me four thousand guineas.”
Louisa’s face was