Page 18 of A Dangerous Engagement

When Mr.Ratley reached her, he took her hand between his. His touch was so gentle and his expression so attentive.

She took another deep breath and let it out. “I think something is wrong, but I don’t know what it is. And yet, I feel everyone else here does know.”

His gentle expression changed slightly, and he no longer looked her in the eye. He nodded. “I should have realized you were too astute not to discover the truth. Come with me.” He put her hand through his arm and led her into a nearby sitting room and closed the door.

“I am sorry the argument last night was disturbing to you. The truth is, we are a group of politically minded Britons, spread throughout the country, who are determined to right the wrongs of society.”

When he did not continue, she asked, “Right the wrongs of society? What does that signify?” The skin on her arms and the back of her neck tingled.

“I know that you are too kind and intelligent to misunderstand the wrongs I speak of. People are downtrodden and unable to feed their families. You are too shrewd not to have heard of the atrocities that are perpetrated by the rich and privileged. And nothing will change until we change it.”

Memories of hangings and transportations for treasonous activities and unlawful oath-takings in recent years flooded her mind. She tried to force her expression not to change, to listen calmly, but she felt the blood draining from her face.

“I’ve been told I’m not good at explaining things. I need Lady Blackstone to help me explain.”

He started to rise from his seat, but she grabbed his arm. “Tell me the truth. Are you trying to overthrow the government?”

He sat down beside her and took a deep breath. “Lady Blackstone warned me not to tell you all at once. She said you should learn everything gradually. I should have asked her to do it. But you must try to understand.” He pursed his lips together and rubbed his chin.

She whispered, “How will you mount this ... this insurrection?”

“Darling, people are starving. The wealthy in this country do not care, and we must make them care.” He still would not look her in the eye, and his brow creased more deeply with every word. “You would not have people—innocent, good people and their children—starve in the streets, in the villages, because the mill owners and the masters refuse to pay them a decent wage. You are too kind and gentle to want to see that continue in our country.”

Of course she would not allow that if she could prevent it, but she stared back at him without speaking. Her mind was churning, searching for a way out.O God, help me be wise. Give me a glib tongue to say the right thing.What would he and Lady Blackstone do to her if she did not agree with them?

She had engaged herself to a man who was bent on revolution.

Still, might she not be able to persuade him?

“You cannot know what you are involved in,” she began, leaning close and practically forcing him to look her in the eye. “What you are plotting is sedition, and it is punishable by death. You will be hanged, or at the very least, transported to a faraway country for many years. Your actions could cause the death of innocent people—you amongst them.”

“Darling, you know I love you.” Finally, he was looking her in the eye as he caught hold of her upper arms. “Please do not be angry with me. All will be well. We have many, many followers. We are very strong, and once we are in power, we will make things better for all people.”

“And what if I do not agree with your methods for making things better?” She thought of her brother engaged in military service out of loyalty for his country, fighting Napoleon in a foreign land. She thought of the Prince Regent, King George III, and all the royal family. She thought of her friend Lady Withinghall and her husband, the viscount. Would they be murdered as the French revolutionaries had murdered thousands of innocent aristocrats and their families, even their young children?

Her fiancé suddenly looked like a stranger, and a dangerous one at that.

“Listen, darling. Our intentions are good. We would not hurt any innocent people.”

“Surely that is what the French revolutionaries said as well.”

“Please don’t look at me like that.” His voice turned wheedling. “I thought you would understand. Lady Blackstone said you were as tired of the hypocrisy as the rest of us, that you disliked society’s cruelties toward the less fortunate. Don’t you want to see people helped and lives made better? The hungry fed and the naked clothed?”

Felicity might have asked him how he planned to accomplish such things, but she didn’t trust her voice not to tremble and break. What had she stumbled into? To what had Lady Blackstone invited her? Had she truly seemed the kind of person who wanted to join with revolutionaries to overthrow the government?

“Darling.” He took her hand in his and leaned in close. “Together we will make this country a better place for all. Lady Blackstone says we are very close to our goals. We could make an advance on Parliament in just a month or so.”

“Make an advance on Parliament? What does that mean?”

Mr.Ratley actually smiled. “Now don’t you concern yourself about any of the details. Lady Blackstone and I and the rest of the men here will take care of the particulars.”

He bent and kissed her on the lips, a quick action that she had not anticipated.

“But I must ask your father’s permission to marry you. Isn’t that what society dictates?” His smug smile made her stomach churn. “A letter will be sufficient, don’t you think? No need to go all the way to London. Shall I write to him directly?”

She should say something. She should say, “I beg you will not write to him at all.” But fear gripped her, paralyzing her insides. She said nothing.

“Darling, you are not still worried, are you? Listen, we will go and find Lady Blackstone. By the time she is finished explaining it all to you, you will be as eager as the rest of us to begin at once. Lady Blackstone can use your sharp mind to great advantage in the planning. A woman who has the gumption to study Chinese on her own ...”