Page 11 of Regency in Color

His brow furrowed in concern. “I’m sorry, did I not speak clearly enough? I confess to recently consuming a generous amount of alcohol, which might be causing my speech to slur.”

“No, my ears picked up the words emitting from your mouth, but they were so absurd my brain can’t comprehend them.”

“What is so absurd about it?”

Where should she begin? The list was so vast she couldn’t decide. Of the many reasons, though, the most important was that she still loved him. The thought of him trying to pawn her off on another man broke her heart anew and made her feel more foolish. Her flame still burned for him, while his love had extinguished a long time ago.

But why? Why did he want to embark on this foolhardy mission? The question clung to the roof of her mouth, refusing to leap forth into existence because she didn’t know if she were strong enough to hear the answer.

“How will you help me find a husband? And more importantly . . . Wh—Why do you wish to do so?”

Colin bowed his head like a petulant boy giving an account of his misdeeds in front of an incensed governess. “Because I owe you that and so much more. I can never fully make up for treating you so horribly in the past. But I can help you secure a pleasant future.”

Juliana jerked as if she’d taken a right hook to the heart. Repentance—not love. He wanted a clear conscience, no doubt, so he could move on and marry some flawless young lady without contrition of how he’d left things with Juliana.

She crossed her arms over her chest, a volcano of resentment bubbling up inside her. She might as well hear the rest of his outlandish plan. To learn what he thought wrong with her and how he planned to fix her so she could make a match.

“And how do you propose to help me procure a husband?”

“I will teach you how to be more desirable.”

Juliana’s mouth fell open. Her head snapped back, then tilted to the side as she regarded him with revulsion. “I do believe I am more offended now than I was last night.”

Colin held up his hands in surrender. “Apologies. My mind is not performing at an optimal pace right now.”

“Evidently.”

“What I meant is that I will teach you what will attract a man’s attention. Any man. You will have your pick of proposals.”

It was possible that her pride might not survive much more of this conversation. He had admitted she was undesirable and wanted to help her become so to attract someone else's attention. The insult was almost too much to bear.

“I will never have my pick of proposals. I know next to nothing about running a house, nor do I want to. My skin is several shades too dark for most men’s tastes. And my hearing is subpar at best. No respectable gentleman of any note will want me when he can have a perfect, unblemished English rose.”

Colin had the nerve to become indigent. His cobalt-blue eyes sparkled with disappointment and ire as he said, “Don’t speak so poorly of yourself in my presence ever again.”

Juliana sneered in derision. “You’re the one who thinks I need to be fixed to secure a marriage contract.”

“That’s not—”

“I like myself as I am. Truly I do. But I prefer to remain realistic above all else. And you know, did it ever occur to you to ask what I want before concocting this ludicrous scheme? Whether or not I wished to marry? What if I wanted to travel the world and become a painter?”

He removed his hat and raked a frustrated hand through his rumpled hair. “You’re being unreasonable. I thought you said you are realistic above all else,” he mocked. “With what money will you do this traveling?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll become a working woman,” she tossed out haughtily. Her lips thinned into a scornful smirk. “Or a harlot. Use men like you who can’t resist an upturned skirt to pay my way across the continent.”

Colin’s eyes narrowed into hard slits. “The devil, you will! I’d kill every man who dared to touch you.”

Juliana scoffed at his show of possessiveness. The man was insufferable. “So you’ll help sell me off to one man, but won’t allow me to do so to whomever else I choose? How chivalrous of you.”

“You are twisting my words. I came here with good intentions.”

“Yes, and hell is full of them,” she shouted.

“Damn you, woman!”

Several onlookers had slowed their pace or come to a complete stop to watch their spat. Quarreling with the new Duke of Herstshire in such a public scene would create a new hurdle to her matrimonial crusade. Arguing wasn’t a very ladylike behavior. Her aunt would have her head for it later, but Juliana cared not.

Juliana’s scowl deepened. “There’s the callous blaggard I knew was under all those good intentions.”