A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara Page B

appeared in the doorway. His gaze focused on Julia, and he smiled. “How fortunate, Miss Julia. I thought you might already have taken your leave.”
    Julia favored him with a curt nod. It was the most she’d allow him. “I’m sure we’ll be off soon enough.”
    “Perhaps we’ll run into each other later. Lady Whitby is hosting a rout, and I daresay there’ll be a spot of dancing. Might I hope you’ll save me a waltz?”
    “Dreadfully sorry. I’m afraid I stepped out because I felt a headache coming on. I think it best if I head directly home.”
    Ludlowe’s smile faltered. “Pity. I suppose I’ll see you on Monday, then.”
    With a bow, he turned on his heel and, signaling for a footman, strode toward the stairs.
    “The man is making himself a regular nuisance.”
    Julia felt Benedict’s comment as much as she heard it. He’d managed to hover closer in the time Ludlowe took to summon his carriage.
    Upperton crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “No surprise there, considering.”
    “Considering what?” Julia asked.
    Benedict stepped forward, menacingly in Julia’s opinion. “Yes, Upperton, perhaps you’d like to explain.” He punctuated this statement with a jerk of his head in Sophia’s direction.
    Upperton raised a pair of pale eyebrows. “Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to read.”
    “While that might be true, you don’t always use your head, do you?”
    Julia stared at one man, then the other. They’d been friends since their school days, and any insults they traded were usually good-natured. Not this time. Benedict was glaring at Upperton.
    “I’m completely at sea,” Sophia said.
    “As am I,” Julia chimed in.
    Upperton pushed himself away from the wall. “Why should it come as a surprise that a charming young lady of good reputation and family should attract a suitor?”
    There was more to it than that, but Julia knew she would not get the real explanation now. Not while Upperton and Benedict continued their silent conversation right over her head.
    “What I want to know,” Benedict said at last, “is why Ludlowe thinks he’s going to see you on Monday.”
    “Mama must have invited him to dinner,” Sophia said softly, the hurt evident in her tone. “She did not tell me.”
    Julia stared at her sister. Sophia gave a small jerk of her shoulders in reply to her unasked question. Julia couldn’tfathom their mother’s lack of tact. It was one thing to hold a dinner to announce Sophia’s betrothal; it was quite another to invite the object of Sophia’s infatuation to witness the proceedings.
    Underneath it all, Julia understood what guided her mother’s actions. She’d seat Julia and Ludlowe next to each other in hopes they’d get on together. Ludlowe would serve Julia the choicest morsels from whatever rich dishes were closest and charm her with his wit and good looks.
    Why marry off one daughter, when she could marry off two? And what’s more, to earls, the both of them.
    If she dared, Julia could thwart her mother’s plans. Benedict would leap at the chance to separate her from Ludlowe. But would he see an invitation from her as encouragement? She stopped herself from shaking her head. She was being ridiculous. Over the course of their childhood, they’d dined in each other’s presence on any number of occasions. Surely he wouldn’t read anything more into an invitation than simple friendship. Just the way things had always stood between them.
    Julia laid a hand on Benedict’s forearm. Beneath the fine wool of his tailcoat, solid muscles clenched. “Would you like to have dinner with us on Monday?”

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    “N OW THIS is a fine specimen of a mare. Lovely lines, healthy teeth, wide-set eyes, and deep chest.”
    In spite of himself, Benedict tensed. He’d been waiting for this moment all afternoon.
    As if she could understand the auctioneer’s words, Nefertari swished her tail and held her head high, looking down on the mere