Scandal by Amanda Quick

knuckles went white. She could not meet Simon's eyes as she turned at the end of the room and started pacing back toward the desk. Best to say it quickly and get it over and done, she decided.
    "My lord, I must confess I have misled you most shamefully. I have flirted outrageously with you. I have led you on in a shocking fashion and allowed you to believe that I would welcome an offer of marriage from you."
    There was a short, charged silence from the vicinity of the desk. Then Simon asked coldly, "Are you trying to tell me you would not welcome such an offer?"
    "Oh, no, my lord. It is not that at all." She threw him an anguished glance, spun around on her heel, and strode bravely back toward the opposite end of the room. "I assure you I would be deeply honored by such an offer. Deeply honored. But I cannot in good conscience allow you to make one."
    "How do you intend to stop me?"
    "By telling you the truth about myself. A truth that I fully expected someone else to have told you long before now." Emily frowned for an instant. "Indeed, I cannot imagine why someone has not mentioned the Unfortunate Incident to you before this but since the good people of Little Dippington have seen fit to keep their mouths shut, I must confess all."
    "The confession must be an interesting one, indeed, if it must be made in secret at this hour of the night."
    The sound of crystal clinking gently on crystal came from the brandy table. Emily risked a quick sidelong glance and saw that the earl had poured himself another brandy. It struck her that she could do with another one herself.
    "My lord, I shall try to make this as brief as possible so that you may get on about your affairs." Emily took a deep breath and steeled herself. "The horrid truth is that you cannot possibly ask for my hand in marriage for the simple reason that I am a ruined woman."
    "Ruined for what? You look in fine fettle to me. Healthy as a horse."
    Emily squeezed her eyes shut and came to a halt facing the bookshelves at the far end of the room. "You mistake my meaning, my lord," she said quietly. "I am trying to tell you that I am socially ruined. To be blunt, there is a great scandal in my past."
    "A scandal?"
    "A scandal involving a man. The scandal is of such proportions that I have been assured by my family that no decent man, especially a man with a duty to a noble title such as yours, could possibly wish to marry me."
    There, Emily thought bleakly. It is done. She waited for the storm that must surely come. The Earl of Blade would not appreciate the fact that she had allowed him to make a cake of himself for more than a sennight.
    "Are we by any chance discussing that bit of nonsense that occurred when you were nineteen?" Simon asked blandly.
    Emily was thrown into instant confusion. "You have heard about the Incident, my lord?"
    "Rest assured, my dear, I always try to fortify myself with as much information as possible before I set out on a project. It is an old habit of mine. One I picked up during my years in the East."
    She turned to stare at him, not understanding how he could be taking this so lightly. "My lord, it was not a trifling matter. It was an elopement. Or rather, it was supposed to be an elopement. I fear I foolishly surrendered to an excess of romantic passion and paid the price."
    "This grows more interesting by the moment."
    "Bloody hell, Blade, this is not a joke. Do you not understand? I ran off with a man. My father caught up with us but it was…" she cleared her throat with a small cough, "it was too late."
    "Too late?" The earl cocked a brow, not looking in the least alarmed.
    "We were obliged to spend the night on the road," Emily mumbled. She averted her gaze from Simon's gleaming eyes. "My father did not find me until the next morning."
    "I see. Tell me something, Emily. Why is it I have the distinct impression you do not entirely regret the Incident?"
    Emily resumed her pacing. "I assure you, I do now. But I confess that at the time, it