Page 59 of A Much Maligned Miss

“There is only one way to clear things up,” he answered coolly. “And the solution is an entirely obvious one.”

“Oh, yes?” she answered, taking another sip of wine. “What is it?”

“For you to marry me, of course.”

Caroline choked on her mouthful of wine and had to spend the next few seconds coughing and wiping her eyes. “Gervaise…”

“I am talking sense,” Gervaise said sternly. “With a special license, Canon Petrie could marry us quietly in his obscure little church. That way we can clean up your reputation and make our little jaunt together almost entirely respectable.”

“I thought it was your reputation you were concerned about.”

“Caroline…”

“If I was to marry you—” she began hesitantly.

“Yes.”

“You say it would make reparation for our four days on the road?”

“Yes.”

“But what about our arrangement here? Would it make that respectable?”

He gave her a level look. “I think you’ll find such arrangements are permitted and even encouraged within marriage, my dear. They would form part of my conjugal rights.”

“No, I mean my being here at The Citadel,” she persisted doggedly.

“Of course not,” he replied coolly. “Fortunately, everyone knows you here under a false name. We would have to distance you at once from the establishment and pay off anyone whose memory proved inconvenient. Countess Atherton could not possibly have resided in a gin palace. I would have thought that much was obvious.”

Caroline paused and took a deep breath. “And that is why I do not wish to do it,” she said earnestly. “I want to stay. I like it here. It suits me admirably.”

Gervaise stared at her. “Living here suits you?”

“Eminently. I love it. The people, the atmosphere, the building…”

“The people?” he repeated incredulously.

“Yes, the people,” she said, lifting her chin. “Effie, Reg, Gracie, Ralph, Violet, Mr. Bailey, all of them. It’s so colorful here. I feel like I am really seeing something of life!”

“And you feel that marrying me would return you to a colorless existence?” he asked in an expressionless voice.

“Well…” she hesitated. “You just admitted that I would not be permitted within a five mile of The Citadel if I was to marry you.”

“You most assuredly would not, but as my wife other doors would open to you. Doors which are currently shut fast.”

“You mean doors like the one to your uncle’s townhouse,” she answered.

“That would be one of them, yes.”

She fiddled with the stem of her wineglass. “We would make our home with him, I suppose, as a married couple,” she said in a stifled voice.

“As his heir, that would be the expectation,” he acknowledged.

She sent him a fleeting look. “You did not make him sound terribly exciting company,” she said evasively. “And when I met him…well…” Her words trailed off, as it dawned on her she was being somewhat undiplomatic.

Gervaise huffed. “I am to take it you contrast my uncle unfavorably with the likes of Reg, am I?” he asked caustically.

“I like Reg,” she replied staunchly.