Midnight Marriage: A Georgian Historical Romance (Roxton Family Saga Book One)

“Allow me to introduce myself: Julian Hesham Esquire.” He glanced at the old man. “Miss Cavendish and I have been discussing our marriage—”
Deb’s eyes immediately lifted from her coffee dish as a ready blush of embarrassment seized her throat and cheeks. It was one thing to jest of marriage with her in private conversation, quite another to continue the jest in front of her host. One swift glance in his direction told Deb the old man was in utter disbelief at his godson’s pronouncement.
“You must stop this nonsense at once,” she demanded in a low voice, up on her feet.
“—and how I put my foot down at inviting her brother Sir Gerald to stay overnight,” the Marquis finished off.
“It wouldn’t have mattered to me one jot had you been an adventurer,” Deb continued, napkin cast aside. “But to tease a girl you have only met once and in-in trying circumstances, a girl you know not the first particular about and who knows nothing about you, with an offer of marriage, an obligation you have no intention of fulfilling, is beyond forgiveness.”
Julian appealed to Martin Ellicott.
“Tell her I am in earnest, mon parrain.”
“I do not know what circles you mix in, Mr. Hesham—if that is in truth your name—but in the society to which I belong, your actions would not only be considered heartless but unconscionable! And—and those of a-a lunatic.”
“Please, Miss Cavendish, if you would—”
“Why do you smile? Do you think it amusing? Do you see me as an object of fun, sir? To a gentleman of your address, adventurer or no, I suppose a spinster nearing her twenty-first birthday must amuse someone used to the attentions of—oh! a dozen females at every ball and rout. Well, I assure you, yours is not the only marriage proposal I’ve ever received! In fact, the ones I have received were in earnest, not made as a cruel jest! Indeed I had one this morning. And from a gentleman who would never make me such an offer unless he truly meant it!”
“I repeat: I am in earnest.”
“To think I went to the trouble of bandaging you up!"
Excerpt From: Lucinda Brant. “Midnight Marriage: A Georgian Historical Romance.”