Meant to Bea

CHAPTER TWO

Heat.

Bianca fought against the urge to reach up and tug on the collar of her dress as sweat caused the fabric to cling to her skin. She thought to request for the fire in the fireplace to be put out, but she doubted anyone would pay her any mind. Certainly not her father, for he sat on the chair across from her, visibly furious. His foot tapped loudly on the wooden floor, two deep lines pulled on the edges of his brows and his hand stroked his grey mustache in what she recognised to be his way of calming himself down. Her step mother too would prove to be of no help, for she was too busy gloating. And her sister...

Sighing softly, Bianca glanced down at her sweaty palms. Surely it was delight she saw in her half sister's eyes, surely the news of Bianca's stupid mistake delighted her.

And a mistake it had been. It had been a mistake to agree to her sister's suggestion to deliver the letter rejecting Mr. Belington's proposal to him in Bath. It had certainly been a mistake to allow herself be offered a room in his house. But her ultimate mistake was giving herself to him and enjoying every second of it. Nobody told her how delightful it would be to be in a man's arms and how difficult -impossible even- to pull away from his seduction. Nobody told her that such a seduction would most likely cause her to pay a big price.

"It's quite obvious to me, Mr. Belington, that you would have done anything to be married into my family, including seducing my daughter." Lord Leeds' voice was dangerously low.

Bianca snuck a peek at Mr. Belington who was seated on the couch beside her. It was the first time since the night they had been together, that she would catch a glimpse of him for he avoided her. She had woken up that morning -with the memory of the night before, filling her with dread- to an empty bed. Not long after, a maid had shown up, helped her get dressed, before a footman brought her home to Camden. At first she had been horrified and confused. What was she going to tell her father once she returned? Would he believe her tale of mistakenly sharing a stranger's bed? Would he forgive her? And where was Mr. Belington anyway? Would he even admit to ruining her, or would he deny it, vindicating himself?

Some of her questions were answered the moment she arrived home; Mr. Belington had arrived before her, and had informed her father. She imagined her father's reaction when he was told, but she was thankful Mr. Belington had gone ahead of her to take most of the blame for their actions.

A small frown creased his face as he sat beside her, most likely borne out of frustration. Nonetheless, he was indeed handsome. His curly brown hair fell to his forehead in a boyish display, his eyes were as blue as the sky, and his lips -she sighed as a wave of heat washed over her skin at the memory of his lips pressed to hers. His rosy red lips possessed the power to cause any woman to give in to his demands.

No doubt her sister found him attractive as well. In fact, Bianca knew most women of the ton found him attractive, they just would not admit to being attracted to the bastard son of a Marquess. He could have the face of an angel, for all they cared, his lack of a title, and an honourable background, made him unwanted.

"I certainly did not intend to, Your grace, this was an unfortunate misunderstanding. " He folded his hands in his lap, frustration visible on his face.

"How so, Mr. Belington? Surely you meant for this to happen! Surely you meant to shame my father before all of England and look, father, what great scandal this shall cause!" Carla said, trying and failing to sound displeased.

Mr. Belington turned to Carla. "Did you not get my letter, my lady? It was my intention to be wed to you, I sent a marriage certificate. "

"Of course it was, of course you didn't mean to be stuck with Bianca here. " She motioned to Bianca. "Nobody wants her. How unfortunate, really, that she would seduce you like that."