Introducing Kate and James Part 1

The heroine of The Earl's Dilemma, Kate Honeycourt, has two secrets. One, that she desperately loves James Hargrave, Earl of Arden. Two, that she's found a priest's hole hidden in the library. It's her secret place, where she writes in her diary.

But Kate's hiding place becomes a trap when her brother (Harry) and James arrive unexpectedly.

James and Harry discuss marriage over a glass of brandy -- and Kate is an unwilling witness to their conversation.

Here are a few snippets from that conversation:

“You’ve got two months to find a bride,” her brother said, as he refilled James’s glass.

“Yes.”

“So what the devil are you doing in Yorkshire?” Leather creaked as Harry sat down again. “The Season has started. You should be in London.”

“Débutantes.” An expression of distaste crossed James’s face.

“What’s wrong with débutantes?”

James swallowed a mouthful of brandy. “You don’t get mobbed by them—and their mamas.”

Harry laughed. “Of course not! I’m not half so well-favored as you.”

[This is, alas, true. Harry and Kate both have the Honeycourt coloring: red hair and freckles.]

“So, not a débutante?”

“No,” James said. “A woman whose character is formed. I want to know what I’m getting. I have no wish for a wife whose company will grow irksome.”

“And you want my help. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

James looked at Harry. It seemed to Kate that he didn’t wish to speak. “No,” he said finally. “It’s not.”

“Not?” Harry sat up straighter, his tone baffled. “What then?”

James frowned past Harry at the wall. It was as if he stared directly at Kate. She shrank back in the priest’s hole.

“I’m here because I want to marry your sister,” James said.

Harry choked on his brandy.

[Now Kate has been in love with James for the past eleven years. So hearing these words should be a dream come true. Or not...]

“You want to marry Kate?” Harry said, when he’d regained his breath. “Why?”

Yes, why? Kate leaned closer to the peephole again and looked at James’s face. There was a crease between his eyebrows. His lips were pressed tightly together.

“Because I think we should deal tolerably well together.”

She closed her eyes. No.

“That’s no reason to marry,” Harry said

“I have to marry.” James’s tone was flat. “And I like Kate better than any other lady of my acquaintance. I know her. She’s not going to turn into a shrew on me.”

“But you don’t love her.”

For a brief, foolish second there was hope. James’s words extinguished it: “Of course I don’t.”

“James . . .” Harry sounded worried. “You’re my best friend and I’d be pleased to have you for a brother, but―”

“You think it’s a bad idea.”

“I want you to be happy. Both of you. And I don’t know whether this . . .” Kate opened her eyes to see Harry shaking his head.

“It’s the only choice I have left. Damn it, Harry, if it must be a marriage of convenience, then I want a wife I can tolerate.” James’s voice was hard and his expression would have sent a dozen footmen scurrying for cover.

Tolerate. Something in Kate’s chest clenched miserably.

So, there you have it: Kate learns that the man she loves is about to propose. She's not overjoyed; rather, she wishes she could run away!




The new edition of The Earl's Dilemma is out shortly. Next week I'll post a snippet from the proposal scene.


[Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum collection of public domain images: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.CO....]