An Attempted Engagement

Only one thing stands between Alice Loughton and the man of her dreams: her brother.

Alice has been quiet and shy ever since she met Frederick Kempton at age three. When she decides it’s time to marry, there’s only one man for her. The one man who doesn’t frighten her. The only man she can talk to without wanting to run and hide. Her brother’s best friend, who also happens to work right there in their home.

But her brother knows Frederick Kempton too well, and he’s not about to give his consent to a courtship, not when plenty of richer men are pursuing Alice. And so obedient Alice, who has never broken a rule in her life, is forced to take drastic measures. 

And she’s dragged Freddie along with her. Can he walk the fine line between loyalty to his oldest friend and a chance to woo the woman he’s secretly loved? 

Alice Loughton should not have read that book. Not there, with him sitting
nearby. Not then, when her brother would ask her about it. Not ever, because of the ideas it put into her head.

            She cleared her throat. “Are you sure you wish to hear it, Curtis? It’s of no import. Merely an etiquette book. Small talk, how to be well-dressed, the superior hostess. That sort of thing.”

            Curtis and Freddie exchanged grins. Her brother nodded. “I love those old advice manuals. Ridiculous. We need a laugh tonight, right, Rachel?” 

            Curtis pulled his wife closer on the sofa built especially for two. Freddie had ordered it while Curtis and Rachel spent a holiday in Brighton for their honeymoon. He’d gone to several shops to find something the right size, as Curtis had requested, “for a man to adore his wife.” Freddie’s interpretation was a sofa just barely wide enough for two people to sit together. 

            Curtis adored it.

            Alice perched on a chintz wingback chair by the fireplace, trying to ignore the sentimental scene across the room. Freddie rested casually in a matching chair, seemingly unembarrassed. Nothing discomposed him.

            Except the incident between them on Curtis’s wedding day, when she’d realized Freddie might make a good groom himself. She’d seen a hint of panic in his eyes as they left the chapel, and then he’d bolted after the wedding breakfast. Freddie had avoided her the entire time Curtis and Rachel were away.

            Now the sweethearts were back, and Freddie seemed to think it was safe to venture into the drawing room with her again.

            How wrong he was.

            “It’s a silly bit of old gossip.
Surely, on your first night home, you’d rather tell us about the Royal Pavilion and the seaside.” Alice marked her place with a ribbon.

            Curtis laughed. “No, no. Read on. I’d like to hear it.”

            Oh dear. “Just a bit then. ‘The word adoration is derived from kissing. It means literally to apply to the mouth. Therefore girls should beware those who may ask them with seemingly harmless intent, May I adore you?’”

            Curtis burst into uproarious
laughter while Rachel smiled at her. Freddie grinned widely and said, “May I adore you, Alice?” 

            Their eyes met, and she saw mischief there. Alice relaxed into her chair. All was forgiven. They were friends again, and he could tease her as he always did.

            “Are you finally allowing Kempton to call you by your given name?” Rachel asked. “It’s been long enough. I must say it simplifies things at home.” She turned to Freddie. “And what is she calling
you?”

            They answered at the same time. 

            “Frederick.”

            “Freddie.”

            He left his chair and affected an indignant posture, gesturing to himself. “This dignified gentleman? How could I be anything other than Frederick?” He appealed to Curtis and Rachel. “I ask you. Am I not the very model of a modern gentleman? Refined? Polished?”

            Alice couldn’t help noticing the wave of his dark brown hair, the perfect sideburns, the fit of his vest and trousers. He spent as much time exercising as her brother did, and it showed.

            Alice snapped her book shut. This was the perfect opportunity to divert the conversation away from adoration. “What does your family call you?”

            Freddie assumed a regal pose. “Frederick the Great.”

            Curtis smirked. “How very unpatriotic of them.”

            Freddie slumped onto the chair across from her. “Very well. My father, mother, older brother, four sisters, eight nieces and four nephews all call me Freddie.”

            “And me,” Alice said, smiling. “It suits you better.” She would prefer to open her book and resume reading, but she did not dare. She knew she would blush if her brother asked her to read any more advice aloud. To be caught reading the section on “Love-Kisses” while she sat across from the man she had envisioned kissing was mortifying.

            Rachel studied her, glancing at the closed book on the table and her downcast eyes. She always seemed to sense Alice’s discomfort when Curtis did not. “When is the Old Lion arriving?” Rachel asked. “I actually missed your grandfather while we were away.”

            Curtis’s face changed instantly, lines of tension tightening his expression. “He’ll be early. He asked me to invite Kempton. It’s time to tell them about Uncle Abridge.” He grimaced. 

            Rachel snuggled against her husband’s side. “Oh dear.”

            What’s wrong? Alice felt as though she’d walked into the banister or tripped over her slippers again. The air left her lungs, and her stomach tightened. Then another thought crashed into her. 

            Freddie hadn’t come early to see her or spend time talking. Curtis had arranged it. She’d hoped that the easy friendship between her brother and her brother’s oldest friend would continue when Curtis returned from his honeymoon in Brighton.

            Now she wasn’t so sure that things had been set to rights. Freddie acted natural and easy, but he knew her mind.     

            She wanted to marry someone, and she’d decided he would do. She couldn’t talk to any other man without stammering or meet another man’s gaze without blushing. 

            She’d realized Freddie would make an excellent groom himself at her brother’s wedding and begun to take action. She’d drawn herself too close to him when she’d taken his arm to march down the aisle behind Curtis and Rachel. She’d marched a little too slowly and smiled too encouragingly.

            After years of being spurned by Alice, his shock had been apparent. And then when she’d held on to his arm a little too long at the carriage and sat a little too close inside, his surprise had changed to utter panic. He saw right through her, as he always did, and he had not responded the way she’d expected. It was no wonder that Freddie had kept his distance these last weeks. He was terrified of marriage and of her and of marriage to her.