Bound by Bliss (Bound and Determined #2)(99)

Or would he? He wouldn’t speak of it publicly, but whispers had a way of spreading and growing. And men had a habit of bragging.

All she could do was hope and pray—and try not to despair.

“Are you going to explain yourself, girl?” Lady Perse’s voice filled the carriage.

Bliss wanted to say no. Every piece of her wished to sit up straight and stare back at Lady Perse. It would feel so good to give that simple no and then pretend it ended there. But she was smarter than that; she might wish she was not, but deep down she knew the time had come to give a reckoning. She had played and been caught. If it meant the end of her dreams she would somehow survive. “Does it really need an explanation? Is there anything I can say that will make this situation better?”



Lady Perse did not answer for a moment and Bliss could feel the consideration in her gaze. “There is always something that can be said.”

“I can’t think of a single thing. I was found in a bad part of London, by myself, in the wee hours of the morning. Do not those facts speak for themselves?”

“Don’t be witty with me. I was in an extremely pleasant mood this morning before my coach was suddenly forced to come rocking to a halt because some crazed young woman was running into the street. I am no longer in a good humor. And you forgot to mention that your gown was improperly fastened. Surely that is an important element of the story.”

“I hardly see that it matters.” Bliss didn’t know whether to cry or scream. Her emotions were whirling about her in an uncontrollable wind. And how did Lady Perse know about her gown? It was hidden beneath the cloak.

“It always matters. Perhaps you were sleepwalking and so no maid was present to help you dress?”

“Now it is you who is attempting to be witty, my lady. If I were to even attempt such a claim surely one would question how I made it across London with my virtue still intact and my purse still in my pocket.”

“Is it?”

“Do you refer to my virtue or my purse?” Bliss stared down at her hands, which lay pale and trembling in her lap, expressing all the feelings that she fought so hard to contain.



“I hadn’t really considered which I meant. Let’s start with your purse. Do you actually still have it? And does that dress even have a pocket? It’s hard to imagine one tied beneath such thin fabric.”

It was hard to mistake that Lady Perse thought the fabric much too thin. “No, I don’t have a pocket and I did not bring a purse this evening. I never expected to need one.”

“You assumed your companion would take care of everything—and I suppose he would.” Lady Perse spoke calmly, a single finger tapping on the wall of the coach.

“I suppose. I did not put thought into the matter.” It would have been silly to deny that at some point in the evening she’d had a companion. She would just not reveal who on pain of torture—something she imagined she had some experience with this evening. “But yes, I did not think because I felt well taken care of.”

“That is good to know.” Lady Perse gave a mysterious grin of satisfaction. “Although a woman should always have some funds about her. A coin tucked into a shoe”—she glanced down at Bliss’s thin slippers—“or some other spot. There is always someplace. A woman must always be prepared to take care of herself.”

Bliss wasn’t sure that there was a single spot upon her that a coin would have remained lodged, but she did not argue. “I do not disagree, my lady, and on most instances I do try to comply.”

Lady Perse nodded. “And now for your virtue.”

That was not a turn of conversation that Bliss wished to pursue, but she saw no way to avoid it. “Would you believe me if I told you that yes, it was intact?”



Again that strange look of consideration passed over Lady Perse’s face. “I might. Although I would admit that circumstance is against you.”

“That I cannot deny.”

“I suppose it would depend on who you were with this evening and what you were doing.” It was said as a statement, but the question was unmistakable.

“I will not say, and something foolish. That I cannot deny.”

“Normally I might find discretion admirable, but surely you must see that confession is your only hope.”

“My only hope of what?” She raised her head and stared directly at Lady Perse.

“What do you hope for?”

What did she hope for? And when had she last considered the question? “I don’t know.”

“You have told me that you don’t actually wish to marry and that if you do you do not wish it to be for love. Has this changed? Is this still what you hope for?”

She froze. “I—I don’t know.” She was beginning to sound like an idiot and yet she spoke only the truth. Her thoughts had begun to shift when faced with danger, but how did she feel now? How would she feel in the morning light?

“If you do not wish to marry it would be a simple matter to let some hint of this night leak to society, just a sprinkling of gossip, an innuendo, not enough to force you from society, but enough to ensure that no acceptable offers would be forthcoming. You could retire to your father’s estates and only reappear as the maiden aunt with too many cats and a fondness for trifle.”