She had been so much in the habit of regarding Lord Mablethorpe’s infatuation for her as an absurdity that this forthright speech fell upon her ears with stunning effect. She was quite unable to speak for several moments. A tumult of emotion swelled her bosom, and her brain seethed with a jumble of thoughts. The deepest chagrin battled with a furious desire to slap Mr Ravenscar’s face, to assure him, without mincing her words, that she would rather die a spinster than marry his cousin, and, after telling him her opinion of his manners, morals, and abysmal stupidity, to demand to be set down instantly. A strong inclination to burst into tears accompanied these more violent ambitions, and was followed almost immediately by a resolve to punish Mr Ravenscar in the most vindictive way open to her, and a perfectly irrational determination to show him that she was every bit as bad as he imagined her to be, if not worse. To relinquish her pretensions, as he had the insolence to call them, to Lord Mablethorpe’s hand and heart for the mere asking, was no way of punishing him. She perceived that she must forgo the pleasure of slapping his face. Overcoming the constriction in her throat, she said, with very tolerable command over her voice: “Pray, what do you think a handsome recompense, Mr Ravenscar?”
“Shall we say five thousand pounds, ma’am?”
She gave a tinkle of rather metallic laughter. “Really, sir, I am afraid you are trying to trifle with me!”
“You rate your claims high,” he said grimly. “Certainly: Your cousin is quite devoted to me.”
“My cousin, Miss Grantham, is a minor.”
“Oh, but not for long!” she said. “I am not impatient: I can afford to wait for two months, I assure you.”
“Very well,” he said. “I do not choose to haggle with you, ma’am. I will give you exactly double that sum for my cousin’s release.”
She leaned back in the curricle, very much at her ease, schooling her lips to smile. Mr Ravenscar observed the smile, but failed to notice the dangerous glitter in the lady’s eyes. “Paltry, Mr Ravenscar,” she said gently.
“Come, Miss Grantham, that won’t serve! You will get not a penny more out of me, so let us waste no time in haggling!”
“But only consider, sir!” said Miss Grantham, smoothing her lemon kid gloves over her wrists. “You would remove from my grasp at one stroke a fortune and a title!”