“I’d like to remedy that, and get to know you better, too,” he responded. “Do you think we might start over?”
“And contrive not to insult each other?” she asked with a rueful smile.
“Something like that,” he said, turning into Hyde Park.
“I don’t know that I can,” she said. “My tongue is disastrously blunt.”
“Yes, I was warned about that. Perhaps I shall have to grow a thicker skin if I wish to pursue your society?”
Suddenly she was breathless and blushing.Can I trust a word he says, or is it all my fortune?She had fancied for a few giddy moments the other night that he was interested in more than her inheritance. But would he be so persistent as this if she weren’t wealthy? She knew the answer to that.
“What have I said to put you out of countenance?” he asked, easing his team to a gentle walk.
What could she possibly say that wouldn’t make her sound like an idiot? She couldn’t admit that the mere notion that he might want her for more than her money reduced her to a puddle of longing.I’m not even sure that I like him, yet I am prepared to let him drag me into temples and kiss me. More than prepared—I wanted him to.
If she reviewed her suitors objectively, she liked Lannister more than the duke, and while Lannister flustered her a little, he didn’t turn her inside out like the duke did.
“Who has been mortifying my character?” she asked after a moment, deciding attack was the best form of defense.
“Lady Sefton said you have a reputation for being direct.”
She lifted her chin. “I suppose that is accurate. Mama is of a softer disposition; the children would run roughshod over her if I didn’t intervene. Especially the boys. They all mind Papa of course.”
“Your father is a strict disciplinarian?”
“No, not in the least. But he has high moral standards, and we have all been taught to value them. Papa places much more value on character, integrity, and hard work than on wealth, titles, or privilege.”
“And he has taught you to value those things,” he said quietly.
“Yes, he has.” She looked down at her gloved hands clasped in her lap, her throat tight. She missed Papa’s guidance and quiet common sense.
“Such sentiments do you a great deal of credit, Miss Watson, and I sincerely admire you for them. As a person of privilege, it is perilously easy to lose sight of what is truly important. Yet I have often wished my title and its obligations and privileges to the devil, for I know it separates me from much of what is of true value in life.”
“That is an easy thing to do from your position, Your Grace.”
“I know. It is a fantasy, no more. Take away my privileges and I would soon sing a different tune.”
“You have probably not seen a great deal of what is like to live in a state of privation, have you?”
“I have not. Have you?”
“Some. I assist my father in supporting the parishioners, as does Mama, but with so many small children, much of Mama’s time is taken up, so from the age of twelve I progressively took on more of Mama’s duties as our family continued to grow. I find the luxury and frivolity of the London season somewhat trying. I miss my family and often just long to go home,” she admitted in a rush. Talking of them always made her want them more.
“Tell me, Miss Watson, would you prefer marriage to a simple country parson, raising your own gaggle of children, than the role of a great lady?”
“It is what I always imagined my life would be until Great-aunt Agnes intervened. She is my godmother, you see, and I was always her favorite. She got the notion fixed in her head that she wanted to see me established with a titled gentleman. But I didn’t take.”
“Because you didn’t wish to,” he said shrewdly.
“Perhaps you are right,” she admitted ruefully. “In any case, I would be at home now, stepping away to let my sisters take their turn, if I had my way. My next sister, Deborah, is the family beauty, although I think ultimately Hepzibah will outshine her. Zibby is only twelve and a bit of a hellion. Emanuel, the eldest of the boys, is her twin, and he leads the younger ones. Zibby tends to identify with the boys rather than us girls.”
“And your other sisters,” he prompted.
“Ruthy, bless her, is the plainest of us, but with the biggest heart. She loves animals and is always rescuing some stray or injured beast or bird. Mary is romantic and sweet and longs to be all grown up. She is just sixteen. Japheth is a determined little chap, quite the devil when he wants to be, and Zeke is the baby—he’s six.”
“Quite the brood.”
“Yes, it is a joke in the village that Papa has his own cricket team. Not quite, of course, because you need eleven, but...”
