“I have promised to escort Lana and Claudette into the village to do some visiting and shopping,” he said. “I was pleased that you agreed to ride with Tobias, Rosa.”
She grimaced. “I did not have much choice,” she said.
“He definitely has an eye for you,” he said. “You would do well to encourage him.”
“Dennis,” she said, “let’s not start this.”
“I know he is rather pompous in manner,” he said. “But he could offer you a secure future, Rosa.”
“I refuse to quarrel with you this morning,” she said. “I am going riding. Everyone else must be in the stables already.”
“Just be careful of Joshua,” he said.
Rosamund had turned away, pulling on her gloves as she did so. But she turned back, a half-smile on her face. “All right,” she said, “I am taking the bait. Why must I be careful of Josh?”
“He has a shocking reputation,” he said. “He might think that because you are a widow, Rosa, you are easy.”
“Might he?” she said. “And you are afraid that perhaps I am?”
“Not for a moment,” he said. “You don’t have to flare up at the merest provocation, Rosa. I merely have your best interests at heart. I don’t want to see you hurt. Men sometimes forget that widows can still be hurt.”
“Do they?” she said, smoothing the gloves over her hands.
“He would not be allowed to marry you, you know,” he said. “He is the heir to all this.”
Rosamund smiled at him. “And I am merely your sister,” she said, “and widow of a baronet who was not particularly wealthy. Well, Dennis, you have certainly succeeded in cutting me down to size.”
“You know that was not my intention,” he said. “Why must you always make me seem the villain, Rosa? You know I want nothing more than your happiness.”
Her mouth was opened to make a stinging retort when the door opened behind him and the Earl of Wetherby stepped outside.
“Ah,” he said, seeing Rosamund, “I thought I was late.”
“You are,” she said. “And so am I. I shall see you later, Dennis.”
“Quarreling again?” the earl asked as the two of them strode toward the stables. “You looked as if you were about to swallow his head whole. I may just have saved his life. ”
“He will persist in treating me like a child who knows nothing of the world or the motives of men,” she said.
“Perhaps,” he said, “he loves you.”
“Oh, undoubtedly,” she said, “and would like to organize my life according to his own notions of happiness.”
“I’m afraid it is a failing of relatives,” he said. “Perhaps you should consider yourself fortunate to have only one brother, I have a mother and two sisters—a formidable army, I do assure you.”
She laughed. “Have they been pressing this marriage on you?” she asked.
“With increasing intensity as my thirtieth birthday has loomed,” he said. “They already have the beginnings of my family planned, too. It is to be two sons first—one to be my heir and one to be the insurance—and a daughter third just so that some fortunate gentleman will have the privilege of marrying into my noble family at some time in the future. After that I believe I am to be allowed to please myself.”
Rosamund laughed.
“I am not to give my family a collective anxiety attack as my father did, you see,” he said. “Two daughters two years apart, and one son all of seven years later.”
They had reached the stables to find that indeed they were the last to arrive. Lord Beresford and Robin Strangelove had joined the party, as well as Eva and Pamela Newton.
Had he talked deliberately to make sure that there were no awkward silences? Rosamund wondered. She was thankful that he had. He would not be able to marry to please himself, Dennis had said, talking about Josh. But the same would apply to Justin, too. Perhaps it was as well that he was already betrothed so that she would not be tempted to hope that he would marry her. Men tended to think that widows were easy, Dennis had said. They tended to forget that widows could be hurt.
Had Justin thought so? Had he made love to her only because he had expected that she would be willing? Had he made love to her with no regard to her feelings?
