Cousin Harry nodded as though she’d uttered some pearl of wisdom. Was he mocking her?
She huffed. “She made me come here with her. I didn’t want to. I know full well what her intentions are. I could be out on my horse with my sisters right now, which is quite my favorite occupation. Instead of which I’m having to be here, walking in what used to be our own gardens, with you. You must understand how that is distasteful to me.”
He nodded. “I do indeed. But I feel a little aggrieved that you seem to see me as a monster of some sort. I was under the impression your sister Megs had revised her vow to do away with me and now likes me.”
Melissa huffed again. “Oh, her. Well, she’s twelve, so she’s at liberty to like you as much as she wants. I, however, am eighteen, and next year was to go up to London to make my debut, had Papa not so inconveniently slipped off this mortal coil. I am, as Mama so meanlyput it only yesterday when she informed me I was to come with her, of marriageable age.”
He chuckled. “I suppose you must be, but I wouldn’t worry about it. You have plenty of time before you have to be thinking of that sort of thing.”
Her spirits rose. “I do?”
He nodded.
Her feet lightened and she felt the urge to skip. “So you don’t want to marry me?”
And now he did burst out laughing. “Marry you? No. Not at all. Why would I?”
This was actually a little insulting. She threw him a fierce scowl. “Because I’m pretty and you are a man in want of a wife?”
He shrugged, and she could see he was struggling to suppress laughter, which only served to incense her more, despite the fact she didn’t want to marry him. “Of course you’re pretty, Miss Madeley. I can’t deny that. But first of all you’re far too young for me. And secondly, I fear my heart is engaged elsewhere.”
“Really?” Her resentment departed. “Thank goodness.” She heaved a heartfelt sigh. “Mama only brought me here to try to push us together, you know. As if that would work. She seems to think that just because she loves me, you wouldn’t be able to resist me.” She shook her head. “Mothers.”
He smiled, perhaps remembering his own, but at least he wasn’t eyeing her acquisitively in the way that awful Sir Julian looked at Mama. “Mothers, indeed.”
She nodded. “Although I fear that even though you don’t want me, she won’t cease to keep trying, for she’s very determined under that mild-mannered front she adopts. And then, if you turn me down, she’ll turn her attentions to searching for some other unfortunate gentleman to set her sights on for me. My sisters and I have made a blood vow never to marry. But as you might already know, we havethe disadvantage of having no dowries, so that shouldn’t be too difficult for us. And on top of that, I’m sure we would make terrible wives.”
They’d reached the shrubbery, scene of many pleasant childhood games of chase. A childhood Mama seemed to want her to abandon before she was ready to do so.
“So your mother thinks it would be an easy job to matchmake you and me?” He was admiring the flowering shrubs as though he’d never seen their like before, but she could see by the shaking of his shoulders that he was trying not to laugh.
She scowled. “Please take this seriously. You are, after all, without a wife. Ergo she believes you need one. She believes any gentleman without a wife must be in want of one and therefore is fair game. And she’s applying this to me as some sort of experiment, even though I have assured her that although you seem to be a nice person, such as I can judge on so short an acquaintance, you are not the man for me.” She paused, a little astonished at herself for her own forthrightness. “As I explained, my sisters and I have pledged never to marry but to concentrate on our horses. Megs quite fancies riding any horse we produce in races.”
“Has Megs forgotten she’s a girl?” He seemed to have bypassed the first part of her statement for some reason. Perhaps he was as embarrassed by Mama’s machinations as she was.
“No, she hasn’t,” Melissa said. “But she seems to think she can disguise herself as a jockey. A male jockey.”
“And do you have a horse for the Derby yet?”
Melissa bridled. “No. We only have our own horses that we ride. We’d have to purchase a brood mare and take her to a local stallion and then wait for the foal to be born, and then break it in. We aren’t stupid. We know it’ll take a while.”
He nodded, as though this was something he thought they could achieve. “I shall be interested to see how you progress with your plans.”
She nodded back. “So you understand why I can’t possibly marry you. I mean, you are quite handsome, or you would be if you weren’t so thin. But to be quite frank, you’re far too old for me.”
His expression remained serious. “I quite understand. And you might be relieved to hear that even though I am without a wife, I have no immediate intentions of looking for one.”
Her heart rose. “But that’s quite splendid. I shall inform my sisters that we don’t have to do things to put you off marrying me. They’ll be so pleased. Megs was quite imaginative with her suggestions, as you might expect.” She wrinkled her nose as she remembered how they’d decided he should marry Mama. Best not to tell him about that. Not yet, anyway. They could work on that now they knew they had more time.
“So,” he said, “you’d best tell me all about this garden. Or was that a ruse of your mother’s to throw us together?”
She grinned. “A ruse, of course. But the gardens are very pretty, so we might as well walk through them. We have, I mean had, two excellent gardeners. Who are, of course, your gardeners now.”
Perfect. Now all she and her sisters had to do was persuade him Mama was a much better candidate for marriage and everything would be back to normal. Or as back to normal as it could ever be.
