She had said all those things because she meant them.
She wasn’t making wild accusations to try to provoke him, the way he would have assumed yesterday. He understood that now. She was talking about real fears that she had.
And she was probably right to have them. After all, whatdidshe have left? What was her life going to look like? Soon he would leave her on her own. She wasn’t going to have any sort of conventional marriage. Their honeymoon had been a ruse, a joke. There would be no children. She could have her sisters come to visit her, and that would be a diversion, but other than that… what?
No wonder she wanted to sneak out to a club. I’d have done the same thing.
That didn’t make it all right of course. It was different for him. He was a gentleman. She was a lady. He could never let her know that he had experienced this moment of understandingbecause if he did, she might take it as some sort of permission. And even if her reasoning made sense to him, he could not have her sneaking out again the way she had. It was foolish and dangerous, and he wasn’t going to allow it.
But maybe she did deserve a little more sympathy than she’d been given so far.
He sat down opposite her. “Are you looking for an opponent?” he asked, gesturing to the board.
Her eyes widened slightly. He could see that she hadn’t anticipated that. ‘You want to play chess with me?”
“If you like. But I’m warning you, I’m pretty good at it,” he said. “I mean, since you wanted to learn about me, that’s something you might as well know. No one ever beats me at chess. It’s been years since I lost a game.”
“Who do you usually play against?”
“Hawkins, ordinarily.”
She pressed her lips together, but he caught the smile she was trying to hold back. “Your butler?”
“He’s not bad.”
“You don’t think he might be letting you win?”
“Why would Hawkins do that?”
“Because you pay his wages maybe.”
“Hawkins knows that he doesn’t need to think like that. He wouldn’t let me win.” But now Prudence had Leonard doubting himself. Was it possible? Hawkinswasa good chess player. It was a bit surprising that Leonard woneverygame. He ought to have tested himself against Gabriel, he realized now, but he had always held himself back. He had told himself it was because he didn’t want to embarrass his friend with his superior skills, but now, he wondered. Was that nothing more than an excuse—a story he had told himself to avoid a game with someone who might defeat him?
And now, here he was sitting across from Prudence. A little bit of life had come back into her eyes when he had offered her the game. And as he made his opening move, she sat forward in her chair, clearly eager for what was to come.
He had misunderstood this about her, he realized. She was fiery and full of life, not because she loved to be difficult but because she had an appetite for excitement. She hadn’t gone out to that club to court scandal; she had done it to have an adventure. She hadn’t taken up the violin to vex him; she’d done it because learning something new excited her.
He had been far too hard on her. This was something he could understand… even if she had been channeling her desire in ways that concerned him. He just needed to help her find things to do that wouldn’t put them at risk but could still excite her.
The trouble was, he didn’t know her well enough to know what those things might be.
“We should have dinner together tonight,” he told her as she moved a pawn.
She started and in the process, tipped the pawn onto its side. “What do you mean?” she asked, standing it back upright. “You want to have dinner with me?”
“I think it might be nice,” he said. “It would be a chance for us to spend some time together before I go.”
“You want to spend time with me?” She frowned. “Where is this coming from? I thought it annoyed you when I wanted to spend time with you—but now you want me around?”
“I’ve been thinking about it, and I can see your point,” he said. “Weshouldget to know each other better. Maybe that way, you won’t shock me by doing things I never would have imagined a well-brought-up young lady would do. Maybe if I know you a little better, I’ll see it coming next time.”
To his relief, she smiled. “Well, that couldn’t hurt,” she agreed. “All right, we can eat dinner together. Maybe we ought to make it a regular thing until you leave in fact. After all, once you’re gone, who knows when we’ll ever see each other again. We should take the opportunity while we have it.”
“It’s your move,” he pointed out.
“Are you in a hurry to lose? If you haven’t lost in years, I suppose you might be anxious for it.”
“You’re very confident.”
