Georgie gave him an odd look. “What do you wish to know?”
“What were you like as a child?” He paused. “I’m sure that I could guess.”
“Well, go on, then.”
With a knowing look, he said, “You were a stubborn child, and prone to getting into mischief.”
A playful twinkle came to her eye. “I did have my share of adventures,” she responded. “I never thought it was fair that girls were taught needlework and boys were taught to fight.”
“Did you wish to fight?”
“No, but it would have been a useful skill to have learned.”
“For what purpose?”
The twinkle dimmed. “I could have fought back against my brother. Perhaps show him that I am not as weak as he perceives me to be.”
“You are far from weak.”
“Am I?” Georgie asked. “I can’t even protect myself. You are only marrying me to keep me safe.”
William held her gaze for a moment. “I am marrying you because I want to,” he said fervently.
Georgie gave him a look that implied she didn’t believe it, but she didn’t press him. Instead, she asked, “What were you like as a child?”
“I got into a lot of fights,” he said.
“Truly?”
He chuckled. “I don’t know why that surprises you. I meant what I said before, that I don’t like a lot of people.”
“What is it that you don’t like?”
“They always find a way to disappoint me.”
“Have you thought, perhaps, that your standards are too high?”
“No,” he replied. “I have never once considered that.”
Georgie gave him an amused look. “Everyone makes mistakes; it is what makes us human. You cannot define someone based upon a mistake.”
“I don’t have time for incompetence of any kind.”
“There is a difference between incompetence and an honest mistake.”
“Not to me.”
Georgie reached up and fingered the strings to her bonnet. “Have you considered that you push people away unintentionally?”
“Why would I do that?”
“So you don’t get hurt.”
“That is rubbish.”
“Is it?” Georgie asked, lowering her hand. “If you keep people at arm’s length, then you don’t give them the chance to hurt you.”
“I daresay that you are reading too much into this.”
