Edwina pursed her lips together before asking, “Did you just wink at me?”
“Yes, I did,” Miles replied. “I suspect you wish to kiss me, just as much as I wish to kiss you.”
Her mouth dropped, feeling a spark of outrage. “I am a lady, and you are supposed to be a gentleman.”
Miles took a step closer to her. “I know precisely who you are, Edwina, and that is why I wish to marry you.”
How she wished his words were in earnest. He only wanted to do the honorable thing by marrying her. She could feel tears prick in the back of her eyes and she blinked them away. “But could you ever love me?”
“I don’t know,” Miles replied with a look of regret on his features. “I do know that I care for you. Greatly.”
“And I care for you, but that isn’t enough for me,” Edwina said, brushing past him.
Miles quickly caught up to her and matched her stride. “I am not going to give up that easily,” he responded.
“I wish you would.”
“What if your cousin challenges me to a duel?” Miles asked.
Edwina glanced over at him and said, “Then I will be your second.”
Miles chuckled. “You, my second?”
“Yes, I know how to shoot a pistol,” she replied. “I am quite good at it, actually.”
“That may be true, but women are not seconds.”
Coming to a stop on the path, Edwina turned to face Miles, feeling her chest heave with anger. “Women are not some defenseless creatures that need protecting.”
“I never said that,” Miles said. “But women are more rational, and duels stem more from passion and misplaced honor. I daresay you would spend most of your time trying to talk us out of the duel.”
“Of course I would. Duels are stupid,” Edwina declared.
“I won’t disagree with you there.”
Edwina let out a deep breath as she tried to contain her emotions. “I am sure that we can speak rationally to Bennett about our circumstance, and he will come to the same agreement as we have.”
“That we should marry,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “No, that we part as friends since it was an unfortunate misunderstanding.”
Miles gave her a knowing look. “But it wasn’t a misunderstanding.”
“I thought you didn’t want to ever get married again.”
“That is true. But I am not as opposed to it as I once was,” Miles said.
Edwina crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t you want to marry the girl of your choosing and not someone you were forced to marry?”
“Who says I am not?”
“Be serious.”
Miles’ lips twitched. “I am,” he replied. “I know our circumstances are not ideal, but we could make this marriage work.”
She dropped her arms to her sides. “I’m sorry, Miles, but I want more out of a marriage than mutual toleration.”
“Is that what you think I am offering?”
