Page 35 of The Duke’s Matchmaker

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, if I could give you advice about myself, it would be to turn the other way,” she told him firmly. “I would never encourage you to get involved with me.”

“But why? You’re friendly enough.” He shook his head. “Not that I’m considering it, of course. I just don’t understand why you find it such a foolish notion.”

“My reputation would make things difficult for you,” she told him. “You’re aware that people know me as a wallflower, and that no one has taken an interest in a courtship with me.”

“I’m aware of that, yes.”

“So people would ask questions,” she told him. “They would want to know what was suddenly different. Why you were interested when no one else had been. And they’d come up with reasons. There would be theories about what I might have done to engage your interest. It wouldn’t make either one of us look very good.”

“But you don’t care about things like that,” Nathaniel said. “You don’t worry about how you appear to others.”

“Not very much,” Dorothy agreed. “I just think it would attract notice, that’s all. To be honest, I think I would find it interesting to see what people had to say on the subject. My point is simply that there would be commentary. There would be discussion about it. It’s not the sort of thing that would stand any chance of passing unnoticed.”

Nathaniel nodded. “I understand,” he said. “And I think you’re probably right. If you and I were courting, people would talk.” He hesitated. “Perhaps your sisters speculate that that’s why we’ve kept it a secret.”

“We haven’t kept it a secret!” Dorothy sputtered. “This is all fabrication!”

“I know.” Nathaniel chuckled. “I find it amusing. That’s all. The fact that they would come to such a conclusion. The fact that they are so certain of it. You seem irritated, but isn’t it funny, if you think about it?”

“It’s not at all funny to me,” Dorothy said firmly. “I don’t want them believing that you and I are interested in one another in that way. We’re not.”

The smile faded from Nathaniel’s face. “I know we’re not,” he said. “I didn’t suggest that it was real between the two of us. I said the opposite. It’s not real, but it’s amusing.”

“Well, it doesn’t amuse me,” Dorothy said. “I’ve tried to tell them there’s nothing between us, but they don’t listen to me, and I don’t find it enjoyable to be disregarded in that way.”

He crossed his arms. He looked rather displeased, which made Dorothy wonder what the matter was. He agreed with her. He thought they would make a foolish couple. What did he have to look so unhappy about?

“Very well,” he said, his voice clipped. “In that case, perhaps we should get down to the business we’re here to see to. I wouldn’t want to give your sisters any more false ideas.”

He really did sound unhappy. Angry, almost. She wanted to ask him what was bothering him, to insist that he explain himself, but there was an awkward sort of tension in the air and she found herself unable to say the words.

“All right,” she agreed. “Let’s do it, then.”

After all, whether he was behaving angrily or not, he was right in what he was saying. They would be better served by getting this done quickly, making sure they gave Honora and Abigail as little as possible to feed their gossip.

The only thing Dorothy didn’t understand was how Nathaniel could justify looking at her that way, as if she had done something wrong.

Doesn’t he understand that I’m doing all this to protect us both?

CHAPTER 19

Nathaniel couldn’t explain the anger in the pit of his stomach.

To tell the truth, it wasn’t even anger. Not exactly. It was a profound dissatisfaction, a feeling that something had been said that he simply couldn’t allow to go unchallenged. He had felt like this before in his life, at times when people had been particularly foolish. It was the itch to correct something.

But correct what? Nothing she’d said was incorrect. The two of them weren’t courting, and they wouldn’t be in the future. And she was right, too, that there would be talk if they did. It was exasperating that she hadn’t been willing to laugh with him about it, that she had found the idea so un-funny. But that wasn’t the same as being wrong. She was entitled to feel however she wanted about things being humorous.

He didn’t feel like sitting down, so he paced back and forth instead, full of nervous energy. “So,” he said. “You’re going to give me lessons in the best ways to charm a lady.”

“Well, I’m going to try,” she said. There was doubt in her voice that he hadn’t heard there before. “It might be more difficult than we’re anticipating.”

“You don’t think I’m up to learning this?”

“I imagine you’re very intelligent,” she told him. “But some things can’t be learned from books.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not trying to learn from a book,” he said, keeping his voice cool. “I have you to teach me. Isn’t that what we agreed on?”