Page 29 of A Lady’s Guide to Subterfuge and Science

A seed of something Kalila didn’t care to identify lodged itself in her stomach. “Fine. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” he said. “Merely wondering if you’ve formed an attachment. She’s a pretty thing.”

The statement caused Kalila to stop in her tracks. “An attachment! No. That’s ridiculous. No.”

“Now, now.” Oliver laughed, the sound sending an unwelcome shiver up her spine. “There’s such a thing as protesting too much, Rafiq.”

Kalila began to walk again, mentally agreeing with him. She was Dameer Rafiq right now, not Kalila Darwish.

“Still,” she said coolly, “the answer is no. Why do you ask?”

Do you really want to know?

“Just curious.” A devilish grin graced his beautiful face. “No women at the moment, is that it?”

“No,” she said. She would play along and craft a backstory for herself if need be. Anything to keep him thinking that she was Dameer.

Oliver led them to the lake’s edge. “I heard Jennings might announce his engagement soon.”

“Jennings!” Kalila sputtered. She couldn’t believe a woman agreeing to marry someone so insufferable but, then again, there was no accounting for taste.

“I’ll be sure to send my condolences to the unlucky lady.” Oliver looked out over the water. “Do you think you’ll ever marry, Rafiq?”

“I’d like to,” Kalila said. The response was automatic. Wasn’t that what everyone was meant to say? That they would one day like to get married, even if they couldn’t begin to imagine it happening?

She had never imagined it for herself, and her family had never badgered her about it, either. In truth, she wouldn’t mind marriage. It was just that—

“But?” Oliver prompted, pulling her from her reverie.

“But?” Kalila echoed. “I never said ‘but.’”

How had he known?

“Oh, it was there.”

“I shouldn’t like to be stifled, that’s all,” she said without thinking. She pulled the brim of her hat down lower, embarrassed that she’d said such a thing in front of the likes of Oliver Booth. Friendly meant detached and civil, not vulnerable and honest.

But—there was something about him that coaxed the words out of her. It was vexing.

“Stifled?” He paused, as if considering. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a man say such a thing.”

Kalila’s spine straightened as fear danced down her vertebrae. Of course men didn’t say such things. Men were never stifled. They continued to go about their lives after marriage, enjoying the same hobbies and taking mistresses as they pleased. A luxury she would never have.

“It’s difficult to explain,” she said, preparing to shift his attention away from her. “And yourself? Is marriage in your future, Booth?”

He hesitated, taking a step back from the lake. “I should say no.”

“You should?” she asked, her embarrassment forgotten. He began to move again, and she followed.

He shrugged. “Marriage did nothing but trap my parents in a cage of resentment.”

Kalila frowned. She’d grown up with parents who adored one another. Even as a child, it had been hard not to notice her father hanging onto her mother’s every word or the way her mother always reached for her husband, as if seeking comfort. It had always made clear to Kalila that she, too, should expect unconditional love and respect. That she should expect nothing less.

That was what had saved her from making her own terrible mistake.

“It doesn’t have to be like that.”

He glanced down at her from the corner of his eye. “No. But the odds aren’t very good.”