AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not surprising,” she murmured to herself.
“Pardon?” he said from behind her.
She twisted and motioned to the darkly furnished room. “I was just saying...I should have expected such decor.”
A brow arched and she turned to eye a nearby painting of a grand stately home.
A far better option than looking at his lips or getting lost in his eyes.
“I did not realize I was so predictable.”
She glanced at him. “You are a bachelor rake. What else would you have? Pastels and ferns in every corner?”
“I have one fern.” He pointed to a slightly tired-looking plant near the window.
She laughed. “Oh well that makes all the difference.”
“I do not mean to be blunt, Demeter, but what did you want? My mother keeps sneaking peeks through the window and if we are not careful, she shall wind up arranging our wedding breakfast by the afternoon.”
She looked to the window where her aunt and Mrs. Blake strolled slowly around the garden, arm in arm, both pretending to be interested in the plants and not what was happening in the drawing room.
“That would be terrible for you, no doubt.”
“And you,” he said. “Your sisters have quite the reputation for avoiding matrimony.”
Demeter swallowed. Her sisters had avoided it for good reason. In her case, mostly because she could not bear to be laughed at by the opposite sex when she stumbled over her words.
Oh yes, and because she’d been in love with Blake for an eternity. She couldn’t forget that.
“Chastity and Cassie are both married now,” she pointed out.
“My mother has never been interested in seeing me wed until now.” He made a face. “It seems she thinks I need looking after.”
I’ll look after you, she wanted to blurt and hated herself for being so pathetic.
“Maybe you would be happy with a wife,” she said vaguely. “You are nearly thirty after all. Surely you want heirs?”
He shook his head vigorously. “I was not designed to be married. I would be doing the woman an utter disservice.”
The firmness in his tone made her heart drop but she needed those words, the clarity they brought. She took them in and solidified them in her mind. Blake was not designed to be married and she should never, ever forget that.
“Anyway, I came because of your cousin.”
His brows lifted. “Yes?”
“I saw him at Hyde Park today during my daily walk.”
“I’ve never known anyone to walk so much and so fast,” he commented.
“Well—I...” She let her brow furrow. “It’s good for one’s health,” she said. “But that is beside the point. On my walk, I saw Mr. Foster and he had an altercation with a young boy.”
“An altercation?”
“The boy was playing with a hoop and stick and was being a little careless. It knocked into your cousin.” She paused and pressed a finger to her lips. “It was the oddest thing though because it was almost as though he wanted the hoop to hit him. As though he was looking to give the boy a scolding.”
“So he scolded the boy?”
“Worse. He snapped the child’s stick in half, then said something to him.”
