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The disappointment dwelling in her stomach made her scowl. What on earth was she expecting him to say? Confess his love or great admiration for her? Goodness, what had happened to her recently?
“What she said was beyond the pale.”
“It was not pleasant,” she agreed, “but you do not have to apologize for her.”
“I do.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “She is not a pleasant woman, and I am sorry you should have been on the receiving end of that. Had I not—”
“Not?”
“Been paying you attention, you might not have had to suffer so.”
Eleanor pressed her lips together. So there it was. He regretted spending time with her. If ever there was a sign she needed to cease with these ridiculous thoughts and imaginings, this was it.
∞∞∞
They might as well give him an award, Oliver decided. Or write a book on him.Best Idiot in all of LondonorHow to fall from rake to bumbling dolt in a few short weeks.One or the other.
He looked into Eleanor’s warm brown eyes and clenched his jaw. Yes, he needed to apologize to her but the words that had risen from him had been far from an apology and far from planned. In truth, he could not fathom what they might have been and all he knew was he needed to put a stop to them.
Well, the mere mention of his awful mother had done the job by the looks of it. Her brow puckered slightly, and he didn’t miss the flutter of her dark lashes as she looked to the ground then back up at him, her posture softening in defeat. He didn’t blame her. Years of experience with his mother had the same impact.
“My mother is desperate for me to marry,” Oliver reminded her. “She is determined I find a bride before the Season is out.”
“You do not have much time,” Eleanor said softly.
“But all of my brothers’ wives were chosen by her and they are all utterly miserable.” He smirked to himself. “Heck, if I was going to marry, I certainly would not letthatwoman choose my bride. In fact, I would choose—”
“I understand why you do not wish to marry.” She offered a tight smile as she cut across him. “You do not need to explain yourself. Not every woman wishes to hear how much the opposite sex craves the chance to be wed to an eligible woman. Goodness knows, I am quite convinced it’s a fallacy.” She glanced across the lawns where Chastity passed her baby over to Valentine who fought to retrieve his slightly long hair from his daughter’s tight grip with a good-natured chuckle. “My sisters have married well but we both know happy marriages are not that common in our world.”
“Well, yes...”
“I personally have never seen the appeal of being with one person for the rest of one’s life.”
He bit back an argument. Had he not just been saying the very same? Marriage was a terrible, old-fashioned institution designed to shackle people together for the sake of money, breeding, and one’s good name. But when he talked to Eleanor, a voice kept telling him different.
Very well, he needed several awards. One for being a dolt, one for being a fool, and one for being an utter hypocrite.
The two of them felt entirely the same and that was a good thing was it not?
Easing a breath out through his nostrils, Oliver ignored the jarring ache deep in his chest. Whatever was happening here, Almack’s should have been enough to put an end to it. She’d requested he cease drawing attention to her and already he’d failed. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her and put her in the path of malicious gossip again.
He’d have to do better.
He gripped his hands behind his back, straightened his shoulders, and looked just slightly behind her at the honeysuckle wavering in the breeze. “I did also want to say...that is...well, I will not have much time to do any more investigating.”
“Oliver?”
“As you say, the Season is nearly over, and we shall all be escaping to the country soon. That does not leave me with much time to finish conducting business and these wedding troubles have dominated my time.”
“Oh.”
“Besides,” he said cheerily, “Blake and Demeter do not think anything else will happen.”
“But you just said...”
“So perhaps we should communicate only if it is utterly essential. I’ll contact a private investigator and he can do the rest of the work for us.”
“I see.” She looped her hands together in front of her. “Well, I suppose if you are very busy...”
