“You mean like this?” Gerard made an imitation of his heart beating fast, pushing his chest in and out quickly.
The children laughed. “Yes, yes.”
“Well, I did not.”
“Oh.” Their collective sigh of disappointment touched Gerard and he suddenly remembered Ellen.
He sighed. “I did meet someone I was interested in, but we’ll see about that.”
Before he could finish speaking, the children had all scattered screaming, “The Earl said he met someone he was interested in!” and “We are going to have a ball!”
Gerard shook his head in amusement, untied his horse, and rode back to the Manor. He met a different stable hand this time who quickly took the reins from his hands and tended to his horse; he walked into the Manor and was making his way up the stairs to his chamber when he saw the Dowager Countess.
“It would seem that every time I find you, you always have your nose stuck in something.” The Dowager Countess looked up from the book she was reading and spied on her grandson in his riding habit.
She wrinkled her nose. “And it would seem that my grandson, the Earl of Ridlington, hasn’t the good sense to take a bath.”
“I was just returning from the village, Grandmother. I was putting manure to the ground to prepare for the next farming season.”
“Umph. How are Mary and her newborn child?”
“They are as healthy as the finest horse.”
“I will be down there by dusk to pay my regards.”
“Take the coach; I will instruct Vans to drive you.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“You can call me ‘My Lord’ when you stop reading those books. I won’t be having your eyesight diminish.”
“That is what my glasses are for, and I need to get in on the news for my club meeting this evening.”
“It’s a wonder why you never invite me for these mysterious meetings of yours.”
“That is because we are plotting to overthrow the King of England. Can’t have you ruining our plans now, can we?”
“A wise decision.” He kissed his grandmother on the cheek. “If you’ll excuse me, Grandmother, I should go take a bath and make myself presentable company.” He excused himself and went to his chamber to find his chamber pot already empty and a bath drawn for him.His valet always knew to anticipate his needs and meet them before he even articulated them himself. He quickly stripped himself of his clothes and got into the tub.
“You’re a rake.”
Even now he could still see those hazel eyes blazing with anger, the same eyes that burned with passion even though she did not know what it was yet for him. Gerard wondered why he could not get her out of his head. There was something about her that he could not quite place his fingers on. She intrigued him; she made him want to dig underneath all of that and see what else was there. Even though it was a line he did not dare cross. No good would come out of it.Leave it alone, Gerard!
His mood still hadn’t improved by that evening. “It’s almost like she cast a spell on me. I can’t for the life of me think about anything other than her,” Gerard panted as he moved his sword expertly to parry his friend’s attack.
Mark Dunham, the Viscount of Stokeland, leaped backward as Gerard began his attack. “At first, I thought it was because I felt sorry for her, living such a strictly guided life, what with her list of don’ts,” Gerard scoffed. “But no, it’s deeper than that,” he muttered as he barely parried another attack.
“Perhaps you should pay a visit to Lady Danbury. She might be able to alleviate your, erm, feelings. You would know how you feel more clearly by then.”
“I cannot. I called it off with her the week before. She was getting too demanding, and it was about time. The pleasure wasn’t worth the trouble.”
“To a private establishment perhaps? I hear the trysts that go on in Oxford Street leave room for the imagination.”
Gerard stopped, pausing to take a breath. “It’s not that. I know it isn’t. I might have to see for myself what it is.”
“Do you mean to say you want to woo her?”
“I am not certain. I don’t know,” Gerard confessed. “I simply know I want to see her again, talk to her, and inhale her perfume; it’s maddening!”
