Page 22 of Married to the Rake

She twined her hands together and looked at them. “Well, it was…um…quite enjoyable. I mean, it was satisfactory. Certainly not the worst ball I have ever attended.”

“Satisfactory? What high praise,” he said with a tilted smile.

He was willing to bet that had it not been for the dark light he would be able to see her blush. She chewed on her bottom lip again.

“Yes, well, anyway, back to the matter at hand. What should we do about our fathers?” she said brusquely.

“Do you have any plans for the next few weeks?”

She shook her head.

“We should meet again and plan more fully. However, we need to get our fathers to neutral land.”

“Neutral land? I do not think I could tolerate another ball.”

“Come now, it was not so terrible dancing with me.”

With a slight tilt of her head, he knew she had conceded.

“I meant actual land. Down by the river where both families’ borders end. That is the neutral land that I meant,” he explained.

Chloe nodded slowly. “I walk there frequently. It is a peaceful spot.”

“Precisely. Hardly the place for an argument.” Brook jerked a thumb in the direction of the spot. “There neither of them can get angry over the other being on their land.”

“They can still get angry, though.”

“Which is why we shall be there to be the voices of reason. I can be walking with my father and you can be walking with yours. My father has been told that he needs fresh air once he is up and about. It will be a fine excuse.”

“My father and I walk together quite frequently so it will not seem strange to ask.”

“Excellent.” Brook straightened, pushing away from the fence. “We should meet again, to finalize when we shall do this. My father shall need a little time to recover first.”

“I shall check for your letters whenever I can.”

He wasn’t certain why but the idea of Miss Larkin anxiously awaiting his letter made his heart feel a little warm. They could confirm the plans over letters really but he wanted to see her again.

There, he had admitted it to himself. He was beginning to rather like Miss Chloe Larkin’s company.

“You had better return home before you are missed,” he said.

She shrugged. “My parents are heavy sleepers, they shall not know I am gone. Besides, I am known to be still reading at this time of night. They probably think I’m in the library.”

“Of course you are.” And now he was struck with the desire to sneak into her house and watch her read, curled up by a fire in her shift, her hair all loose around her shoulders. It had to be the most mundane of imaginings he had ever had and yet it was all too appealing.

“Shall I walk you back?” His voice came out a little raspy.

“I shall be safe enough. The worst that will happen is that I step in sheep droppings. And it would be far more dangerous to be walking with you.”

“I hope that you are saying that because of our fathers’ disagreement and not because you really believe I am a danger to your person.”

She pushed away from the fence and gave a little smile. “You are a rake, Mr. Waverley, everyone knows it. My reputation would be well and truly sullied if we were spotted alone.”

“Ah, yes, a rake. I forgot.” He rolled his eyes. “I did not realise someone with your reading repertoire would be interested in the gossip columns.”

“I know full well the columns are prone to exaggeration, but there is always a grain of truth to every rumour. You have never denied your reputation before, Mr. Larkin, so I am not certain as to why you are doing it now.”

No, nor was he. The talk surrounding his activities had never bothered him before. He enjoyed life to the fullest and made no apologies for it. Silly, stilted rules of society could go hang as far as he was concerned.

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