Page 22 of Tempting the Scoundrel
Oh god, how she longed to have that lake swallow her whole. “I must go,” she blurted, backing away.Flee. I must flee. I must find my dignity at the bottom of the lake.“Enjoy your walk, Lord Locke.”
“Nicholas,” he said. “Nick. Remember?”
A jolt went through her at his reminder of their agreement.Nicholas.She loved that name; the way the long form rolled off her tongue, the way the shortened version sounded like a confession.Nick. “Nick,” she repeated, eager to leave now before she said something ludicrous and ruined everything. “Try the walk around the pond. It’s quite lovely.”
But he didn’t let her leave so easily. In an amused voice, he called out, “What if I preferred your company?”
Alexandra paused at the unfamiliar words. She thought she understood men, but she did not comprehendthisone. “Do you?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. How at ease he looked, so elegant. “You seem surprised,” he said, frowning.
Had she grown so cynical? Had she internalized every insult from her peers and even her own father—future spinster, bitch, frigid, shrew—that she began to believe her company was a burden? That she had nothing to offer? It dismayed her, to value a man’s opinion so highly. ShewantedNick to like her.
She wanted him to be different.
But a thought occurred to her. “You are new to Stratfield Saye. I suppose you’ve had little time to make friends.”
“Yes,” he said. She was shocked by the strength of her disappointment until he added, “I could also tell you that five days ago, I met a woman in a bookshop and enjoyed our conversation so much that I haven’t stopped thinking of her.”
Alexandra was no longer aware of the heat. Not the lake, or their surroundings. No, only her heart and how it sped up at his words. She gave a laugh. “My, you must be starved for companionship if you’ll take it with a book thief.”
His beautiful smile returned. “Perhaps I enjoy visiting with thieves.” He gestured with a hand. “Come. Walk with me.”
This time, she agreed. They strolled in companionable silence down the path. The trail led through a copse of trees where the sunlight dappled the mossy ground. Beside them, the water of the lake lapped at the shore in gentle waves.
“Why did you seem surprised when I asked for your company?”
Alexandra let out a breath. “I thought I might have . . . scandalized you, that day at the bookshop. You might say it’s a habit of mine.”
He reached up and gently swatted a branch out of the way. “So what did you do to earn such a reputation? Start a fire?”
She laughed. “No.”
“No?” He tsked. “Steal something other than a book?”
“No.”
“You didn’t commit arsonorpetty non-book theft, then what’s left to make you such a bad, scandalous woman? Did you flash your knees to poor, unsuspecting bachelors?”
She made an indignant noise. “I talk about politics in public.”
His startled laugh warmed her. “My god, politics?” He mock gasped.
Alexandra edged around some tree roots. “I’m told it’s impolite to discuss whether women ought to be enfranchised—” She leveled him a fixed, steely gaze. “Do you think women should be able to vote, sir?”
Nick put a hand to his chest. “Every damn election.”
She stepped closer. “Do you believe women should be allowed to sit in the House of Commons?”
He was grinning now. “If she wants to shout at the opposition, why the hell not?”
“Do you, sir,find it acceptable that I wish to work, despite being the daughter of an Earl?”
Nick tilted his head a fraction. His expression had taken on its previous intensity. So keen, he was. “Yes, I do,” he said easily. Then, with some strange emotion: “What work?”
Would he judge her? Would this be what turned him away? Discussing her future often made even the most radical men uncomfortable. There was a difference, after all, between supporting a woman’s aspirations and considering her worthy of courting. Aristocratic wives, quite simply, did not do anything so vulgar as make money.Workwas for the common classes.
But Alexandra would not silence herself. She would not be timid. She would not allow any man to make her feel so small, not even this one.Shedid not consider work to be vulgar.
