Page 4 of A Gentleman Never Surrenders
“Good evening, Mr. Hadley,” she replied just as coolly. By the end of the third course, they’d likely frost their end of the table over with their chilled politeness.
“Are you enjoying the weather?” His question surprised her, and she answered before thinking through her response.
“The weather? It is October, Mr. Hadley, a lovely autumnal month. Of course I enjoy it.” She hadn’t meant to say that, hadn’t meant to reveal anything about herself that she enjoyed. It made her likeable, and that meant suitors would notice her. She couldn’t allow that.
“You enjoy October, then? What about it do you like?” He dipped his spoon into his bowl of cream of watercress soup and then after tasting it, angled his body toward her. It was inappropriate to do so, but no one else seemed to notice his position or his focus on her.
His eyes met hers and she saw a challenging gleam in his gaze underlaid with other more confusing emotions…heat, but not anger. She met him stare for stare despite the fact that his gaze made her feel as naked as though she wore nothing more than a corset and chemise.
A sudden flush heated Milly’s body from the tips of her toes to her cheeks. How could a simple move, his body turned toward her in a close setting, make her react so…strongly?
Like a fever. The thought only just penetrated the haze that lingered at the edge of her mind and body. She brought herself out of it with a little shake of her head.
“I’m sorry, what did you ask me?” For the life of her she couldn’t remember his question.
“October, what do you like about it?” He was blatantly ignoring the woman on his right and a few people across the table were noticing.
Milly swallowed hard and reached for her water goblet. Her tongue felt a little thick and her throat dry. Hadley’s intense focus on her was unsettling.
“I…uh…enjoy the changing of the colors of the leaves, the way the crisp breeze has a slight bite to it.”
Oh dear, I’m rambling. She hastily took a few sips of her watercress soup, not daring to look in Hadley’s direction. When he said nothing, she finally was forced to look his way. Those eyes, the ones that promised danger and seduction, were entirely fixed on her. How could he make her feel so naked and excited? As though she had no secrets from him and with that glint of arrogance she saw, he knew exactly what she was thinking. She stared back at him, her heart thumping hard enough that she wondered if her ribs would be bruised on the morrow.
“And you, Mr. Hadley. What do you like about October?”
He chuckled. “I don’t like the month. Not at all. I prefer June or July. The heat, you know, I like that much better. The feel of the sun warming my bare skin…a man can grow addicted to the feel of that pleasurable burning, perhaps even a woman can, too.”
The heat? He liked the heat? She very much doubted that he meant the heat of the sun. No, she sensed that the heat he referred to was something else entirely, something she wasn’t supposed to know about, being a virgin, and yet she did. She only knew enough to know it was bad to think of words like heat and pleasurable burning in such a scandalous fashion. There was something about the way he said the words and how his eyes darkened as he looked at her that made it feel so wrong. So wrong in a delicious way like eating the last bit of dessert when she’d already had too much.
“You don’t like the heat?” Owen finally broke his stare and turned to face his bowl of soup again.
With his concentration on her disrupted, Milly’s strength returned. “No. I most certainly do not.”
With a practiced ease, Mr. Hadley tossed one shoulder in a casual shrug and replied, “Pity, it might have been fun for you and I to enjoy the summer heat together.” And then he didn’t converse with her for the remainder of the dinner.
For some reason, it made her angry, angry and a little hurt. Which made no sense, since she didn’t like him. Despised him, in fact. Then why did it sting? She shouldn’t want him to continue talking to her or discussing things that were likely far too scandalous for dinner, but there had been something to him when he spoke to her. She’d felt…alive even as they’d played whatever sort of game he’d started and she missed the feeling of excitement that came with verbally sparring with him, even for so short a time.
For the remainder of the meal, she partook minimally in the other conversations, still mulling over Owen’s words and what they really meant…and more importantly how his heated gaze had made her feel.
After dinner, Milly spent the remainder of the evening, while the men were unaware, speaking with Ivy about joining the local suffragettes for their meetings. If Milly was to remain unwed, she wanted to devote her life to her passion—the education of women—and Ivy had some wonderful ideas of how Milly could become involved. It left her feeling full of hope for the first time in years. She would have a purpose, one not buried by society’s expectations but rather one that would challenge her and give young girls a sense of a future that was bright and filled with chances they would never have dreamed of without proper education.
It was a long while later when the ladies were finally ready to go to bed. The gentlemen had gone to drink port in another part of the large manor house and the ladies of the party were thankfully in agreement that it was time to retire.
Milly joined Rowena as they ascended the main set of stairs and walked down the hall to their wing. Their rooms were opposite each other in the hall.
“Rowena, remember to lock your door after Constance sees to you,” she reminded her little sister.
“My door…why of course, but why would you tell me to?” Rowena entered her chamber, where Constance stood waiting. Pinching her earrings off and her delicate diamond bracelets, she handed them to their maid, who carried them over to a sateen jewelry box on the dresser.
“It’s Mr. Hadley. I don’t like the way he was looking at you tonight.” Milly leaned against one of the bedposts, gripping the wood between her gloved hands.
“How was he looking at me? What do you mean, Milly?” Her little sister’s eyes were wide and a little fearful.
“You’re too young to know what sort of man he is, but trust me when I say you don’t want to be someone he is interested in. Fortune hunters are heartless. They only care about the money they can get when they ruin you. I saw the way he was looking at you tonight. I believe he might try to seduce you. You could not survive the scandal if he did. You must take care not to be anywhere alone, especially with him. After dinner tonight, I was worried he might try to visit your rooms. It is the easiest way to compromise a woman.”
At this her sister froze, her gown half undone in the back. Constance even paused in the act of slipping buttons of their slits.
“He’ll try to compromise me?”
