Page 30 of Courting the Earl
At her sharp intake of breath, he met her eyes. “I’d like to get to know you better.”
She stared at him, her expression impassive for several interminable moments before she smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’ve been feeling so guilty about my… attraction to you.”
His voice lowered and he leaned in closer. “You’re attracted to me?”
She let out a small huff of laughter and pulled her hand from his. “You know I am. You’ve been doing everything in your power to charm me. I know it’s because you were hoping to get me on your side with respect to my cousin—”
“No,” he said with a frown. “Well, perhaps at first. But you must know that I’ve come to think highly of you. And I wasn’t lying about my own attraction.”
Truer words had never been spoken. This woman had begun to bedevil him. Marriage wasn’t something he’d expected to contemplate for several more years, but something about Eleanor Pearson had him thinking he needed to consider the matter now. Before someone else snatched her up.
A flicker of emotion crossed her face. “I…” She shook her head and turned away from him.
He moved closer to her. They weren’t touching, but it was a near thing. Somehow he resisted the urge to reach for her chin and turn her face back to him. “Tell me.”
She took another deep breath and turned to look at him. “I am five and twenty.”
She seemed to think those words should convey something to him, but he found himself at a loss as to their significance. “And?”
“No one is going to offer me marriage.”
He couldn’t hold back his laugh.
She folded her arms across her chest and frowned. “I’m happy to see my current life circumstances bring you such amusement.”
He sobered but couldn’t keep from smiling at her ridiculous statement. “If one thing is clear to me, it is that you are devoted to your cousin. And heaven knows her parents spoil her.”
She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he continued. “I’m not saying anything negative about Miss Pearson, only that it is clear you have all placed her needs above your own. Especially you. But once she’s wed, you’ll be free to look to your own future.”
She shook her head. “I’ll still be far too old.”
“Eleanor.” He loved the way her name rolled off his tongue. “My sister is twenty-seven, and she is with child. There is still time for you to have a family of your own.”
He couldn’t shake the image of her rounded with child. The thought caused an unexpected yearning, but he pushed the feeling aside. It was far too soon for him to be thinking about children. He still had to decide whether he wanted a wife.
One corner of her mouth lifted, but her words were tinged with a hint of bittersweet emotion. “That might be true, but we both know that men seek out women who are Lydia’s age, not mine. No one is going to look at me, even without Lydia by my side.”
He wanted to shake her. Why was she being so stubborn about this? “I’m looking at you.”
She met his gaze. “But not as a wife. We both know you have no intention of marrying. Not yet.”
He had to ignore the urge to deny her assertion. In truth, he no longer knew what he wanted. He was relieved to be free of his unwanted betrothal, yes. But surely he wasn’t considering turning around and proposing to another woman. He was confused and needed time to think.
“I have come to terms with my reality. But that doesn’t mean…”
She looked away, and Geoffrey found himself hanging on to her words. She stiffened her spine and turned to face him again. This time it was Eleanor who reached for him and entwined their fingers. Heated awareness coursed through his body and he knew—he knew—what she was going to say.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what it would be like to be with a man. Women my age can take lovers. Society looks the other way.”
His pulse was racing. “Would your aunt and uncle look the other way?”
She let out a surprised laugh. “Heavens no. But once Lydia is married, I will no longer be called upon to chaperone her. I will have a measure of freedom.”
The key his sister had given him was a heavy weight in his pocket. Abigail had known what would happen between him and Eleanor. That he would want to make her his.
“Eleanor.”
She swallowed. “Yes, my lord?”
