Page 59 of An Offer for a Spinster
She shot a quick, outraged glance up at him, but Lord Barwood’s expression was smooth, and he was looking away.
Had… had she imagined it? Surely he wouldn’t have said something so shockingly rude, not to her face. Surely not.
There were no set places around the table, so the guests were sitting down wherever they liked. That meant that there was no excuse to prevent Katherine from sitting beside Lord Barwood. She sank miserably into the seat he pulled out for her, the last of her hope fizzling away. She’d spend the rest of the meal fielding Lord Barwood’s conversation, and probably the rest of the night, too. The man would stick to her side like glue.
And then a man sank into the seat beside her, and her heart leapt.
“Ah, Timothy,” Katherine said, smiling wider than she should have done. “We finally have the opportunity of sitting beside each other. I’m glad.”
“So am I,” Timothy admitted. “I had to bargain with Mrs. Flynn to get this seat.”
“I shall promise you scintillating conversation in return.”
Timothy chuckled at that, earning himself a glare from Lord Barwood. Timothy only stared right back, unmoved.
Lord Barwood sniffed, dropping his gaze first.
The first courses were served, the usual fare a person would expect at a party like this – good soup and bread, followed by delicate roasted meats and vegetables, nothing too complicated, but all very tasty. The butler and the footmen silently circled the table, filling up wine glasses wherever possible.
Already, Lord Barwood had drunk two glasses.
Not a very auspicious start,Katherine thought, watching him swig back the last dregs of his third glass and gesture at the butler to fill it again.
“Well, Mr. Rutherford,” Lord Barwood said, setting down the wine glass with a too-loudclack. “Tell me more about this love of novels you have. I don’t believe I’ve ever met a man who reads novels.”
“Actually, I would say that you haven’t met a man whoadmitsto reading novels,” Timothy replied coolly. Katherine was obliged to lean back in her seat to let the two men speak over her. It wasn’t exactly good manners to speak over a fellow dinner guest, but that was neither here nor there now, frankly.
“No?”
“No,” Timothy affirmed. “Thinking of the style of company you keep, Lord Barwood, I would say that you simply don’t know any men whocanread.”
There was a taut silence. Katherine pressed her napkin over her mouth to hide her smile.
“I beg your pardon?” Lord Barwood snapped.
Timothy smiled beatifically. “Just a little joke, Lord Barwood.”
The man grunted. “Not very funny. It’s not particularly manly, is it? Novel-reading.”
“Why not?”
Lord Barwood blinked, glancing at Katherine as if she had the slightest inclination to help him get out of the conversational hole he’d dug himself into.
“Eh?”
“Why not, Lord Barwood?” Timothy repeated, leaning forward. “Why should it be unmanly to read novels? Plenty of men havewrittenthem. What’s wrong with reading them?”
“Yes, yes, but the men who write novels write them for ladies to read.”
“And that somehow makes a difference, does it?”
Lord Barwood blinked. It was clear that the man wasn’t used to being called upon to justify himself, and he was not enjoying it now.
He glanced at Katherine, who flashed a tight-lipped smile.
“Timothy makes a very good point, Lord Barwood.”
Lord Barwood snarled. “He makes no point. No point at all. Novels are nonsense, everybody knows that. If ladies want to entertain themselves with nonsense, that is their concern. I, for one, would not allow the future Lady Barwood to fill her head with such nonsense. No man of sense would want his wife feeding on such nonsense.”
