Page 71 of Shining Knight
She scowled at him. “I knew you would be unable to resist teasing me.”
“Would you have held your tongue if the tables had been turned?” he asked skeptically.
“No, of course not,” he agreed for her, eyes twinkling with amusement.
“If you do not mind very much, I would like to show Isabella the rest of the Tower,” Edmund said.
“We shall send the carriage back for you, then,” Graham said.
“Excellent,” her brother agreed. He looked at Eugenia before she asked the question. “You are betrothed now and, I assume, will not leave the carriage,” he said with a pointed look at her head which must be a fright.
Once back inside the conveyance, she unpinned her hair and pulled it into a simple knot. Graham watched her in silence.
“What is it?”
“Your hair is beautiful. I think it a shame ladies must keep their hair up at all times.”
She gave a lift of her shoulder, unused to hearing compliments from him. She understood the performance in public, but they were alone. She put the last pin in and looked back at him. “Will I do?”
“I cannot produce a bonnet out of thin air, but you no longer look as though a monkey attacked your head,” he said, but could not keep from laughing.
“Then I suppose after Gunter’s you shall have to take me shopping.”
*
Eugenia had asweet tooth and Gunter’s was, without question, one of her favorite places to satisfy her cravings.
“Now, this is what I call fun,” she said as they drew up at the confectioners.
“What flavor shall it be today?” he asked before the waiter approached.
“I think I shall have the elderberry. No, wait, something with cream.”
Graham smiled. She did this every time. There was not a flavor she did not like. “Shall I choose for you?”
“Yes, please.”
He ordered her the Lavender and the Gruyere for himself. While they waited, he debated where they should go from here.
“Genie, I think we should talk.”
“We are talking; we have been talking,” she said, accentuating her words expressively with her hands.
“We did not finish discussing our betrothal.”
“There is nothing to discuss. We will leave soon for Devonshire, and I will jilt you when we return.”
“No,” he said firmly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me quite well. I want you to consider me as a serious suitor.”
She opened her mouth to object, but he held up his hand. “Hear me out. Is your only objection because of my feelings?”
The waiter interrupted then, bringing them their servings of ice, artistically arranged in silver dishes with delicate spoons.
He gave her a moment to take the first spoonful and relish it as she always did. That was yet another point in favor of their union. They knew each other better than anyone else and enjoyed each other’s company. He simply had to make her see it.
