Page 14 of An Affair with a Notorious Heiress
She sounded thoroughly confused when he knew she wasn’t. “Come now. I’m certain you outlined my good qualities and what you might have perceived as my... bad.”
“Not arrogant, are you, to think we would spend time discussing you.” It was stated, not asked.
“I’m simply rather convinced I was the topic of conversation once I delivered you home. I shall make it easy on you and share what I believe you told her. How’s that?”
She shifted in the saddle and he wished she wasn’t buttoned up so tightly in her forest green riding habit. A bit of white lace peeked out from her cuffs and above her collar. He wished they were at his personal estate where they’d have room to gallop madly over the flower-dotted meadows. He had no doubt she would give him a good race, that her hat would go flying off, her pins would come loose, her hair would tumble down. He longed to see it cascading along her back, over the horse’s flank. A vision of her without clothes suddenly flashed before him. Lady Godiva—he had no doubt Lady Landsdowne would rival her in beauty.
“I would indeed be very much interested in what you believe I relayed to my sister, but alas I have finished with my time in the park and must be home.”
“I’ll escort you.”
“Not necessary.”
“As a gentleman, I must insist. Besides, it is certain to put me in your good graces.”
“Do you not think you are there now?”
“I do not.” He knew he wasn’t. She looked at him like she wished she’d squeezed the trigger. “Please, Lady Landsdowne, in spite of what you might think, I do wish to ensure your sister’s happiness. Knowing what you are telling her about me could aid my cause and in the end, yours, as I believe you want the same thing for her. And I fear we got off on the wrong foot.”
Smart man, the Marquess of Rexton, to understand the influence Tillie had over her sister. “To be honest, I don’t recall your name on my tongue a single time after we returned to Landsdowne Court.”
His darkening gaze dipped to her mouth and she did wish she hadn’t mentioned her tongue. To make matters worse, she now envisioned it parrying with his in physical intimacy rather than with words. She suspected, for reasons which eluded her, that those marvelously shaped lips of his would urge hers into parting so he could deliver a kiss so all encompassing, so deep, that she would feel it in the soles of her feet. Even now, within her boots, her toes longed to curl. She had to be free of him, and quickly. “Escort me if you wish. But I shan’t disclose what I said to Gina regarding you. Musings between sisters are for sisters only.” She nudged her mare forward, disliking that she took satisfaction in his guiding his horse until it fell into step beside hers.
“I suspect you waxed on for some time regarding my handsome features,” he said.
She scoffed. Arrogant man. They always thought—
“I doubt either of you has ever known a man of such perfection.”
Her musings came to a sudden stop as though they’d hit a brick wall. His tone was more teasing than anything, perhaps a bit self-deprecating. Was it difficult to be as good-looking as he, to have women falling at his feet whenever he came near?
“We did have a time of it not swooning in your carriage yesterday afternoon.”
She wished she hadn’t said anything, had kept quiet, because he delivered a smile that very nearly caused her to fall out of the saddle. It wasn’t fair a man of such perfection should exist.
“You were charmed by my wit and exemplary manners.”
Enough of this. She wasn’t going to be enchanted. “I did question why you asked so much of me and not her.”
“No one enjoys an inquisition.”
“Yet you seemed determined to putmethrough my paces.”
“You seemed the one better able to withstand the attention. Has she never had anyone court her before?”
She didn’t want to be taken in by the true concern she heard in his voice. “You are her first. As I found the waters difficult to navigate at the tender age of eighteen, we decided it would serve her better to wait until she was nineteen.”
The faint light of morning allowed her to see the calculations running through his mind. She was rather taken aback that he was still striving to discern information regarding her—her present age of twenty-five, perhaps—but then she was the more interesting of the sisters, although she recognized that particular fact was not complimentary. It was only her scandal that made her noteworthy. He seemed to have finished his sums, satisfied with his answer. She wasn’t going to inquire regarding his conclusion, because she didn’t give a fig whether he’d gotten it correct or not.
“Did you dissuade her from attending the theater with me this evening?” he asked.
“I did not. I have surmised you are not the correct gentleman for her, but I also sense you will do no harm.”
That devilish grin again. She should hate him for the ease and smoothness with which it arrived. He was a man completely comfortable around women. No doubt because he’d known more than his fair share—intimately.
He opened his mouth, closed it, shook his head. “I was going to say you don’t know me well if you believe any woman is safe with me.” He seemed somewhat abashed. “It is second nature to flirt, but the truth is, you are correct. I would not intentionally cause her harm. She is a delightful girl. I enjoy her company.”
He might have said he was speaking the truth but somewhere within the words he’d woven a lie. She was rather certain of it, although she couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly what it was but there had been a slight change in his inflection, something to indicate his guilt. Or perhaps it was simply that her time with Downie had made it so she could never completely trust a man to be wholly honest.
