Page 15 of Her Infuriating Earl
“I think that sounds unkind, and you would not be able to be in the same room as such a majestic creature, anyway,” Phoebe muttered, having been a great admirer of cats for the entirety of her life.
In fact, she had been given a kitten for her tenth birthday, the most precious ball of fluff she had ever beheld, but the moment Joanna and Ellen came close to the creature, it immediately became clear that the twins had a violent aversion to the beautiful little thing—livid red hives across their bodies, streaming eyes, difficulty breathing. The following day, the kitten was gone, given to the daughter of one of her father’s friends. But Phoebe could still remember the way it felt in her arms, that warm ball of fur and affection.
Joanna sniffed. “I did not say I wanted to see the pet tiger, just that I am utterly envious that His Lordship saw one.”
“You do not favor cats?” Daniel asked.
“I cannot be near them, or I get rather sick,” Joanna replied. “At least, that is what Phoebe tells me and Ellen, though she is always trying to stop us from doing as we please, so perhaps I do not have an aversion.”
Ellen cleared her throat, walking a pace behind Phoebe. “No, Sister, it is true. I can vouch for it.”
Phoebe offered Ellen a thankful expression, pleased that someone was partially on her side. Ellen gave a subtle nod in reply.
In truth, since the carriage ride back from Leah’s ball, Ellen had become much pleasanter toward Phoebe, as if she now saw her older sister in a new light. Sadly, that had not yet extended to Joanna, who had barely spoken to Phoebe since she had forbidden her from courting Daniel.
I suppose she knew that I would buckle, eventually,Phoebe realized, sensing that this walk in the park was the beginning of something much bigger and out of her control.
Just then, Joanna’s head snapped toward something in the distance. “Ellen, it is Charlotte and Maria!” She turned to Daniel. “Apologies, My Lord, but we have not seen our friends in an age. Might you excuse us for a moment?”
“Certainly.” Daniel drew his hand away from hers, and, with that, the twins were off, running in a most unladylike fashion toward a small cluster of young ladies in the near distance.
“Do not hitch up your skirts like that!” Phoebe shouted, but the twins either did not hear her or did not wish to.
Daniel chuckled, gaining a sharp look from Phoebe. “Am I not supposed to laugh?” he asked, putting his arms behind his back in a gentlemanly stance.
“We might not be at a public gathering, but wearein public,” she replied. “I would have them behave like ladies, even when there is no one to see how they conduct themselves, so that it becomes second nature.”
Daniel eyed her with curiosity. “You have never hitched up your skirts and run freely?”
“No, I have not.”
“That is a shame.” His brow pinched. “Have you ever done anything freely, just because you wanted to?”
She balked at the question. “Such as?”
“Anything,” he replied. “Have you… eaten blackberries straight from the bramble? Have you walked alone all afternoon because your heart desired it? Have you hidden away and read a book for pleasure, uninterrupted? Have you sung a song because your soul demanded music? Have you bought a ribbon because you adored the color, and had just enough in your coin purse to pay for it? Have you bought a confection simply because you wanted to taste something sweet?”
Phoebe stared at him, bewildered by his words, as if he were speaking to her in a foreign language. Yet, he waited patiently, like he had said nothing peculiar at all and was genuinely interested to hear her reply. But the more she thought about what he was asking, the more confused she became, searching her memory for any example of doing something purely because she wished to.
Nothing came to her. Nothing at all. And the longer that nothingness had to spread, the more worrisome it became, leaving her feeling oddly cold.
“I thought not,” he said softly when she could not find a way to answer him.
That rankled her. “I am not without pastimes or enjoyments. I… attend many balls and parties alone so that I might spend time with my friends.”
“And what do you speak to your friends about, primarily?” Daniel asked, nodding toward the twins. “I suspect it might be them.”
She swallowed uncomfortably. “What does it matter if it is? They are my purpose. Why should I not speak about them? I know of countless mothers who speak about their children more than anything else.”
“The difference is, you are not their mother,” Daniel said, in a perplexing voice that was somehow both pitying and admiring. “You are still a young woman. Do you not have dreams and hopes of your own? Do you never feel like being a sister instead of a mother figure?”
Of course I do,she wanted to say with every fiber of her being. Instead, she said, “Until they are safe, my hopes and dreamsarethem. As for being a sister instead of a mother figure, I do not think there is any difference at all. It is not the same for brothers, so do not pretend that you understand.”
“I was not going to.” He put up his hands in mock surrender. “However, Iwasgoing to ask why we cannot be civil. You do not need to treat me as a threat, Miss Wilson. I truly mean no harm.”
Phoebe took a steadying breath, her mind still spiraling from his gentle interrogation. “I might have believed that,” she said, “if you had not appeared at my family’s door, uninvited. I might have believed that if you had not decided to defy my wishes. What is worse, I believe you are defying my wishes simply to show that you can. I do not think you actually care for my sister at all.”
An odd look froze Daniel’s face, his fixed smile vanishing for just a second, his eyelids fluttering wider, before he quickly returned to his former demeanor. “I think she is a delightful, young lady, she has no objections, and I am eager to wed soon. My care of her will come afterward, as it does for so many ladies in Society. A match that is neither a love match nor an arranged match, but a match of convenience is nothing new, Miss Wilson.”
