Page 12 of Moonstone Angel
He shook his head and laughed. “I have not reached a verdict on her yet. She’s an odd girl. Never met anyone quite like her.”
“Because she challenges you. She thinks for herself. And she does not prize wealth or titles over everything else.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “That remains to be seen. Her friendship may be nothing but an elaborate ploy to steal your money. Or to get closer to me. Have you thought of that?”
His grandmother cast him a dismissive glance. “Yes, I am not dimwitted. Fortune hunters have been approaching me all my life. I have learned to tell who is genuine and who is motivated by greed. Cara and her family may not beton, but neither are they paupers. They are happy with what they have and confident in who they are.”
He leaned a shoulder against the railing post and turned pensive again. “Are you suggesting Cara is content to remain a middle-class spinster?”
“Honestly, Rowan. The girl is not yet twenty and one. Hardly on the shelf. What I am saying is that Cara is true to herself. She has opinions and values, and she will stand by them.”
“If a duke offered to marry her, do you expect me to believe she would refuse him?”
“If she did not love this duke, then yes, she would refuse him. Are you referring to yourself?”
“Gad, no. It was just a hypothetical. I am trying to understand her and her motivations.”
“Kindness is her only motivation. Oh, I hear her approaching, so I will speak quickly. She is a good soul and if you hurt her, I will never forgive you.”
He was surprised by the vehemence of his grandmother’s statement. Had Cara connived her way into the old woman’s heart that deeply?
No wonder his sisters were concerned.
Cara walked out with a glass of sherry in hand a moment later. “Here you go, Duchess Anne. Isn’t this sunset one of the prettiest we’ve ever seen?”
“Indeed, it is. But I fear my grandson’s head is too filled with weighty matters to appreciate it.”
“Weighty? I assume you are referring to his concerns over me.” Cara turned to him and cast him a wry smile. “I am but a slip of a girl and not at all weighty, Your Grace. What you see of me is all there is. If you have questions, then ask them. You will get honest answers because I am a terrible liar. It is too cumbersome to keep all those untruths whirling in one’s head, don’t you think? I find it much easier to simply say what is on my mind. Would you care to know what I am thinking of you right now?”
He laughed. “No, you’ll cut me to ribbons with that sharp tongue of yours.”
“I’ll try not to hurt your feelings. It is not in my nature to ever want to hurt others. All I ask is that you offer me the same respect. Simply because you view me as someone lesser than you does not give you the right to wound me with your glib words and accusations. I have a heart and it is fragile. Be honest with me but not cruel.”
The girl had his head spinning again.
When had anyone ever spoken to him like this? Why was he made to feel like an oaf for wanting to protect his grandmother? “You want honesty?”
She nodded.
His expression turned serious, and he must have appeared quite daunting as he drew closer and folded his arms across his chest. “Then I’ll tell you…”
Her eyes widened, and the little apple in her throat bobbed up and down as she stared back at him.
He leaned close and whispered in her ear. “I don’t want to wash dishes.”
She emitted a gasping laugh and shook her head mirthfully. “Serves me right. I’ve just talked myself out of an assistant. Well, it is more important for you to spend time with your grandmother anyway. I can manage the dishes on my own.”
Having said that, she returned inside to attend to the chore.
“Rowan, really. You are too much. Are you going to let Cara do all the work herself?”
He grunted as he took the chair beside his grandmother and stretched his legs before him. “Of course not. I’ll go in to help her in a little while. But she is quite capable of managing on her own, and I am not going to follow her in like a lost pup waiting for a pat on the head.”
“Now you sound like a pouting, little boy.”
“I am no longer a boy. I am fully a man, and it galls me that your Cara seems to best me at every turn. Perversely, I like her. But I am not letting down my guard around her until I am certain of her motives.”
“Are you worried that my Miss Angel is no angel?” His grandmother took a sip of her sherry. “Rowan, there are good souls in this world, and she is one of them. I know most people who surround you want something from you. It is sensible of you to be wary. But don’t close yourself off from the rare good ones because of it. Do you believe she is a thief? That she stole one of the Strathmore necklaces as your sisters accused?”
