Page 14 of Cherish and the Duke
“Your Grace, I am not certain you and Fiona see me clearly.”
“We do.” He gulped down his ale. “Cherish, I am not just saying this to appease you. It is a fact. Fiona and I are not wrong.”
She brushed back a few curls that had loosened in the breeze, something that seemed to happen regularly because her hair was delightfully lush and unruly. “Reggie does not think so. He hasn’t ever looked my way. Perhaps at first, but that was only to dismiss me as a possible match. How am I to go about attracting him when I do not know how to flirt? I am not even a good dancer. I don’t ride well, either. In fact, I am deathly afraid of horses.”
He set aside his mug and leaned an arm on his bent knee as he concentrated his attention on her. “Did you have an experience riding that frightened you?”
She nodded. “I fell off the horse my father gave me as a present for my tenth birthday. I couldn’t control him and wound up with a fractured wrist and an egg-sized lump on my brow. But I healed quickly. It could have been so much worse.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “Wasn’t your fault.”
“Nor yours. I’ll give you riding lessons if you are comfortable enough to trust me. Reggie enjoys riding. He’s quite good at it. However, he doesn’t keep to it with any regularity. Getting him off his rump and active is a trait that has yet to be instilled in him.”
“Poor Reggie. You should not be too hard on him. I’m sure he finds you quite daunting and does not think he can ever measure up to you.”
“But that’s just it. I think he can. He simply doesn’t try hard enough.”
“Have you done anything to encourage his participation? You might compliment him once in a while so he does not feel defeated before he ever starts. I can see he loves you and admires you. Your words are very important to him. He needs to feel you are proud of him.”
“Which I am not at the moment,” Gawain admitted.
“And he feelsthatacutely.”
“Cherish, are you rebuking me?”
She brushed back another lock of her hair that had come loose in the breeze. “No, I’m merely voicing my opinion. I know how it feels to be trod upon. Reggie may be feeling the same with you. Oh, I am not suggesting you are anything like my boor of an uncle. But have you ever trusted Reggie with an important project? Or shown him that you value his opinion?”
“He rarely ventures one.”
“And why is that? Are you too quick to dismiss him if you disagree with what he has to say? Or if he does not express an opinion immediately? He is not a soldier who needs to be trained for battle. He does not need to have orders barked at him. Nor will he die if he requires a few minutes to make a decision.”
Gawain did not wish to be lectured, but Cherish was making sense. “Go on.”
“Everyone absorbs information differently. I think you are a bit of a bull, quick to decide and act. But Reggie might be more thoughtful and need time to digest all the facts before he reaches a conclusion. His way isn’t wrong, merely different from yours. I think an encouraging word from you will work wonders on him.”
“Maybe.” He took the breast of chicken she now offered him and sank his teeth into it. After swallowing a bite, he continued their conversation. “What about your dancing skills? Why do you say they are not good?”
“Because they aren’t. I have not danced in years. Attending a few of the local assemblies and hopping about to a lively reel or two when I was a girl of seventeen is not at all the same as dancing among elevated Society. I have never waltzed. Nor ever learned the steps.”
“I’ll help you with that as well.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I think I can pick up most of the other dances without too much difficulty. Hopefully, the waltz won’t stump me either. It seems easy enough. I don’t think I would require more than an afternoon or two to learn it and refresh my memory on the other dances. I only need to master them enough to keep from making a fool of myself. But even if you had me dancing with the grace of a swan, I don’t know if it would be enough to attract Reggie’s attention.”
“He’ll ask you to dance. Let me take care of that part.”
“Then it shall be up to me to keep him interested? Oh dear.” She began to nibble her lip, looking adorably distressed.
Botheration, she is pretty.
He arched an eyebrow. “I see you will also need lessons on how to flirt with a man.”
She laughed. “Desperately.”
“I’ll show you how it is done. Believe me, I’ve been assaulted by the best. We’ll add that to your lessons.” He took another bite of the breast, refusing—absolutely refusing—to think ofherbreasts. It was wrong on every level, so very wrong. “Cherish, you’ve told me everything you cannot do. Now tell me what youcando to impress my nephew. Surely you must have a few skills.”
She winced. “I can manage an estate and am a wizard at sums. But I do not think this is the sort of thing you mean. It might attract a practical man like you, but no one else. As for the traditional feminine accomplishments, I can sing. And I play the pianoforte quite well. But that is about the extent of my talents.”
