Page 34 of A Duchess Bound
“I know that someone broke you.”
Gerard frowned. Ice seemed to creep into his veins. “Why would you say something like that?”
“Because it is true. You are entirely uninterested in women, except for the pleasure they can bring you. Aside from your one friend—what is his name?”
“Pontoun.”
“Yes. Aside from him, you seem largely uninterested in having any attachments with men, either. You have many acquaintances, and you enjoy the company of others. But you have so few friends of either sex.”
“Perhaps, I am simply disinclined to make attachments.”
“Or you are afraid to. That is what I suspect.”
Gerard finished his tea and placed the cup and saucer on the nearby table. Coming to Lady Everleigh had been a dreadful error. “You assume much, my lady.”
“You have not denied any of it.”
“That does not mean you are correct.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “I am. You just do not wish to admit it. How like a man!”
“That is unkind.”
“And you are being dishonest,” she said. “You are afraid to have any attachments, and men are seldom born that way. Theylearnto be that way. Someone hurt you, and I have no idea who. But someday, you will be forced to reckon with that, my lord. You are growing old.”
He laughed. “Five-and-thirty is hardly old.”
“It is to be a bachelor, who is not even searching for a wife,” Lady Everleigh said. “You have a duty to the dukedom, which must be fulfilled. You need a duchess.”
“I will find one.”
“When?”
Gerard clenched his jaw. “When it suits me.”
“And I imaginewhen it suits youwill never arrive,” Lady Everleigh said. “I suggest that you begin your search sooner, rather than later, my lord. That is all.”
“I see.”
She smiled with mock sweetness. “I did warn you, my lord.”
“You did,” Gerard said.
“I find it interesting that you have not already married a like-minded woman,” Lady Everleigh added. “You seem like a man who would benefit from a marriage of convenience.”
“Yes,” he said.
It would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? He could have a wife bear him children, and those children would be raised in a cold household, where nobody loved or cared about any other person. Gerard grimaced. “I shall take your thoughts under consideration.”
“Which means not at all.”
“Precisely.”
He fought to regain his usual joviality, but it was difficult. In truth, he was unnerved. Lady Everleigh should not have known those things about him. He had never told her.
Gerard stood, feeling as though the ground was floating away beneath his feet. Still, he forced a rakish smile. “Thank you for your time, my lady.”
He swept into a needlessly flamboyant bow, which received an unimpressed look.
