Page 83 of Sense and Suitability
She avoided his gaze, the blush deepening, and his grin only grew.
“It was quite the spectacle,” she admitted. “Poor Miss Clayton looked positively ruffled by Miss Hemston’s theatrics. It was all very dramatic.”
Why did she care? Unless... could the idea of her being jealous hold some truth? He slowed his steps, her reaction feeding a flicker of hope. Perhaps Miss Hemston’s earlier insinuations had been wrong—or intentionally misleading.
“It’s wise to consider one’s options when contemplating matrimony, wouldn’t you agree? Focusing solely on Miss Clayton when Miss Hemston is so very... insistent seems rather inefficient.”
“Inefficient?” Her lovely bottom lip dropped, but she rallied within a second, her cheeks heightened with color. “You’re far too intelligent to entertain Miss Hemston, Simon Reeves. And you care too deeply for your family to make such an error.”
“Giving my family and estate what they need is of prime importance.” He kept his face forward to hide his growing amusement. “She brings a great deal of wealth.”
“And an even greater measure of misery,” she shot back, her steps quickening before she turned to face him, her expression fierce. “She’s selfish and manipulative. Can you imagine how she’d treat Fia and her frogs?”
Simon nearly winced, but her passion kept him entranced.
“And poor William. I don’t know him as well as the girls, but can you even contemplate such a harsh woman in his life? Or Charlotte! She’d try to hold her ground, but Miss Hemston’s years of practiced haughtiness would crush her spirit entirely.”
He stared at her, his heart nearly leaping from his chest. How could one woman understand his family so perfectly? How could she care for them as much as he did? He almost grabbed her and kissed her in the middle of one of the main thoroughfares in St. Groves.
“I must choose someone,” he said, his voice low.
Her brows knitted together. “I’ve given you a perfectly acceptable suggestion in Miss Clayton. Surely she deserves better than a suitor so easily distracted during a performance.”
He wasn’t distracted by Miss Hemston.
“If this is your idea of courting, Lord Ravenscross, I’d say you’re in dire need of instruction.”
On instinct, he reached for her arm, stopping her mid-stride and drawing her closer. “I recall a time when you found my courting skills more than satisfactory.”
Her eyes widened, her breath catching as her cheeks flushed deeper. “That...” She hesitated, her gaze imploring him for mercy. Tugging her arm free, she whispered, “Everything was different then.”
She turned and resumed her walk, her pace brisk, leaving him no choice but to follow.
“If Miss Clayton is not the conversationalist you desire,” she said, her tone deliberately light and her smile as thin as parchment, “perhaps Miss Perkins might suffice?”
“She’s barely sixteen.”
“And men your age have married sixteen-year-olds before,” she retorted, waving a hand. “She has some spirit—perhaps like Marianne in that novel you’re reading?”
“I am not as old as Colonel Brandon,” he huffed, “though I do admire his character. But sixteen and eight-and-twenty is far closer than sixteen and five-and-thirty, wouldn’t you agree?”
Her eyes lit as she paused her walk and turned to face him again. “You must be enjoying the story to have remembered such details.”
“I am, but I’m afraid business has slowed my progress.”
She resumed walking at a more leisurely pace, her face tilted toward him. “Good business, I hope?”
“Very good.” His expression softened at her sincere interest. “Every small, sound decision matters.”
“Indeed. An excellent life motto for anyone.”
His gaze narrowed in mock suspicion, which only deepened her grin. If he were truly keeping his aunt’s stipulations in mind, he wouldend this conversation and suppress the pull of her presence. But her sunshine—the pure, uncalculated brightness she brought to his life—felt like the only thing tethering him to sanity.
Her.
Ben’s words came back to mind.“Perhaps she doesn’t need to save your estate, Simon. Perhaps she only needs to save you.”
A dangerous idea unfurled in his mind, nudging aside his fears and the prescriptive future he had resigned himself to. His trials had shaped him—his cousin’s negligence and debts, his father’s ruin, his mother’s death, and Arianna’s disappearance—all forging his courage in ways he’d never expected.
