Page 36 of The Duke's Stubborn Wallflower
“Indeed, we shall.” Jane smiled back at him and glanced at Olivia, a question in her eyes.
“I would like that.” Olivia nodded at him and then turned to Lord Briston. “It was good to see you both.”
“And you, Lady Olivia.” Lord Briston bowed.
As the carriage departed, Nigel felt an odd sense of loss in his chest. He turned to his cousin.
“I think that went rather well, don’t you?” Nigel clapped him on the back. “Well, with the exception of you spilling the lemonade.”
Lord Briston made a noncommittal noise. “You and Lady Olivia seem to have put your differences behind you.”
“I thought you would be glad of that?” Nigel shrugged as they began to make their way to his London house. “After all, if we are not staring daggers at each other, you are much more likely to be able to speak to her.”
“If only that were true, dear cousin.” Lord Briston shook his head. “Do you not think that what you are doing is rather… unkind?”
“And what exactly am I doing?” Nigel shot his cousin a look.
“You have spent all this afternoon flirting with the young woman.” Lord Briston scowled. “I could scarcely get a word in.”
“It is not my fault you failed to hold her interest.” Nigel shook his head. “Besides, we were not flirting. Simply… talking.”
“You hardly gave me a chance. Any time I tried to talk to her, there you were.” Lord Briston let out a growl of frustration.
“Well, we were all walking together. It would be rather improper if Miss Jane and I hadn’t been there.”
“You could have talked to Miss Jane, made more of an effort with her, and let me get to know Lady Olivia a little better,” Lord Briston suggested.
“I did talk to Miss Jane. Rather frequently. I can hardly be blamed if Lady Olivia chose to join in our conversation rather than yours.” Nigel waved his hand around vaguely. “Perhaps you should work on your conversational skills.”
“And perhaps you should not be such a selfish twit.” Lord Briston’s face flashed scarlet.
“I beg your pardon?” Nigel glared at his cousin.
“You heard me.”
“And how exactly am I being selfish?”
“You are leading that young woman on. You have already told me you will not entertain a future with her —”
“You know why I can’t.”
“Then stop this pursuit. It is not fair.” Lord Briston shook his head.
Nigel sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I am not pursuing her.”
“Then whatareyou doing?” Lord Briston asked frowning.
“I do not know. Nothing. I am — we were just talking. There is nothing between us.” Nigel shook his head.The words do not even sound convincing to me.“There can be nothing between us.”
Nigel turned from his cousin and strode through the park, feeling utterly wretched. In one moment, his pleasant feelings of the afternoon had turned to guilt and anger.And more irritatingly, my cousin is right.
He shook his head in disgust. He was barely aware of his journey back to his London house. His head was full of the afternoon and his cousin’s words. He was dimly aware of his hand shaking and clenched it hard into a fist.
You are doomed. You need to stop this.Nigel sighed and collapsed into a chair in his study. He glanced at a decanter near him, vaguely debating pouring himself a healthy measure of whiskey.
“Well, at least it should be easy enough to avoid Olivia after today.” Nigel’s heart sank as he said it. “I can just avoid a fewballs — it is not as if there is anyone who will be particularly offended by my absence — and that will still give me plenty of time to find a wife.”
He looked at the portrait of his father in the corner. His father’s smiling image seemed to survey him with kind eyes.
