Page 52 of A Gentleman's Reckoning
Mr. Biggs offered nothing further, and John realized there was no point in attempting to persuade him to give up all he knew. He would not have more help from the old steward. He thanked him for his time and went out to the street to look for a hackney cab, thinking that it would take a miracle to find anything solid enough to expose Lord Goodwin.
For the first time, he was beginning to fear he would never regain his standing in society. What was more, it was even less likely he would win Lady Geny’s hand.
Chapter Eighteen
Geny was unable to think of anything but her conversation with John. Had she only imagined it, or had he truly said he would offer for her if she would only wait six months? But why six months? Did he think she would come to her senses and change her mind in that time? He did not know her very well if he thought that.
She had had plenty of opportunities to marry within society if she chose to, but no one had ever inspired her to take that leap. After dissecting every conversation she had shared with John—and reminiscing about the kisses that went with some of them—she was no more enlightened as to his possible meaning and knew she would need to speak to Margery to make sense of it. So when she heard the sounds of her friend’s arrival, she sat up, determined to broach the subject.
Margery bustled into the room, her cheerful greeting belying her claim that she was the laziest creature alive.
“Do my eyes deceive me, or are you truly sitting there with nothing to occupy you?” She untied her bonnet and lay it on the sofa next to her, then clasped her hands on her knees andleaned forward. “And my, don’t you look fetching today? It is a shame”—she looked behind her and saw that the butler had not quite left the room and waited until he had—“that no one of consequence is here to appreciate it.”
Geny smiled and shook her head, comforted by her friend’s prattle but consumed by what she considered to be a frustrating, unsolvable problem.
“I requested the servants to bring tea before you arrived, so we need not wait for it. I think you will like the cakes.”
“I am not discerning. I always like cake,” Margery replied with a fetching smile.
Geny looked at her more closely, at last perceiving how unusually cheerful Margery was, and she began to grow suspicious. “Have you finally opened up to Mr. Thompson’s courtship?”
Margery sat back with feigned surprise. “How could you accuse me of such a thing? You know I am neveropento anyone’s courtship. Besides, how did you know he was courting me?”
Geny smiled and gave a small shrug, her own worries temporarily cast aside. “He and I had a little conversation, and he was quite transparent about his admiration for you.”
“I hope you did not fan the flames of that admiration,” she said severely.
Geny directed her stare at her friend, a smile lurking on her lips. “Would you really object if I had done so?”
Margery sighed loudly and reached for a cake, biting into it. “This is delicious.”
“Hmm.” Geny would not press her. It was enough that Margery could not contain her happiness over finally returning a gentleman’s feelings. Geny knew her well enough to see that, and she would not push for more confidences.
She served the tea and took her own cake, astonished that she was hungry for it. She had been unable to eat of late, and sheknew that her loss of appetite was due to her growing feelings for John.
This time, it was Margery who noticed that Geny was being unusually discreet, and she sent her a more searching glance.
“Something is amiss. I hope you will tell me what it is.” This was what Geny loved about Margery. She might seem frivolous, but she was a true friend when it mattered most.
Before confiding in her friend, she listened to the sounds outside of the drawing room to see if anyone was on the point of entering. Matthew had finally persuaded their father to take him out riding in his curricle. This was an extraordinary concession on the earl’s part, for Geny hardly remembered spending time with him even when her mother was alive, if it was not to go out into society. All was quiet and she decided it would be safe to talk.
“John—Mr. Rowles—and I have kissed.” Just uttering the words caused a deep blush to spread throughout her cheeks, and she looked up at Margery then hid her gaze, embarrassed. She mumbled the rest to her lap. “And I have fallen for him.”
Margery leaned forward, exclaiming in a whisper, “That is wonderful. Why do you look so miserable, then? I assume he would not be so lost to propriety as to kiss you and then not offer for you.” She gasped. “Or is it your father? Has Mr. Rowles approached the earl, and he refused?”
Geny did not have a chance to answer because Margery answered her own question. “Oh, but no, that cannot be, for you are free to marry anyone you like. Unless it is that you seek your father’s approval so much that…” She threw up her hands. “Oh, speak. Tell me what happened.”
Geny’s feelings were too raw to tease her and retort that she had been attempting to do so except she found it difficult to get the opportunity.
She pressed her fingers to her lips for a moment, then said, “He did not offer for me. He thinks it was wrong of him to havekissed me, and that as we are of two different spheres, nothing can come of it. He apologized.”
Margery groaned loudly and threw herself back on the sofa in a theatrical gesture then pulled herself back upright. “Oh, men. They haven’t a particle of common sense.”
Her friend’s reaction somehow eased Geny’s angst, and she drew a deep breath. “I am ashamed to admit it, but in our last meeting—he came with me to the classroom to help me hang the curtains there.” Geny froze for the space of a breath and bit her lip, remembering how fine he looked as he stretched over to insert the rods into the brackets. “I told him that I was the judge of whether or not we might suit when it came to social disparity.”
Margery beamed at her. “Well done, you. What then?”
“He relented and admitted he does have feelings for me and finds me tempting enough that he is trying to stay away from me. He requests that I wait six months before he makes me a proper proposal in case I should change my mind.”
