Page 77 of Love ad Lib
‘You would have been the most sought-after debutante of the season,’ he said before thinking.
Her heels clicked back to the ground and she frowned. ‘Hardly. I would have been the chambermaid, if I was lucky. You, however, would have been mobbed by all the ambitious mothers on behalf of their daughters.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’
She nodded. ‘And you’d get bonus points for not being a venereal-disease-riddled rake.’
‘That is true.’ He rubbed his chin, thinking of his colleagues back at Conqueror. ‘I don’t know about the disease part, but I work with lots of men who Austen would have considered rakes.’
‘I know.’
‘You do?’Did James try it on?
‘Working with big City firms, you get to know the type. And the faster they try to get your number, the faster you know to run in the opposite direction.’
‘Did anyone at Conqueror…?’
Libby shook her head.
Everything inside him sighed with relief. ‘Not even James?’
‘The tall guy who left early?’
‘That’s him.’
‘No. And even if he did, I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole. He’s far too dangerous.’
‘Dangerous?’ Now Henry was wishing he’d punched him harder.
‘Not physically dangerous,’ she said in a hurry. ‘He’s just very insecure.’
‘Insecure? James Hunter-Savage?’
‘Yes. That’s why he acted like an idiot. He felt too vulnerable and exposed, too scared to open up.’
‘Really?’
‘He’s not that different to anyone else. I’m insecure just like he is.’ Libby shrugged. ‘But I try and fight my fears.’
‘Feel the fear and do it anyway?’
She smiled. ‘Something like that.’
‘I think my approach is “feel the fear and run away in the opposite direction as fast as I can”.’
Libby grinned. ‘Or, feel the fear and enter another museum?’
‘Definitely. We’ve got time to visit the Holborn and or Number 1 Royal Crescent if we walk fast enough.’
‘You really don’t want to go back to the Manor.’
‘No, I don’t. I don’t want to face Cousin Rupert braying about politics, or Cousin Catherine’s husband, Julian, giving Willow and Summer the eye. I can’t fucking stand them.’
‘You could remind them who’s going to become Duke of Somerset one day? They can’t top that.’
His heart sank. The last thing he wanted was his father’s title and the responsibilities that came with it.
‘Oh god, Henry. I’m so sorry. That was insensitive of me.’
