Page 12 of The Duke of Distraction
“No.I did suggest it, and they were both relieved and pleased.It at least alleviates the pressure they’ve put on you.”
“Why, because now I’m your problem instead of theirs?”She let out a soft snort.
“You’re not a problem.I meant what I said about you earlier.You’ll make some man an excellent wife.”
Some man.“I don’t want to marry ‘some man.’”
“Whom do you want to marry?”He tipped his head to the side.“No, the first question you must answer is whether you truly wish to marry at all.You told me at the races yesterday that you were planning for spinsterhood, and just a bit ago, you wondered why you had to marry.It sounds to me as if you might prefer to remain unwed.”
“I’d be a pariah—particularly in my mother’s eyes.”
He hesitated before answering.“Not necessarily.Plenty of women never marry.”
She exhaled.“Yes, and aren’t they pariahs?”
“I admit I don’t know.”He shifted his gaze to the side.“My experience with, er, spinsters is rather limited.”
“Is it?And here I thought you’d carried on with a few.”She noted his discomfort and laughed.“I’m teasing.But you are a bit of a rake.”
“I suppose I am.”He looked at her without apology.
“Yes, you should not be ashamed.We should embrace who we are.Would you like to know who I am?”
He leaned toward her, his gaze a bit…rapt.“Tell me.”
She took a deep breath.“I’m a hat designer, and I only wish to marry for love.”There, she’d said it out loud.She turned away from him, readjusting herself on the bench so she faced straight toward the garden.“I’ve never told anyone that before.”
“Not even Lavinia?”
Lavinia was her dearest friend, so of course it seemed she would have.Or should have.“She knows I like hats.And she knows I want to fall in love, especially now that she has.”Watching her with Beck had transformed love from an intangible dream into a real possibility.
They were both quiet for a moment.Both staring at the garden.Or so she thought from the limited view she had of him from the corner of her eye.He’d come out without a hat, so the breeze stirred a lock of his dark hair, brushing it against his temple.
Then he turned his head toward her.“How about I try to help you find a gentleman to love?”
“Beck tried this with Lavinia.He introduced her to his friend from Oxford.”
“Yes, Horace.I don’t mean like that,” Felix said.“I don’t actually have anyone in mind.But if I go out of my way to invite every single gentleman in London to one of my entertainments, then you’ll at least have a better field to choose from.”
“Don’t you invite them already?”
“I don’t base my invitations on marriageability,” he said wryly.“But I will for the rest of this Season.Everything I do will be for the primary purpose of finding the man worthy of your affection.”
When he said it like that, how could she refuse?He didn’t assume she was faulty or that this was a difficult task.And he didn’t treat her desire for love as if it were foolish.
“Why would you want to help me like this?”
“Because you’re my best friend’s sister.”
“And because by helping me, you avoid being snared in a parson’s trap.”
He laughed, but his gaze was dark.“It would take more than your parents’ pleas to cage me.”
“I believe that.If I could wager on you remaining unwed, I would.”
“You’re a gambler at heart.Would you prefer a gentleman who shares your adventurous nature?”
He thought her adventurous?Even if it only pertained to wagering, she’d take it as a compliment.Still, it wasn’t entirely accurate.“I’m not sure I’m a gambler at heart—or anywhere else.I wagered on your races because it was an opportunity to increase my purse.”
