Page 31 of A Sense of Injustice
‘I’ve been thinking about setting up my own establishment for a while, as it happens.’
‘What, leave Beranger Court?’ Sam looked perplexed. ‘Why?’
‘It’s time, little brother. This is Luke’s inheritance and although he gives us plenty to do to make us feel useful and gain experience, he doesn’t really need us. It’s been good training, but now I’m ready to spread my wings and make my own decisions. I have the money Grandfather left me, which is enough to purchase a modest estate.’
Sam didn’t look convinced. ‘It’s all well and good to want independence,’ he said gloomily, ‘but you don’t need to get leg-shackled as well. You’re only twenty-three.’
‘I merely said that I admired the chit’s spirit.’ Henry shook his head, sending a shock of thick brown hair cascading over his brow. ‘You’re as bad as an old woman, the way your mind immediately flits from admiration to marriage.’
‘Well, that’s what all the old women will be thinking if you pay the chit too much attention, so tread carefully.’
Henry smiled, assured his brother that he would exercise extreme caution and changed the subject. They continued with their game but Henry was unable to concentrate and Sam celebrated a rare victory.
When he’d seen Miss Pearson through the billiards room window, Henry had cynically shared Sam’s view, wondering if she had invented a reason to call in the hope of bumping into him. She wouldn’t be the first to have employed that stratagem, but he had obviously done Miss Pearson a disserve since she didn’t set foot in the house. Her lack of interest in him only increased his desire to see her again. He strolled outside the moment the game finished and headed for the lake. The ladies were returning from their prolonged interlude, and there was no possibility of their avoiding him. Henry felt uncharacteristically awkward when Flora made a point of scampering off and leaving him alone with Miss Pearson.
‘Are you quite well?’ Henry asked as she walked beside him, a slight blush colouring her cheeks. ‘If you don’t mind my making the observation, you seem a little distracted. I hope my coming upon you did not interrupt your conversation with Flora. If you would prefer for me to leave you alone with your thoughts, you have but to say the word.’
‘I am sorry if I’m poor company,’ she said with a sigh. ‘I have a lot on my mind.’
‘There’s no need to apologise.’ They paused to watch his grandmother’s cat stalking something through the reeds that bordered the lake. Zeus pounced, splattering his white coat with mud, but failed to catch whatever had taken his interest. He looked disgruntled by his failure and stalked off, tail aloft and swishing. ‘How are you enjoying Wiltshire? You must find it very different from London.’
‘It’s far more pleasant. The delights of thetonquickly lose their charm. Either that or I am becoming jaded.’
‘Correct me if I have it wrong, but I thought that all young ladies enjoyed the social whirl.’
‘I did at first, but I quickly found it too restricting.’
‘You are a free spirit who does not enjoy rules and regulations.’
‘How very disobliging of you to see through me so easily,’ she replied, looking up at him with a smile.
He laughed in return. ‘I apologise, Miss Pearson. Pretend I didn’t speak, but if it helps at all, my words were intended as a compliment.’
She tilted her head, as though assessing his judgement of her character. ‘In some respects I am a free spirit, I suppose. I certainly enjoy laughing at society’s absurdities, of which I’m sure you will agree there are many. The rules become tedious. I like to speak spontaneously and hate having to stop and consider if a particular subject is suitable for lady so-and-so’s drawing room.’
Henry shook his head. ‘A gruelling necessity.’
‘I can see you are determined to laugh at me, Mr Beranger, which is most unsympathetic of you.’
‘On the contrary. I understand how tedious such restrictions can become. What in particular irks you about the regulations in London? Have the goodness to confide in me and you will be assured of my immediate and sincere sympathy.’
Louise laughed. ‘Since you insist upon knowing, I love riding but can only do so in the park—properly escorted, naturally.’
His lips quirked. ‘Oh, naturally.’
‘It became…’
‘Restrictive,’ they said together, laughing.
‘I suppose you gentlemen avoid London for different reasons. It seems to me that only those seeking wives, either for financial expediency or to ensure the continuance of the family line, stoically endure the social rigmarole. Those not ready to take the plunge avoid it like the plague. Either that or they retreat to their clubs where no female would get past the porter’s desk, even if she had the temerity to attempt such a thing.’
‘You do my sex a disservice,’ he said with a languid smile. ‘We are not all quite so calculating.’
‘But a lot of the members of my sex are, is what you mean to imply.’
He gave a mock shudder. ‘I would not dare!’
‘Foolish man!’ She swatted his arm playfully. ‘Mothers, I have noticed, set their sights on marrying their daughters off, and marrying them off as advantageously as possible, before the daughters in question are even old enough to leave the nursery. There is quite lively competition between some matrons, I understand, as to who will procure the best-born or wealthiest husband for her precious child.’ She shook her head, setting the curls dancing beneath the brim of her hat. ‘A gentleman only has to dance twice with the same lady and speculation about his intentions spreads like wildfire. Mind you, you gentlemen are not immune from my criticism in that regard. I understand that quite often books are run in those oh-so-respectable clubs of yours regarding particular gentlemen’s intentions.’ She shot him a castigating look, although her grey eyes were dancing with mirth. ‘I think it a very great pity that a man cannot enjoy himself without giving rise to gossip.’
