Page 32 of The Duke's Impossible Deal
“My father did not approve of such things.”
“That rubbish is for inbreds and layabouts, and you are neither. Do not pollute your mind with such drivel.”
He felt his shoulders tense and forced them to relax.
“That seems silly. Books are just lessons waiting to happen. Mama always says it is better to be interesting than boring, and I know she means people, but I think it applies to other things as well.” Georgia shrugged and ran a hand through her hair.
“I agree. Though unfortunately, there are times when one must do rather boring things.” Tobias gestured to the ledgers he had been poring over and made a face.
“I know. I hate my sewing lessons, but I know they’re important because if I can’t sew, I can’t fix things, and I can’t rely on Mama to always fix things for me. Although Alistair is better at sewing than I am. But don’t tell him I told you that; he gets quite shy about it.” Georgia fixed him with a look, as though daring him to tease her brother about such a feminine skill.
Tobias felt a tug in his chest at her protectiveness of him and met her defiant gaze with his gentle one. “He need not. It is a useful skill for anyone to have. In truth, I wish I had known such a thing at your age. I had to learn while I was in the army. I was fed up with having holes in my socks, and the men had more important things to tend to than such things.”
The tension in the girl’s body vanished, and she relaxed. She took a step towards him, biting her bottom lip as she glanced from the swords on the wall to him. “Were you really in the war?”
“I was.” He stiffened.
She took another step towards him. “Did you ever get scared?”
“Sometimes.” He shrugged.
Memories threatened to surface, but he pushed them away.
Georgia furrowed her brow and shot him an accusatory look. “But Mama said you were a colonel. How can you be in the war if you’re scared?”
“Fearlessness and courage are not the same thing.” He shook his head, a wry smile on his face.
“What do you mean?” Georgia folded her arms across her chest as she looked up at him.
He shrugged again and rubbed the back of his neck. “Courage is not the lack of fear, but your ability to face your fear and still do what is needed. Only idiots and fools are unafraid.”
“So I can be afraid and still be brave?” Georgia’s eyes lit up, though the crease in her brow only deepened.
“Of course.” Tobias nodded, wondering what she was thinking.
“Oh.” Georgia looked down at the floor, nudging an invisible speck of dust with her foot. “I thought if I was scared, then maybe it meant I was weak.”
“Fear is healthy. It is only a problem when we let it rule us.”
“Craven, yellow-bellied coward.”
His father’s voice echoed in his head, but he pushed it away, focusing on the girl standing in front of him.
“Sometimes fear keeps us safe. It warns us of danger, and sometimes it should be heeded and other times overcome.”
“But how do you know which is which?” she asked.
The question caught him off guard, and he paused, rubbing his jaw as he tried to think of a good answer. In the end, he let out a chuckle. “That is a very good question, and the answer, I am afraid, is one that I am still learning.”
“I thought adults knew everything.” Her eyes were wide with disbelief.
His chuckle turned into a deep laugh that echoed through the room. “If that were true, philosophers would not exist.”
Georgia nodded sagely, clearly nonplussed by his laughter. “Mama says philosophy is just a bunch of people with too much time on their hands and no real skills. They ponti—poncificate?”
“Pontificate,” Tobias corrected.
Georgia agreed, moving closer. “That one. She says it’s easy to theorize about why the world is, but that won’t put dinner on the table.”
