Page 28 of A Gentleman to Avoid (Sherton Sisters 3)

“Two months. Well actually, not quite eight weeks.”

“Surely, it shan’t fall down into complete ruin in that short span of time.”

Vicky nodded and avoided his gaze. He was probably correct. But she still had her concerns. Again, it was as though he could sense her thoughts.

“You aren’t convinced, are you?”

Vicky sighed and shook her head. “Perhaps, it is ridiculous of me to worry so. And it’s likely pride influencing my thoughts, making me think that only I can keep things running correctly at Glendale and Sherton. It’s foolish, really, since it has only been in the last eighteen months that I have even known anything about the running of the estates. Now, suddenly, I feel like an expert and it’ll run to ruin if I’m not there to oversee it. And it was my decision to come to Town, so it’s particularly foolish of me to be pining for home.”

“Not foolish in the least, my lady. I know the feeling well.”

Vicky gazed at him with an inquisitive expression of her own, and he responded immediately.

“I chose to leave home at a much younger age than you. I was barely fifteen when I joined my father’s friend in his shipping ventures. I had a lark, for the most part. But there was always a small part of me that longed to be home at Everleigh. And while I lived for letters from home, somehow they only made it worse.”

“You do understand then.” Vicky nodded.

“And so, I also understand that no matter how long you might wish to put it off, eventually, you will have to make your own way in life, so you were right to go to Town. You will be able to return and check on things, I’m sure.”

Vicky nodded but argued, “It’ll never be the same, though. If I’m married, that will be obviously different. It won’t be my home any longer. I’ll merely be a visitor. And if I’m not married, then I’ll be a failure and I won’t feel qualified to help with the running of the estates. I’ll be an interloper in place only until the viscount becomes of age.”

“You will never be a failure.”

Vicky’s head lifted quickly at the vehemence in his tone, and she nearly started at the uninterpretable expression upon his face. She frowned in reaction. He grinned in turn.

“Thank you, Mr. Northcott,” Vicky answered for the lack of anything else to say.

“Won’t you call me Ashford?”

Vicky recoiled, almost as though he had slapped her. “Of course not,” she replied with as much dignity as she could muster as she was recalled to her senses. She had nearly forgotten how she felt about Mr. Ashford Northcott. It was a good thing he had reminded her that he wasn’t truly a gentleman, she assured herself even as her heart sank. For a moment, she felt bereft. She had almost been on the verge of confiding in him, but that would have been a foolish mistake. She had to fight the impulse to goad her horse into a faster pace in order to get away from him. But that would reveal more than she wished to the seemingly perceptive man.

The silence stretched between them. It felt to Vicky as though an entire epoch had passed by, but surely it wasn’t even a full moment. Finally he asked in a low tone, “Why not? I thought we had used to be friends.”

Vicky sighed, surprised that he would draw the matter out. She would have thought he would have the sense to let it go. Uncertainty filled her for a moment before she once again lifted her chin. She was grateful that they were on horseback rather than sitting in a salon for this conversation. There were other places that it was reasonable for her focus to be, rather than being forced to look him in the face while hiding all her jumbled up feelings.

“Surely, having been raised at Everleigh, you are well aware that it would not be seemly, Mr. Northcott, even if we were friends.”

“Not even in private?”

“It would also not be seemly for me to be in private with you,” she replied with a small, surprised laugh.

He laughed, too. “Well, not totally private, of course, but there’s no one within earshot.”

“Mr. Northcott, do not persist in this foolishness. Surely, you realize it cannot be.”

“I realize no such thing,” he insisted before turning the subject with a suddenness that left her breathless. “Very well, we shall discuss something else. What has Bertram been pestering you about?”

Now, Vicky almost wished she had allowed the inappropriate intimacy. She had absolutely no intention of discussing Lord Bertram with Mr. Northcott. But how was she to handle the question?

“Lord Bertram hasn’t been pestering me. Why would you think he was?” Vicky hoped she didn’t flush as she told the boldfaced lie.

“You looked decidedly discomfited while he was speaking to you last night. It was immediately afterward that you became uncharacteristically clumsy. And then again this morning, when he entered the room, your face betrayed you for the briefest moment.”

“It is ungentlemanly of you to remark upon it, if that is the case, Mr. Northcott.” Vicky was ashamed that she hadn’t hidden her reactions as well as she had hoped. Even now, her face burned with the thought of it, and she knew she hadn’t the skill required to prevaricate properly.

“It’s unlikely that anyone else would have noticed, if that is your concern.”

“Are you so very much more observant than our peers, then?” She heard the snippiness in her tone but didn’t care in the least.

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