Page 59 of Brave New Earl (The Way to a Lord's Heart 1)

And then he would never see Jean again, Benjamin thought. At least, he might encounter her in society, but nothing would be the same. “I do want her,” he said emphatically.

“Then you will have to woo her.”

His uncle spoke as if this made all clear, but it didn’t. Benjamin required specifics. He said as much.

“You got a wife once before.”

“I know, but that was…easy.”

His uncle looked at him with raised brows.

“Not the right word,” Benjamin went on. “Say rather that the process with Alice was obvious. We met at a ball during the season. We liked each other. After that, the steps were all set out before me. Ask her to dance more than once, call and take her driving, send bouquets. If one received encouragement—which I did from her and her mother—then make an offer.” He nodded. “Her mother left us in the drawing room together at a crucial moment. I didn’t realize till now, but I expect they arranged it between them. I spoke. Alice accepted. And that was that. I knew where I was all the time.”

“And now you don’t?”

“I’ve strayed off the map into uncharted territory,” said Benjamin. “No waltzes, no drives in the park.” He met the older man’s eyes. “Wooing. Is that what you did? Before you married?”

His uncle looked thoughtful. “Well, my courtship was rather like yours with Alice. Only more so. Your aunt’s mother was a formidable woman.”

“Miss Saunders has no mother to smooth the way,” Benjamin replied, and from what he’d heard about Mrs. Saunders, that was for the best.

The two men looked at each other. “I don’t think bouquets will have much effect in this case,” Benjamin said. There were flowers from the gardens all over the house.

“You must do things to please her,” Lord Macklin said.

The pleasures that leaped to Benjamin’s mind were surely not what he meant.

“Think of what she enjoys, or needs, and provide it.” His uncle brightened. “Like knights of old, performing tasks set by their ladies in order to win their favor.”

Benjamin was surprised to discover a streak of fantasy in his uncle. And yet the idea had a curious appeal. “Tasks.”

“Acts of chivalry. Think of Raleigh, spreading his cloak over a mud puddle to allow the queen to pass.”

“I always found that tale doltishly theatrical,” replied Benjamin.

“He sacrificed for her comfort.”

“He made a load of work for his washerwomen, more like.”

“You’re missing the spirit of this, Benjamin. The point is to put her before you or do something she would like.”

“Yes, I know. But I’m rather short of dragons to slay.” A thought struck him. “Clayton mentioned something.”

“Yes?” His uncle came alert. “I’ve always found Clayton’s views very helpful.”

“Perhaps I’ll do it then,” Benjamin said. He’d suffer far more than a minor irritation for Jean. And that was the point, wasn’t it?

His uncle waited. Benjamin let him. He didn’t intend to explain; the thing was foolish enough without talking it to death. After a short silence, the older man nodded. “Meanwhile, I’ll take steps to help Miss Saunders feel more comfortable at Furness Hall,” he said. “Do your servants tattle?”

“What?”

“Do they gossip in the neighborhood?”

“No,” replied Benjamin, mystified. “The ones who were so inclined left over these last years while I was playing the hermit.”

“Splendid.” His uncle rose. “May I borrow a carriage? I’ll be back in an hour or less.”

“Where are you going?”

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