“I know you are not. Greaves heartily defended you, and the ladies in my kitchen staff all wished they were the ones caught with you.”
He groaned again. “I would never dally with any of them. Nor have I ever done so. It was never my style.”
“What exactly is your style?”
“I am not a hound. I have never even courted a woman. Jillian and I just fell into marriage naturally out of our years of friendship. I think perhaps I have curmudgeon tendencies, because the social whirl holds no appeal for me and never has, even when I was younger. These ladies, who my grandmother claims are the best of this year’s crop of debutantes, are grating on my nerves. I want to stuff that stupidLambykinsdoll of Lady Charlotte’s through my grist mill and grind it to dust.”
Viola giggled. “She is a bit much with that helpless little girl act. But men do seem to respond to it.”
He gave a mock shudder. “It isn’t for me. I’d rather face Napoleon’s armies than spend an hour listening to that girl cooing and squealing as she shoves that lamb doll in my face.”
She pursed her lips in an attempt to hold back her laughter, but a few chuckles slipped out. “What about Lady Aurora?”
“She isn’t so bad, but clearly not for me.”
“What makes you think the two of you won’t suit?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Many reasons. We have so little in common. She enjoys Town life and the society it offers. She wants the glitter and sparkle, the fancy townhouse, the elegant gowns and jewels, the party life and fine carriages. It is the opposite of how I feel. I’m sure there are many more reasons why we do not suit, but these are the most obvious.”
“Would you change your opinion if it turned out she preferred a quieter, country life?”
“First of all, she does not. And, no. Even if it turned out she enjoyed fresh air and quieter living, I would not offer for her.”
His comment surprised Viola. “Why not? Don’t you find her beautiful?”
He nodded. “I will not deny she has looks that can turn a man’s head. All three of them do. The problem is, my heart will not have her.”
“What does that mean? Have you even given your heart a chance to get to know her?” Viola did not know why she was asking these questions and seemingly pushing him toward Lady Aurora when it was the last thing she wanted. Anyway, the girl had set her cap for the duke’s son. Lord Ardley did not appear in the least disappointed.
Would he now consider holding another weekend house party and inviting another set of debutantes?
What if he decided to spend the rest of the summer in London?
No! He couldn’t.
He belonged right here in Ardley.
To her chagrin, she wanted him all to herself.
But the matter was hopeless.
Even if he liked her, it could never lead anywhere but to heartbreak.
She repeated her question when he did not appear in a hurry to respond. “Shouldn’t you give your heart the chance to get to know these debutantes?”
“I’ve come to realize it is useless.” He leaned back and stretched his arm across the back of the bench while looking up at the stars. “Love does not work this way for me.”
She was eager to pursue this conversation now that he had mentioned love, this very feeling she was struggling so hard to deny. “How does love work, my lord?”
He shifted his gaze from the heavens to regard her, as much as he could see of her beneath the silver moonlight. “For me, the feeling is just…I’m not sure how to describe it. One moment I was in darkness, and in the next, I was in sunlight. Glorious and radiant. I knew I had met the right woman, that she was the one meant for me.”
“Did Lady Jillian feel the same way about you?”
He leaned forward and took her hand in his. “I am not talking about her, Viola.”
Stared at him, her gaze riveted to his intense, fiery eyes that seemed to capture the stars and make them burn. “You’re not?”
“I am talking about you.”
