“I wasn’t.”
Well, he should not have added the “of course” to it. “What’s your favorite part, Cherish?”
“Leg and wing.”
“Excellent, then we will not be fighting over the pieces.”
She laughed. “There is no need to fight when there are two of everything on the bird for us to share. But men do not think this way. They see what they want and will fight to claim all the spoils for themselves. Did it not cross your mind that we could each have had one of everything? But no matter, you are welcome to my breasts.” She blushed again. “Oh, that is…”
“I know you meant the bird.” He cast her a wicked grin. “See, sounds lewd even when you say it.”
She cleared her throat. “We ought to discuss your nephew.”
He nodded. “What have you decided?”
“I will give it a try. It would be supremely foolish of me to ignore the chance to break away from a life that can only be filled with drudgery otherwise. Nor do I trust my uncle to give me what I am owed when I reach my thirtieth birthday. According to my father’s solicitor, that is when I come into the first half of my inheritance. The second part comes to me when I am thirty-five. Of course, it is all to be turned over to me immediately if I marry.”
“I assume this is why your uncle left you behind at Northam Hall while he and his wife went off to visit her family. He dares not have you in the company of men while he dips into your trust funds.”
“I do not know for a fact that he is using my funds for his own comforts. To my great frustration, I also do not know exactly what was left to me in trust. No one will tell me, not even my father’s solicitor, who refuses to respond to me now that my uncle has gotten to him and probably warned him to keep silent. However, I know that my father was no wastrel. I maintained his ledgers to the end, so I am fully aware of what he was able to pass on outside of his entailment.”
“They showed you the terms of the trust but provided no accounting of the corpus itself? Or the income it earns?”
“That’s right, not a single account of anything. I thought nothing of it at first, but over a year has elapsed and I am still being put off. My fear is that my uncle’s greed will get the better of him and there will nothing left for me.” She emitted a ragged sigh and looked at him with her big doe eyes. “I suppose revealing my concerns puts you in a better bargaining position over me.”
“No, Cherish. I would never take advantage of you in this fashion. You are to be a part of my family, and I will always protect you.”
She regarded him in obvious surprise. “Thank you, that sounds quite nice. I wish my uncle had even a smidgeon of your honor. He is so loathsome. Hopefully, his failings will no longer matter once I marry. But I do have a concern.”
He frowned. “What is it? Do you think your uncle will try to stop me? You are of age to consent. I do not need his permission to marry you…um, marry you off to my nephew.”
He took a swig of his ale, irritated with himself for almost leaving off that last detail. His nephew.Right.She was to be Reggie’s.
She nodded. “He is a sneaky fellow and I am too convenient to have around. He will lose an unpaid servant, not to mention now having someone powerful to hold him to account forwhatever he has done with my funds. No, he will not like it at all.”
Gawain growled softly. “I will eat him alive if he tries to interfere.”
“Goodness, I think I am very much going to like having you on my side.” She cast him a breathtaking smile that managed to wrap itself around his heart.
No. No.
Not this girl.
Not his heart.
“Would you think less of me if I admitted how eager I am to watch you give my uncle his comeuppance?” she asked, unaware of his wayward thoughts. “There is much to be said for having a big, growling duke on my side.”
He could not get over how beautiful her face was as it lightened in that moment. She had a luminescent glow about her. But as lovely as she looked, her sparkle also brought home just how burdened she must have felt until now.
Despite his resolve to keep his hands off her, he found himself reaching out to tuck a finger under her chin. “I shall be just that whenever you are ready to defy him. I will fight for you, Cherish. But I am also glad you have finally come around to fighting for yourself.”
“I know. It was foolish of me to put it off for this long.” When he released her chin, she turned away to dig into the basket. She poured more ale into his mug and then handed it back to him. “But my problem is not really solved yet. I still have to appeal to Reggie, don’t I? Oh, I do not expect him to love me, but there has to be some little spark of affection between us or he will never accept me, no matter how hard you and Fiona push me at him.”
“I do not see a problem on that score. You are the prettiest girl at the party.”
The comment obviously surprised her. What had he just said?
Well,wasn’tshe achingly beautiful? It was plain for anyone to see.
