Well, she wasn’t really a girl. Cherish was a woman and had the luscious curves to prove it. But it was time she stepped up to the realities of her spinster future and made those hard decisions for herself.
“My father was inconsolable,” she said, taking a seat on the step and dusting the sand off her feet, “already grieving the loss of my mother before she passed on. Having seen this bond develop between two people, it is very hard for me to give up on the hope of finding it for myself.”
“Eternal love?”
She nodded. “The sort that silly girls like me wish desperately for themselves. I cannot even consider myself a girl anymore. I am too old now.”
“You are still young enough, and beautiful. Even if we could not come to an agreement on Reggie, there are other bachelors here. You will never find one to look at you if you continue to hide yourself away.”
“Hiding? You think I am hiding?” She shook her head and gave a mirthful laugh. “I know you will not believe me, but thisisme making an effort to be seen. I suppose I am rather bad at it.”
“Yes, you are,” he said with a chuckle, and shook his head. “Granted, I have not been here very long. But I have yet to see you chatting among a circle of friends. Mingling requires you not to be standing alone.”
She cast him an impertinent smile. “But I am not alone now. You are here with me.”
He laughed again. “I do not count. First of all, I am old enough to be your father… Well, not quite that old, but almost. No, I am a confirmed bachelor. But my nephew—”
“Oh, please. Give me at least the night to mull over the possibility of Reggie. Never once in all my years have I considered marrying someone who laughs like a woodpecker.”
This was progress. She hadn’t hit him or outright said no.
The dinner bell sounded as they approached the house. In the next moment, a shrill woodpecker laugh emanated from the parlor and carried on the wind to Gawain’s ears.
Cherish shot him a look.
He winced. “I know. Do not say it. I know.”
The peahens surrounding his nephew thought his antics were hilarious.
Gawain sighed, for Reggie attaching himself to one of those little dimwits would be a disaster. As they strode in, he counted six young ladies clapping their hands and squealing with glee around the boy.
Gad, could they be more foolish? Or had he become that much of an ogre to frown on every bit of enjoyment? It was a summer house party, after all.
“Uncle! You made it!” The lad came over and gave him a drunken hug.
Gawain hugged his nephew back because, after all, he did love the boy.
Bloody blazes.
He turned to include Cherish in their conversation, but she had quietly slipped away. This was going to be more difficult than he imagined.
Cherish was perfect, of course. But why did Reggie have to be such a clot?
A most amiable one, of course. But still a clot.
Where was Cherish?
Chapter Three
“Lord help us,is he to be the next Duke of Bromleigh?” Gawain shook his head and sighed as he, Lynton, and Camborne returned from their early morning ride the following day in time to find Reggie already in the study with several of his bachelor friends, about to break open another bottle of brandy. “What is this country coming to?”
Gawain strode over to his nephew and grabbed the bottle out of his hand. “We haven’t even been called to breakfast yet, Reggie. If I catch you tippling before five o’clock this evening, I am going to give you the hiding of your life.”
“Uncle! That is unfair. This is a house party. Are we not permitted to misbehave?” Reggie glanced at his indolent friends, who did not look happy with Gawain but were too afraid to complain to his face.
Good, because he was not about to indulge these wastrels.
“I do not care what your friends do. They are not my responsibility, but you are, and I say you are not to misbehave.” He raked a hand through his hair in consternation. “Men do not act in this reckless way. Certainly not men who will be expected to shoulder responsibilities. You are to be my heir, so it is time you took your role seriously.”
