“I wish to be honest again,” she said.
He chuckled. “Please, go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. I’m eager to hear what you have to say.” There was an earnest sweetness about her that even had his grandmother smiling as she prepared to listen to the girl.
“It seems to me that you put on as much of a facade as they do. So why not let down your guard a little and see what happens? They might shed theirs and allow you to see who they really are.”
“You do not know much about dukes, do you?” he remarked.
“Nothing at all,” she admitted with a nod. “You are the first one I have ever met.”
“It is obvious.”
She blushed. “Oh.”
He gentled his manner because Harriet meant well and he did not wish to discourage her from speaking her mind. “These ladies would eat me alive if I were ever to let down my defenses.”
The notion seemed to shock her.
“You also know very little about how thetonoperates,” he warned her gently. “This is why you must trust no one, for they will not hesitate to take advantage of you to achieve their own purposes the moment you give them an opening.”
“Are you saying that I should not trust you, either?”
“My grandson did not mean to sound so harsh,” his grandmother interjected. “Yes, you should always trust me and Pendrake. I know he sounded quite cynical just now, but he was not exaggerating. The Marriage Mart is cutthroat. These young ladies and their families will do anything to undermine their competition, and use anyone to gain advantage. They will scheme, betray, and in general behave as they never would under normal circumstances. Just keep alert, my dear. Do not hesitate to come to me or Pendrake if you are uncertain about anything.”
“And do not allow yourself to be cornered alone by any of the gentlemen,” Max added as a reminder. “They will try to take advantage.”
“Your Grace,” she said, now looking up at him in obvious dismay, “perhaps I ought find lodgings elsewhere for the week.”
“No,” he said in a rush, silently berating himself for scaring the girl. “You are safest here. And you will always be safe under my guard and that of my grandmother. Perhaps I was too strident in my warning. It is just as likely that all of my guests will ignore you completely.”
His grandmother patted the girl’s hand. “Or will genuinely take to your kindness and befriend you. They are mostly good people, but under a lot of strain when settling a daughter of marriageable age successfully.”
Max raked a hand through his hair as he turned to his grandmother. “Now that I’ve made a complete hash of this conversation and left Harriet thoroughly bemused…”
His grandmother laughed. “Yes, you’ve done quite a job of it, Pendrake.”
“I know,” he said with a wince. “Harriet, just stay close to my grandmother for these next few days and allow her to pamper you. There is no one kinder or wiser than this old dragon.”
“Old dragon, am I? Impertinent whelp,” she teased back.
“Perhaps not so old or all that much of a dragon,” he admitted, giving her a light kiss on the cheek. “I think it is time for us to join our guests, sweetheart.”
Harrieteeped.
His gaze fell to her once again. “Seems you have more to tell me.”
She shook her head. “I commend you for the lovely way you treat your grandmother.”
He chuckled. “Thank you, Harry.”
Max waited until he and his grandmother were down the hall and out of Harriet’s hearing before he broke into a broad grin. “She’s different, don’t you think?”
His grandmother nodded. “She’s lovely. Just as you said she would be.”
But Max sobered a moment later. “I need to take care of her, Grandmama. I owe it to her brother. Now that you have had a better look at her, will you help me?”
