“Are you an aficionado of opium as well as ale?”
“To be honest, I’ve not tried any. All I hear is that opium is addicting. Like this fig pudding. Already I’ve given up all my hopes and dreams for the future, if I can spend every moment instead in the kitchen of whoever made this delicious pudding, sampling their every batch.”
“I’ll learn to make it,” he said without thinking, then wished he hadn’t. The look on Gladys’s face was startled, to say the least.
He belatedly realized his comment could be interpreted as please live the rest of your life in my house. Practically tantamount to a marriage proposal. “I mean, I’ll ask for the recipe. And share it with you.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Her expression was still guarded as she took another bite of pudding.
The problem was, for a brief moment, Reuben had meant his comment exactly how it had sounded. He wanted to put that look of ecstasy back on Gladys’s face again and again, by any means possible. His longtime preference might have been via the bedroom, but if the same effect could be achieved with a hot pan of fig pudding, he wasn’t above tying on an apron and learning how to cook for her this very afternoon.
As for the rest of the package… well. The reason he would not be proposing marriage wasn’t because of any perceived lack on Gladys’s part, but due to Reuben’s fundamental unsuitability as a husband. Keeping his liaisons quick and casual was the kindest thing a man like him could do for a woman. Doing so ensured that she always reserved the option to walk away.
Which was no doubt what any halfway intelligent woman would choose to do, if she had the misfortune to get to know the real Reuben.
And Gladys was no fool.
Chapter 16
If this was to be their last hour together, Reuben wanted it to be everything she wished.
Tonight was the festival’s final grand ball. On the morrow, everyone would be returning to their homes. To his disappointment, this might be the last time he would ever see Gladys. Reuben didn’t even know which room was hers in this hotel, much less have any idea how to find her in London—a city of one and a half million people.
For now, he picked up the cards and dealt her in. “You know the game?”
“I know the game.” Her expression was oddly melancholy. Almost wistful.
“Is there something you’d rather play than Casino?” he asked carefully.
“Casino is fine.” She visibly shook off her strange doldrums and flashed him a suspiciously bright smile. “I was just remembering when I used to play every night with my sister. But those days are long gone.”
Reuben’s fingers faltered as he dealt the cards. The way Gladys had phrased that sounded so final. Had something happened to her sister? He was curious, but didn’t want to pry. He settled on letting her know that family was a welcome topic, if it was one she wished to pursue.
He straightened the deck of cards. “Do you come from a large family?”
“No.” She glanced at the four cards face up on the table. “Just my parents, my sister, and me. What about you?”
“No siblings, I’m afraid.”
“The sole child.” She peeked at her cards. “Spoiled rotten since birth, I presume?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Except it hadn’t been that way for long. His parents had died when Reuben was young, and he’d gone to live with an uncle who had no time or interest in acknowledging a brokenhearted little boy. As he grew and discovered he could attract attention another way—by becoming a rake—he had thrown himself wholeheartedly into the endeavor and never looked back.
Until now.
Nonetheless, he made a wide-eyed, faux innocent rake face. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I weren’t on everyone’s tongue.”
Gladys snorted. This time, the slight smile at the edges of her lips appeared genuine. “I imagine you wouldn’t. I didn’t come from money, but my parents spoilt my sister and me as best they could with attention and love. Their hope was that their daughters would each make a fabulous match, to a man of wealth and standing—and, obviously, impeccable taste in women.”
He had no doubt Gladys could make such a match before the sand ran out on her hourglass. And yet, she remained unwed. “You had no interest in marriage?”
“I longed for it,” she said softly. “Nothing sounded more romantic than being swept off my feet by a man in love.”
He frowned. “You didn’t like any of your offers?”
“There weren’t any legitimate ones.” She scooped up the three of hearts and the four of clubs with the seven of diamonds. “What about you? How many offers have you made?”
