“It would be wise for me to observe propriety and go,” he agreed calmly. “However, now that I have your ear, I find myself loath to leave.”
“Lord Ashley, you do not have my ear, you have my irritation,” she countered, sweeping toward him with purpose in her step. “I have told you before that I have absolutely no tolerance for meaningless flattery.”
Yes, she had, the impertinent baggage. Only worse.
“I believe you said you had no tolerance for meaningless flattery from empty-headed rakehells,” he mused, stroking his jaw as if in deep thought.
There was no need for thought. She had said precisely that. Verbatim.
“Then one wonders why you have followed me here, Lord Ashley,” she countered, standing near enough now that he could touch her if he wished.
Of course, he wished.
He clenched his fists to stave off the desire.
“I did not follow you, Miss Winter,” he lied.
“Of course you did,” she countered. “Just as you followed me on the two previous occasions our paths have crossed.”
“Three occasions,” he muttered below his breath before he could think better of it.
Ash could not be certain if she had truly forgotten how many times they had spoken or if she was intentionally nettling him. With Miss Prudence Winter, it could certainly be either.
“I beg your pardon?” she asked.
He cleared his throat again and then busied himself by brushing the sleeve of his coat. Affectingennuiwas a special gift of his. “Nothing to concern yourself over, Miss Winter. I can assure you, I have not been following you.”
She tilted her head, considering him with a chocolate-brown gaze he could not help but to feel saw far too much. “As it pleases you, Lord Ashley. Please just go. I am in search of a book to read. Surely there is some other lady in attendance you can attempt to seduce in my stead? I am certain I have made my lack of enthusiasm known.”
Curse it, the woman was bold and brash. He would have told Gill to seek another bride, but the bind their wastrel father had left the estates in meant Gill needed to take a wife with the sort of immense funds only a Winter possessed. And the Winter sisters were all a troublesome lot, as far as Ash could tell.
“You have confused the matter, I am afraid, Miss Winter,” he told her calmly, forcing a polite smile. “Seducing you is not my aim at all. Rather, I am aiding my brother in his search for a bride.”
She appeared distinctly unimpressed. “While offering His Grace your assistance is commendable, I fear you are wasting your time with me. I have no intention of marrying.”
No intention of marrying?
Just what manner of femalewasMiss Prudence Winter?
