“We’re lucky. Do you recall the Pinery Ball last year?”
Edwina thought back. “It rained, didn’t it?”
“All night long. No one could go outside, and we could hardly hear the musicians at times for the thunder.”
“That’s right,” Edwina remembered. “I thought it was rather nice, though.”
“Did you?”
“Well, yes. At least it was something different. All these balls tend to feel the same to me, you see, and it was nice to have one that didn’t blend in with the rest.”
“And I suppose it didn’t bother you that people stopped dancing after a while. You don’t like to dance.”
“No, you’re wrong there,” she objected. “I love to dance.”
“You do? But you reject gentlemen when they ask you.”
“That’s because I don’t like the gentlemen.”
“Wouldn’t it be more convenient, though, if you could allow yourself to dance with them and simply enjoy it?”
“In a perfect world, of course, it would. But I know what happens when you dance with a gentleman.”
“What happens?”
“He begins to think of courtship and marriage. And if your family is watching—believe me, my brother is always watching—they also think about those things and wonder whether the gentleman you’re with is the one they might eventually marry you to. It’s impossible to simply enjoy myself with a gentleman without thought of marriage.”
“Do you think youwouldenjoy spending time with a gentleman if you didn’t have to worry about marriage?”
“That situation has never presented itself.”
“But the reason I ask is that it’s the situation we find ourselves in right now,” he observed. “You and I are spending time together and will continue to do so for a while now—but we’re not going to get married. Unless you’re worried that youwillwish to marry me?”
“You know perfectly well that I’m not worried about that in the least,” Edwina snapped. “There is no chance of that happening.”
“Then why can’t we enjoy each other’s company?” he asked her. “Why can’t we have a good time together? I know that other people are speculating about what our presence here as a pair might mean, but you and I know what it means, so never mind what they think. That’s what I say. What do you think?”
“You have a point,” Edwina admitted. “As long asyouknow I’m not going to want to marry you. You’ve said a lot of things about charming me. Winning me over.”
“Not to marriage. I don’t want to marry you either.”
“Well, that’s blunt.”
“I see no reason to be anything other than honest about it. We can both be honest with one another, surely?”
“I suppose we can.”
“I want to charm the unattainable spinster as I’ve told you.”
“And I’ve told you, you can’t.”
“Perhaps. But I don’t wish to marry you. I need to find a perfect duchess, and I don’t believe you are that.”
“You’re right. I’m not.”
“This is all in good fun. Nothing more.”
“A game.”
