“I’m not, no.”
“Then you must know as well as I do that choosing a wife is a much more complicated process than finding someone to share a good time with is,” he said with a laugh. “I’m sure you’ve spent many a pleasurable hour with a lady you’ve had no intention of actuallymarrying.”
“I have to wonder whether the ladies in question knew they were nothing more than an idle pastime for you?” Seth asked.
“Who’s to say? You can’t stop and ask every young lady for her thoughts on marriage before you engage in conversation—they ought to be wise enough to understand that marriage is not something they can expect. Especially when the gentleman in question is someone like you or me, Your Grace.
“You must know what a prize you would be for any young lady to marry. Any lady to whom you give a scrap of your attention should feel lucky to have that much.”
“And the same is true of you, I suppose?” Seth asked, feeling irritated. “Anyone you talk to should feel grateful for crumbs of your attention?”
Lord Routhecamp’s eyes went wide. It was as if he had finally understood that Seth was being critical of him. “Your Grace, have I done something to offend you?”
“The way you’re speaking offends me,” Seth said. “You seem to think yourself more important and more worthy than other people. I don’t know what can possibly have happened in your life to give you that idea, but what I do know is that it’s not an accurate perception of things. There is nothing unique or special about you—nothing that makes you any better or any more worthy than anybody else.”
“I never said that I was any better than you, Your Grace.”
“I’m not talking aboutme. What of all those ladies in Italy whose time you freely admit to having wasted? You don’t think that matters?”
“I had heard that you were a difficult man to get along with,” Lord Routhecamp said. “I see now that it’s true. I don’t know what I’ve done to provoke this sort of treatment, but I can assure you that I have no intention of submitting to it. Perhaps you think that because you’re a duke, I’ll let you speak to me in whatever way you wish, but I’m here to tell you that it isn’t so. I deserve your respect.”
He got to his feet, his eyes still on Seth as though waiting for him to say something.
But Seth had nothing to say. He had achieved what he had hoped to—Lord Routhecamp was going to go away and leave Lady Lavinia alone. That was the only thing that mattered. He had no need to make this man understand the error of his ways. All he wanted was to see him gone.
Lord Routhecamp shook his head, turned, and walked away.
As he did, Seth was left looking across the empty seat he had vacated—and into the eyes of Lady Lavinia, sitting on the other side of that seat.
She looked more furious than he had ever seen her.
And Seth felt a twinge of something like regret.
He was sure he had been right to drive Lord Routhecamp away from Lady Lavinia. But now, taking in the look on her face, he wondered whether he should have found a better way of doing it.
He couldn’t be sure.
CHAPTER 17
Lavinia rose to her feet. “Your Grace,” she said, “may I have a word?”
The tension in her voice was so apparent that she was frankly surprised conversations hadn’t stopped all around the dinner table. It seemed as if surely people must notice how upset she was—surely there would be interest in what was going on here. She knew how much thetonloved gossip, and it seemed impossible that this moment wouldn’t provoke some sort of gossip.
But perhaps she was more under control than she believed herself to be, for the only person who reacted at all was the duke. He frowned up at her. “I’m not sure this is an appropriate time,” he said.
She knew what he meant—they had agreed to keep the interactions between the two of them clandestine—but he had crossed a line tonight. “You’re going to lecture me about what’sappropriate right now?” she asked him. “Really? Do you think I’m going to hear that from you right now?”
He sighed. “You don’t want to cause a scene.”
“Don’t tell me what I want,” she said. “I apologized to you for what happened between us earlier, and I don’t regret it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to accept whatever disrespectful treatment you dish out. I’m going out into the garden, and I’d like you to come with me so that you and I can speak to one another there.”
She turned and walked away, counting on the fact that he would follow after her, hoping that she wasn’t wrong. It would be a bit of a disaster if she made it out to the garden only to discover that he hadn’t found her worth following—if she was forced to stand out there on her own, waiting for someone who would never come after her. How could she cope with that?
She wasn’t sure.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to find out. Almost as soon as she reached the garden and turned around, she saw that he was behind her. She faded into the shadows. There were other people on the garden path, so they wouldn’t exactly be alone—there was no way this would end in any kind of scandal, and that was important. She didn’t want him to face those sorts of consequences for the way he’d behaved at the table.
At the same time, she couldn’t simply let it go. What could he have been thinking? He was supposed to be helping her find a match, not scaring away gentlemen who spoke to her.
