“They are smothering me. I don't need looking out for. I'm not a child. I'm nineteen. I've had one whole season, and I'm about to start another. They weren't this protective when we were the poor, Northumberland Nine.”
“But now you're not poor. You have a large dowry, and London is a lot different from Northumberland.”
“How would you know? You've never been.”
He smiled wryly. “You've talked about your home so much it feels like I have. However, I can see why they are so worried about you.” He reached up and pushed her hood back. “You are a beautiful young woman with money. That makes you a target for fortune hunters.”
“Even with eight sisters and their eight husbands?”
“Even so, you're hard to resist, Willa.”
Willa rolled her eyes. She might blush, almost, if the compliments weren't being given by a dear friend. She wasn't completely immune to him. Wesley had roguish curly brown hair and a quick smile that made him easy to stare at. He'd be the most eligible bachelor if he had a higher title to inherit. In her first season, Willa had learned that above all else, thehaute tonfavored status above wit and charm.
Wesley had evaded the marriage mart, but how much longer would that last? He was… Willa thought back to his last birthday, nine and twenty now, ten years her senior. And yet they got along so well. They could be the same age. Willa didn't care if he was only a baronet’s son. He was kind and sweet, and always knew how to make her laugh. He had the most honest brown eyes she'd ever seen on a person, and right now they studied her—reading her as it were, but he was never able to guess her thoughts.
She grinned at him. “When you look at me like that—” Her smile widened as he grew flustered.
“I'm just looking at you. We are conversing, and when two people converse, they look at each other. It's rude not to.”
“God forbid you be rude, Wesley.”
He scoffed. “I have my moments, like any man. How long do you intend to avoid your sisters? I came here to speak with Lord Luckfeld, who I presume is busy with his wife and new child.”
“He is. I think they're sleeping,” Willa said.
“At midday? I wanted to congratulate them.”
“There's always dinner. They have to wake and eat sometime, just like the baby,” Willa said.
Wesley tugged at his cravat. He always did that when he was nervous.
“What is the matter?”
“Nothing,” he replied.
“You're anxious. I can tell.”
The notch in his throat bobbed up and down. “No, I'm not.”
Willa narrowed her eyes at him. “You are a terrible liar. Did you know that?”
He scoffed again. “I have no reason to lie.”
Another lie, Willa mused to herself. “Would you like to come inside? You did ride all this way,” she teased him. “How are your parents and sisters this afternoon?”
“Very well, thank you. They are preparing to return to London tomorrow.”
“As am I,” Willa said.
“Who are you returning with?”
Willa chewed her lip. Should she tell him her plan? He won't approve, but she was bursting to tell someone.
“Can I tell you a secret, Wesley?” she whispered, though she didn't need to. There was no one around to hear them.
He raised a brow. “We've never shared secrets before. We've been friends for going on… How long now since we first met?”
He swallowed again. Was he blushing? She could see color creeping up his neck. Why was he blushing? It was a simple question.
