“I was dazzled by all the color of the uniforms and flags and by the music and the precision with which the regiments marched,” she said. “I wasnotimpressed by the display of military might. Quite the contrary. I am a firm believer in peace.”
It was not entirely true. She knew life was not so simple. But his assumption was inaccurate enough to be an insult to her sensibilities—and her good sense.
He raised his eyebrows.
“It occurred to me during the parade that every one of those men was a killer,” she said after waiting for a particularly gusty burst of laughter from the table right beside them to subside. “It occurred to me that every one of them had been trained to kill. That killing was their job. It was an appalling realization.”
And this was an appalling conversation to be holding under the circumstances. Goodness, but the sounds of merriment all around them were growing louder, if that was possible. She doubted anyone else in the room had entertained a serious thought since coming in here. He must consider her very odd indeed.
But he smiled at her. Was helaughingat her? At her naïveté? She raised her chin and took a bite of a lobster patty, her very favorite savory delicacy.
“There are other responsibilities of the job apart from killing,” he said. “Protecting civilian populations in war-torn countries against marauding hordes, for example. We are fortunate here in Britain never to have suffered an invading army—not for several centuries anyway. I suppose the Vikings were the last. Unfortunately, killing becomes necessary when a polite request that invaders remove themselves from someone else’s country is ignored.”
“But violence merely breeds violence,” she said. “If the answer to a country’s problems is simply to kill and overwhelm, thennothing will ever change. It is not the answer to individual problems either for that matter. All too often people who have been provoked by the silliest things raise their fists or wield a knife or a gun.”
“When they should sit down and discuss their differences like civilized beings?” he said. His eyes were twinkling. Hewaslaughing at her.
“They could at least try,” she said. “Or simply turn their backs on the provocation.”
“And when during the parade did this realization come to you?” he asked her. “When you noticed the cruelty of my face?”
It was precisely at that moment, in fact.
“I could not even see your face,” she said. “Except for your mouth.”
“A cruel mouth,” he said. “Alas, to be judged on one’s mouth.”
“And your jaw and chin,” she said. Oh, how had she got trapped in this ridiculousness? “But is this not an inappropriate occasion to be discussing such a subject?”
He laughed outright. “It is even more inappropriate for me to be discussing it with a lady,” he said. “Owen told me you are an interesting person to talk to.”
They had talked about her, then?
“But he did not tell me you sometimes talk in platitudes,” he said.
She finished chewing the second half of the patty. That was a setdown if ever she had heard one.Platitudes?
“You are proud of being a killer, then?” she said. “You consider it a worthy way of using your life?”
“I am not ashamed of it,” he said. “But strangely, I have found very few people to kill at the Horse Guards. Precisely none, in fact.I have been out of practice as a killer for a number of years. When I took up my commission at the age of eighteen, however, as a lowly lieutenant in a cavalry regiment, Napoleon Bonaparte was already making a nuisance of himself. If he had not been stopped, he or his acolytes would still be ruling every country in Europe, and no doubt Britain too. I found that idea objectionable. I fought to stop him, and stop him we did. I do not regret those actions, Miss Cunningham, though it was regrettable that there had to be so much killing. Pacifism would not have accomplished anything. We must agree to differ on that. Unless, that is, you would rather put up your fists and fight it out with me.”
She glanced at his hands. He could crush every bone in one of hers without even trying very hard.
“But I believe in peace at all costs,” she said. “Besides, it would be an unfair match.”
He laughed and looked about the crowded dining room. “All this is in your honor,” he said in an obvious attempt to change the subject. “Does it make you happy?”
“I believe your assumption is wrong,” she said. “It is a rare invitation from the Duke and Duchess of Netherby to attend a ball at Archer House that has brought out thetonin such large numbers. Not me.”
“Do you always find it difficult to accept a compliment?” he asked.
Did she? Yes, she supposed she did. Far from feeling like the guest of honor here, she felt like an impostor. She had nothing to recommend her apart from her relationship with the duchess. She picked out her father from the crowd, and Bertrand and Owen. Owen caught her eye and smiled cheerfully.
“No answer,” Colonel Ware said.
She looked back at him. “Compliments are unnecessary,” she said. “I know my own worth.” Too late she realized how pompous her words sounded. “But yes, I am happy to be here. Mama and my brothers and sisters will want a full written report. I will be able to inform them that until after supper at least I danced every set.”
“And you did not expect to, I suppose,” he said.
