Godric stared at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, to her absolute astonishment, he laughed.
It was not a pleasant laugh. It was harsh and incredulous, tinged with disbelief.
Nora felt her temper flare again, hotter than before. “What is so amusing?”
“You,” Godric said, still shaking his head. “I knew you were naive, Miss Nora, but I did not realize it was to this extent.”
“Naive?” she repeated, her voice dangerously quiet.
“Yes, naive,” he confirmed, his laughter fading into something more severe. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? You could have been followed by someone with ill intent.You just admitted that you were carrying goods of necessity through an impoverished area. If anyone had realized that you had appointed yourself as a martyr of that orphanage, they could have plotted to accost you. All it would take is a few months to watch your movements to take note of when you usually visit, and then all that would be left would be to strike. It would not take much to rob you, or worse. You could have ruined yourself completely, and for what? To play nursemaid to a handful of orphans?”
“They are children,” Nora said fiercely. “Children who have been abandoned by everyone else. The caretaker came to our house years ago, begging for help. My father turned her away without a second thought. What was I supposed to do, simply let them starve?”
“You were supposed to exercise some bloody common sense!” Godric snapped. “You are a young, unmarried woman of an upstanding background. Your reputation is everything, and you have been risking it all for – ”
“For what?” Nora challenged, taking a step toward him. “For children who have no one else? For people who need help that no one else will provide? You speak as though my reputation is more valuable than their lives!”
“Your reputation is your future!” Godric countered, matching her step. They were close now, close enough that Nora could see the muscle ticking in his jaw. “Without it, you will never make the match you are so desperate for. All your hopes of marrying by the end of the season will be for naught!”
“Then perhaps my hopes are misplaced,” Nora said hotly. “Perhaps there are more important things than securing a husband!”
“Are there?” Godric's voice was softer now, but no less intense. “Then why have you spent the last few weeks frantically desperate to court every eligible man in London? Why have you been so bothered by the possibility of my presence ruining your chances of securing a good match?”
Nora opened her mouth to respond, but no words came. He had her there, and they both knew it.
“This is exactly what I mean,” Godric continued, his frustration so clear, she could practically see it rippling across his face. “You have always been like this. Stubborn, so stuck in your ways, refusing to see reason or acknowledge when you are wrong. You act without thinking, without considering the consequences, and then you are surprised when things fall apart around you.”
“I am not wrong about this,” Nora insisted, even as doubt began to creep into her mind.
“You do not even realize your own mistakes,” Godric said, shaking his head. “That is what makes you so impossible to deal with. You are incredibly frustrating sometimes.”
“I will be the judge of whether my decisions are mistakes,” Nora shot back, drawing herself up to her full height. “I am not a child, Your Grace, and I will not be talked to as if I am one.”
The words hung in the air between them, charged with a heavy spark that Nora could not quite name. Something shifted in Godric's expression, something dark and hungry that made her heart skip a beat.
“No,” he said slowly, his eyes raking over her in a way that made her skin prickle with awareness. “You are not a child, are you?”
Nora inhaled deeply as Godric stepped closer, his eyes slowly raking over her form once more.
She had sounded so mature just then, less petulant than all the times they had interacted viciously like this. He had never thought to expect it, could not imagine that such an occurrence would take place.
“No,” she folded her arms as she repeated with a withering glare. “I am not a child.”
“I find that hard to believe, Miss Nora,” he said dismissively. “Your actions up until now have led me to believe otherwise. As you can imagine, you have not been the most reliable or trustworthy – even to handle your own affairs. And you will agree that such a task is the most basic thing expected of any grown adult.”
He was baiting her. It was quite obvious to him, but he did not understand it. Could not fathom why.
He only knew that if she proved him wrong, then it would be much more difficult to deny how much his body yearned for her.
“That is because you have judged me based on your own ridiculous standards. I can handle myself and my affairs just fine. As I have been, before you came into my life,” she told him with an incredulous expression.
“I still have my doubts. Although you appear to be a grown woman, you have committed yourself to behaving like the little girl I remember. Whilst acting like a woman who now knows so much about the world.”
“I know enough,” Nora said, though her voice had lost some of its conviction.
“Do you?” Godric's lips curved into something that was not quite a smile. “Tell me, Nora. What do you know about men?”
The question clearly caught her off guard. “I – what?”
