Meanwhile, Max glanced at her, his expression troubled. “I will be sure to take care of you. You need not worry—”
“I am not lying. Neither is your mother.”
She was not insulted by his attitude. Well, not insulted very much. Men never took women seriously until it was too late. It was to his credit that he was considering her words.
They walked in silence until interrupted. Twice they were stopped by couples curious about her, but he kept the encounters brief.
“Those four are obnoxious people,” he grumbled. “Steer clear of them. Toadies to anyone who has money. They’ll bleed you dry with a smile, then move on the moment the tap is cut off.”
Then after another interruption, he visibly shuddered. “Terrible lech that one. Don’t ever be cornered by him.”
He commented on the people they encountered, but in so doing, he revealed a great deal about himself. Regarding the lecher—a word he had to explain—he said he’d tried to get the man banned from the highest levels of society, but that there were too many such men for his protests to make any difference.
Still, he made sure any women under his care was aware of the man’s proclivities.
Then he went on about the toadies. “They don’t protect the people who rely on them. They don’t think of anything but their own pleasure.” He shook his head. “It’s a reprehensible abuse of their position.”
She let him ramble. It was a good opportunity to practice English. And she liked hearing his voice. But after another five minutes, she turned to him.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you will meet these people soon enough. You should know their tricks.”
She shrugged. “I always look for tricks.”
“I suppose you do.”
They walked on a bit more, long enough for her to think deeper about their conversation.
“You are telling me how to behave,” she suddenly realized.
“What?”
“You are telling me the kind of people you approve and those you do not.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps. Or perhaps I was showing you that I am not completely blind to those around me.”
“But you see faults, not illnesses.”
“And you see illnesses, not faults.”
She would say that they were arguing about tiny things, but the difference was significant when one addressed treatment. An illness implied that the victim wanted to change, that theylonged for health. He was suggesting that his mother enjoyed her illness too much to let it go.
That, too, was a possibility.
“I will listen to your guidance,” she said.
“Be careful,” he admonished with a chuckle. “My thoughts often differ from other people’s.”
“That makes you intelligent.”
He looked at her. Because she was on the pony, they were of a level together. Eye to eye and nearly nose to nose. She saw the interest in his eyes. How could she not? She had learned to read a man’s lusts when very young.
What a surprise to return the interest a hundredfold. She had thought these emotions long since destroyed. Her father had made it clear when she was very young that she would not sully herself with anyone or he would kill her. So she had kept herself away from interesting men…until now.
“English men do not take concubines?” she asked.
His brows rose. “Not as such. But mistresses are common among those who can pay for them.”
