He wouldn’t consider himself such, but he supposed the non-magical world was opened to him whereas the same was not afforded a female.
“Did you have a favorite area of study?” she asked, then frowned. “Though, I am to understand that many sons of lords did not take to their studies well and simply attended university the number of years required and then their education was complete.”
“I was not in such a position to do as little as possible. I studied hard, read, and learned.” Though, Lady Samantha was correct. Heirs to titles spent very little time in classrooms or reading and did only the minimum requirements.
“Which areas of study were your favorite?”
“I wanted to learn everything that I could about business-related matters, estates, and such. For a short time, I considered pursuing the law.” He had only changed his mind because it would require that he be in London and attend the Inns of Court and Cassian needed to return to Nightshade Manor.
“Not the military?” she questioned.
“I had no interest,” he answered and hoped that she did not see him as weak, or worse, a coward.
“Clergy?”
This time he snorted. “I would make a very poor vicar, I assure you.”
“So, what is it that you do, Mr. Jourdain?” she asked with a grin.
For a moment he considered telling her the truth, but he did not know Lady Samantha well enough to be assured of her keeping his secret. “If you were to ask anyone at Nightshade Manor, they would claim that I do nothing, much like them.” Of course, none of them really needed to do anything since there was so much wealth that it couldn’t be spent over three lifetimes. But, as he was not someone of Drakos blood, the wealth did not extend to him.
“Does that mean that you actually do something?” She grinned at him.
Again, the need to tell her the truth rose within but he pushed it back down. “I am searching,” he finally said. And while it was not a falsehood, he simply did not clarify what he was searching for.
She studied him for a moment then her blue eyes warmed and crinkled at the corners as she smiled. “I believe we all search for something, Mr. Jourdain, and I wish you much success.”
Her words were almost a balm to the disquiet when she had no idea what he sought.
What was it about Lady Samantha and why was she so important to him? He had been drawn to her from the moment he saw her across the ballroom and had been unable to put her from his mind. There were times she had even haunted his dreams. A longing, desire…a wish that would never be granted.
This was not good, but he already knew that he should have kept his distance and admired her from afar. Even without having a conversation Cassian had developed an infatuation. Now those emotions had grown deeper and were in the process of sinking their claws into his heart.
“We should probably return,” she said after a moment, though her voice had dropped, a disappointment in her tone that bespoke of her reluctance to leave.
“I suppose we should,” Cassian responded even though he wanted to remain here, with Lady Samantha…just the two of them…
He glanced into her blue eyes, then at her coral lips and wished that…
Cassian blinked and glanced away. “If we are gone too long, no doubt someone will come looking for us.” It was best to return her to the manor before he did something so foolish as to kiss her.
Samantha had shared such a lovely afternoon with Mr. Jourdain yesterday.
Goodness, she had finally had a full conversation with him, something that she had been hoping to do but feared that it might not happen.
He also wasn’t as grumpy as she had first believed, except he wasn’t overly happy either. More sober but that was better than being disagreeable.
There was even a moment when she almost believed that he might kiss her, but then he turned away.
Oh, what would it be like to be kissed by such a handsome man?
“Why did you sigh?”
Samantha was pulled from her thoughts by Antonia’s question.
“I did not sigh,” she insisted.
“You did,” Maia said.
