“I have brought nay one but meself.” He extricated himself from her grip.
He sat and reclined on the bench, stretching out his legs and spreading his arms like a king at his leisure.
He studied her. He must have realized she would not break the silence, nor would her misgivings cease, because he said, “I have figured ye out and why ye daenae wish to marry.”
“Do tell what this epiphany entails.” She folded her arms over her chest. She would have tapped her foot if it did not lend a resemblance to an old maid.
“Ye daenae ken how to converse with men. I noticed that ye didnae ken how to respond to Mr. Ross’s compliments.” Did he attempt to tutor her on receiving compliments? “Or ask questions.”
His deductive skills were frankly pitiful if he assumed her comportment was predicated on selective introversion.
“Ye have me figured out. Pray tell, how do we fix this conundrum, so I may be swept off me feet?”
He paused. “Ye mock me, but I do intend to help ye.” He pushed himself up, leaning over, and rested his arms on his knees. “Ye lack the seduction skills required for courtship, thus marriage. I will have to teach ye a thing or two about flirting with men.”
Talia laughed hard. “Ye forget one thing.”
Darragh arched a curious eyebrow.
“Ye arenae married yerself, so what do ye ken about seduction?”
“Ye forget one thing.” He rose and began walking. “I am a man.”
“Who better to teach ye how to seduce a man than a man?” Darragh sat back behind his mahogany desk as soon as they stepped into his study.
Talia hadn’t meant to follow him but their conversation seemed unfinished. She sat opposite him on a brown leather armchair, framed by two long windows. “One doesnae speak to trout to learn how to catch trout; one speaks to the fisherman. A teaching trout is a traitorous one whose words should be taken with a grain of salt.”
“What a good day to be a man and nae a fish.” He plucked a journal off a stack of papers, flipped to a page, and looked at her. “Shall we begin?”
Despite herself, she leaned towards him. She cursed her thirst for knowledge for propelling her like a dutiful pupil, when she had decided from the very beginning to thwart him.
“Men are shallow beings. What they want is someone who is curious about them. The longer ye can get them to talk about themselves, the quicker they fall.” Rising, he took a sheet with him and approached her. “These are questions I put together tohelp ye improve yer conversation skills.” He placed it on the side table beside her and then returned to his seat.
Talia was hesitant at first. She just wanted to watch him. And she did. His features were rather captivating when he was not speaking. Now he was not speaking, instead perusing, presumably, the itinerary in his journal. When he looked up, she promptly lowered her face. It seemed the polite thing to do when one was caught staring.
Polite conversation was not a failing of hers, and she didn’t think it necessary to play along with his sanctimonious magnanimity, but his eyes were boring holes into her skull. She was forced to follow his order.
Silently, with furtive glances in the hope that he had looked away from her, she studied his jagged handwriting.
It would be safe to assume that every man she had ever treated had the mind to believe she had been flirting with them. She smiled inwardly.
“Ye refer to men as if they are apart from ye. Do ye hold yerself in such high esteem that ye believe yerself superior and unfettered by biological restraints?”
“Aye. Movin’ on, men are prideful. They daenae want someone who mocks them with laughter.”
His personality was also best enjoyed in his muteness.
“If men daenae want the womenfolk laughing at them, they should learn to hold their tongues.” Irritation licked at her bones, and it could not be easily quelled. “If this is about Mr. Ross, ye had joined me in me jest.”
He blinked. “That I admit, but there are certain privileges afforded to me as a man that?—”
“Laughter is now a privilege?” she scoffed, incredulous.
“Ye misunderstand me.” Darragh rose, seeming as if he wanted to approach her. She would not let his size intimidate her.
She stood abruptly and put distance between them. He did not come closer. Standing only managed to aggravate her, as she could not help but pace the room.
He took the opportunity to explain himself. “A man is incensed by a woman’s laughter and sees a man’s flippancy as an opportunity to prove himself. It’s the rule of nature; men feel inferior to other men and superior to women.”
