Penelope flushed. "For when you meet someone you actually want to court. Lady Agatha thought if you could spend time with me without sending me into hysterics, you might be ready for actual society."
“Am I to understand, then, that you are my instruction in the exercise of matrimony?”
“In essence, yes. Though I fancy I am merely a humble companion appointed to improve one's address before the proper pursuit of a suitable match.”
"That's... actually rather insulting to both of us."
"I thought so too, but Father owes your aunt a considerable favor, and here we are."
They stepped out into the garden, and Gabriel noticed Clara directing two gardeners he didn't remember hiring in what appeared to be an assault on the overgrown topiary.
"Your housekeeper is very beautiful," Penelope observed.
Gabriel's jaw clenched. "I hadn't noticed."
"Now who's lying to avoid genuine emotion?"
"You're dangerously perceptive for someone so young."
"I'm eighteen, not blind. The way you look at her is quite romantic, actually."
"I don't look at her any particular way."
"You look at her like my brother looks at cake after Lent."
"That's... disturbing specific."
"But accurate?"
Gabriel couldn't help but laugh. "You're not at all what I expected from one of my aunt's protégées."
"I'm not her protégée. I'm her weapon of marital destruction, aimed specifically at your bachelorhood."
"And you're comfortable with that?"
"Of course not, but I'm eighteen with no other prospects and a father who thinks matrimony is a business transaction. Being aimed at you is better than being aimed at Lord Pemberton."
Gabriel's expression darkened. "Pemberton? That lecher is old enough to be your grandfather."
"He's also rich enough to solve my father's debt problems, which makes him a viable candidate despite his numerous moral failings and wandering hands."
"Your father would sell you to that monster?"
"My father would sell me to whoever offers the best terms. At least your aunt is offering me as a rehabilitation project rather than an actual bride."
They walked deeper into the garden, and Gabriel found himself genuinely appalled on the girl's behalf. “No lady of your standing ought to be reduced to a mere convenience, whether to hone a gentleman's address or to redeem his fortune.”
"That's kind of you to say, but we both know the world doesn't operate on what people deserve."
"No, it operates on what people take. What they fight for."
"Easy to say when you're a duke with no one to answer to."
"I have Aunt Agatha to answer to, apparently."
"Only because you're allowing her to intimidate you with the threat of legal action. You could fight her if you really wanted to."
"Fighting requires energy I prefer to preserve for brooding and self-pity."
