“Thank you,” she said. “I am merely wondering how you think it acceptable to kiss a lady whenever you wish. That is no way to get yourself a respectable wife.”
“Aren’t you respectable?” he asked.
“Yes,” she shot back. “And that is why I can tell you it is not a good method. Moreover, the more outrageous your behavior and the more you appear in the newspapers, the less likely you will make a good match. Unless of course, you don’t care about the quality of your wife.”
She had a point. Matthew did care, and most definitely, he wanted an upstanding wife whom he didn’t have to doubt or mistrust. The thought of being cuckolded was beyond abhorrent. It was also rage-inducing. Moreover, he wanted a good mother to his children. In fact, he would be extremely satisfied withLady Purity, for while it was a silly name, he now understood it indicated her nature.
And best of all, her lips had responded to his, inflaming his passions in a way he thought would be delightful when they were enjoying a little rantum-scantum.
Yet here she was, telling him he’d already ruined any possibility with her. Thus, his spontaneous plan was the only way to stay near her, woo her, and win her over.
“I have a lot to learn, my lady.” He gave a doleful shake of his head. “I hoped I could express my interest with a kiss.”
“Correctly, you should have given me a compliment, not a kiss.”
“A compliment?” That was easy. “Your eyes are the most beautiful blue, reminding me of the sky over the Mediterranean Sea. Your dark hair is like obsidian silk, through which I wish to run my fingers. Your lips are like rose petals, perfectly soft and plump. Your voice reminds me of a softly played flute.”
Those petal lips of hers had parted during his sweet speech. She sighed again, and this time, she rolled her eyes.
“Not flattery, my lord. That is vulgar. A true compliment is what you should strive for. Remember the lady with the ruby necklace at Lord and Lady Fenwick’s party?”
Matthew tried to recall, but he’d had eyes only for Lady Purity. He almost told her that but sensed such words were more of what she didn’t wish to hear.
“I remember a lady with large teeth,” he said. “Was she the one?”
“I don’t believe so. In any case, if you do meet a lady with large teeth, you ought to tell her she has a nice smile and leave it at that.”
“By a compliment, then, you mean a lie.”
“In that case, yes. We should strive to make those around us at ease and happy. My older sister, Clarity, makes people happysimply by being in her presence. Most of us have to work a little harder.”
“Youmake me happy,” he said.
She paused and a little pink colored her cheeks.
“Thank you. That seemed a true compliment, albeit given the circumstances, perhaps inappropriate since we arenotforming an attachment. Back to the lady with the rubies, she had perfectly styled hair, so you should pay her a true compliment by mentioning her becoming coiffure. Don’t overdo, simply speak the bald truth without adding effusive adulation.”
Matthew nodded. “I see. Nothing overblown.”
“Exactly.” She seemed to approve, which cheered him. He would love every kind of lesson she gave him and hoped to give a few in return.
She was spectacular. Strangely, Lady Purity didn’t realize all the things he’d said about her were the truth, too. If he could get away with kissing her again right then and sliding his fingers into her shining hair, he would do it.
Not a word was flattery, but he hoped to have a chance to tell her all those things again when she was stretched out naked beneath him. Maybe then she would believe his compliments.
“I’ve finished my cupof tea,” Purity told Foxford, hoping he would understand her intent. He’d taken up enough of her time, and she had promised to visit with Clarity for lunch.
“Now I am supposed to leave. Is that right?” he asked.
She nodded, half-wishing she’d had another suitor pay a call, not to seem the least unpopular. Curtailing her vanity, Purity reminded herself she didn’t give a fig what he thought.
“When shall I return?” Lord Foxford asked.
“Return?” She rose to her feet, watching him do the same. “Why would you return?”
She gasped, nearly slapping a hand across her own mouth.What on earth had got into her?
“My apologies. That was rude. My only excuse is that we’ve been speaking so forthrightly without the veneer of social graces that I momentarily forgot mine. What I meant was, why would you return?”
