Lady Purity’s eyes grew wider.
“An unusual thing for a man to admit,” Lady Fenwick pointed out.
“Indeed,” Lady Purity agreed. “Why are you hoping to marry? I mean, at this time.”
Why?Matthew considered her question. There was probably a correct answer that would win her over, but he didn’t know it.
“I came home from the Continent after two years of traveling. My home is empty,” he added,except for Diana,who filled it with her giggles, but he couldn’t disclose that. Not yet.
“It lacks a woman’s touch. I want a wife to fill it with warmth and her feminine quality. And naturally, I seek like-minded companionship, as I have witnessed with Lord and Lady Fenwick.”
Instead of approval, Lady Purity’s visage was downright dour.
“A woman isn’t an object to be installed in your home to fill it with anything at all. It’s not 1748, my lord! While I agree like-mindedness is essential, I also believe a joining of the hearts is crucial. Lord and Lady Fenwick have that beyond measure.”
Before Matthew could respond, she made reference to his reputation, albeit in a less direct manner than Fenwick had.
“A man ought to be ready to devote himselfentirelyto his wife, forsaking all other females entirely. One cannot help wondering if you are prepared to do so. If a man ismerely looking for companionship, that can be easily obtained from one’s friends, one’s horse, or even a well-mannered dog. Although, perhaps you would prefer a kitten, my lord.”
Matthew couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face. He was entirely charmed.
“You are correct on all counts. We are past the time of arranged marriages, that is, unless one is of royal blood. And it is not as if I wish to snap up the first female I come across out of a sense of desperation. A wife is a special case, and I intend to find precisely the correct one for me. If I must get a kitten in the meantime for companionship, then I shall. It will make the wait for a wife that much more bearable.”
Her lips flattened in disapproval, and he wanted to laugh. He fully intended to give up mistresses and whores when he pledged his troth. After all, his young Diana was already the result of carelessness, and he’d seen the cost to the innocent.
“Wine?” Lady Fenwick offered, astutely reading the tension between two of her guests.
Soon, they were all drinking burgundy. A pallor of relaxation coated the room and its occupants, except Lady Purity, whose gaze followed him everywhere. He would give a gold sovereign to know her thoughts. He would give far more than that to be alone with her again.
Purity would give upa week’s allowance for the evening to end early. Instead, it grew worse when her dining companion turned out to be Lord Foxford. He looked so smug; she guessed he’d orchestrated the seating arrangement himself.
Why?She could only imagine it was to torment her because she’d let him kiss her.
Now that she knew his name, his behavior at Lansdowne House became understandable. He was a rake by all accounts. She’d seen his name in the papers linked with a married lady here or a widowed lady there. Indeed, he’d been busy for someone recently back on British soil.
His loose, irresponsible character vexed her the way a wealthy nip-cheese vexed a beggar.
Yet she’d not only been kissed by the Fox, she’d enjoyed it!
Now she had to sit through at least ten courses and two hours of discourse while around her were other single gentlemen with whom she was certain she had more in common.
“Did the lady-friend you intended to meet enjoy the painting?” she asked, thinking she would toss in something outrageous enough he might simply stop speaking to her completely.
It didn’t work. “I hardly know,” he said. “Come to think of it, I don’t believe she had any actual appreciation for art.”
He let that hang between them. Naturally, Purity imagined he had spent time kissing the prostitute and perhaps doing something wicked against the wall he had mentioned.
On the other hand, he must have paid the woman and was at least contributing to the economy of London.
She took a large swallow of wine and fought not to cough. When she turned to look at him again, his gaze went directly to her watering eyes.
“Your eyes are glistening like sapphires. They are the most beautiful blue I have ever seen.”
He managed to make over-the-top flattery sound entirely sincere, which baffled her because she was not one to approve of fawning. Regardless, there could be only one response since she had been raised correctly.
“Thank you, my lord.”
Through the delicate soup course and the turbot with lobster and Dutch sauces, followed by oyster and marrow pâtés with soft bread, she said very little, except to tell him not to use his knife to cut the bread.
