He couldn’t resist brushing that tear away with his thumb, finding himself leaning closer to her when she caught his gaze and held it for what felt like forever. Her remarkable eyes seemed to darken the longer she held his gaze, but then she blinked and took a step away from him.
“Forgive me, Arthur, I don’t know what came over me.” Shefished a handkerchief out of the sleeve of her gown and blew her nose.
In all honesty, he didn’t know what had come over him either.
For the briefest of moments, he’d felt an almost overwhelming need to kiss her, kiss the tears from her cheeks, and then kiss lips that were far too inviting. Frankly, the sight of her tears left him feeling raw inside, a feeling he’d never experienced, but one that suggested that somehow, and in the very short time he’d been reunited with Eunice, she’d come to mean more to him than he’d understood.
“It’s not a crime to cry, Eunice,” he said softly.
“My grandfather would have disagreed with you.”
“Perhaps, but your grandfather was wrong about many things.”
A trace of a smile flickered over her face. “Dare I hope that you’ve finally realized he was wrong about the two of us marrying?”
“I don’t think he was wrong about that. He obviously came to the realization at some point that having you run Mason Mines wasn’t a good idea, but he was wrong about not approaching you to get your thoughts on the matter.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So you still think we should marry?”
“I didn’t say that, but what I will say is this—if you do claim your inheritance, I don’t think you should try your hand at running Mason Mines. Mining is a man’s business, and I’m not saying that simply because, as you’ve mentioned often, I’m a less-than-progressive gentleman. I’ve been involved with copper mining for years. During that time, I’ve dealt with men who, if I call them uncouth, I’d be kind. I’ve also dealt with men who use their physical size to get their way. Even though you’ve proven you can hold your own in a fight, there may come a time when you would be up against men who would overpower you simply because of their size. It also wouldn’t be unexpected for these men to intimidate you in more unsavory ways, but I won’t get into that because such a conversation would be unseemly.”
“I run an inquiry agency, Arthur. I know exactly what you’reimplying. The reality of what would have been required of me to run Mason Mines is another reason I didn’t want to return to Montana. I never wanted to be in charge of the mines. I merely learned everything about mining because Grandfather demanded it of me. He evidently realized it wasn’t a good idea to leave me in charge. However, as I’ve said before, he should have established a business partnership between the two of you instead of latching on to a business-through-marriage idea.”
“Out of sheer curiosity, whyareyou so opposed to the idea of a marriage of convenience between us?” Arthur asked. “Many ladies in society procure those types of marriages, and I rarely hear any of them complain.”
“And I hear complaints often at the agency from ladies who agreed to marriages of convenience,” Eunice countered. “But whenever I considered marriage—and believe me, I considered it often, starting when I was a young girl—I never found myself thinking, ‘Hmmm ... when I reach my majority, I’d really like to secure myself one of those marriages of convenience, the kind that doesn’t come with much affection and certainly doesn’t leave me breathless or have my pulse beating a rapid tattoo.’”
For the briefest of seconds, Arthur’s mind went curiously blank, until things he’d never considered about Eunice snapped into place.
While he’d been coming to the conclusion that Eunice was far more complicated than he’d once thought, he hadn’t been close to exactly how complicated she was.
Yes, she was practical, opinionated, independent, exasperating, and apparently possessed of emotions that a normal person experienced, such as fear, though she’d hidden it well. However, she also seemed to be something he’d never contemplated, but something that answered all of the remaining questions he had about why she balked at the thought of marrying him because . . .
Miss Eunice Holbrooke had been disguising a rather large truth about herself under her practicality because she was, if he wasn’t mistaken, a true romantic at heart.
CHAPTER
Twenty-One
“This is difficult for me to fathom, but I think I may have just rendered you speechless, something I never thought you capable of.”
Arthur snapped out of his thoughts, finding Eunice watching him closely. He smiled. “I fear you may be right about my speechless state because I never imagined I’d hear such a disclosure from you.”
“And exactly what earth-shattering disclosure did I make?”
“You’re a romantic.”
Something interesting flashed through her eyes. “There’s no need to sound so incredulous.”
“It was a completely unexpected disclosure, so of course I find myself incredulous.”
She took a step away from him. “Do you consider me such an odd and unalluring woman that it’s unfathomable for you to comprehend that I could possibly long for romance?”
“I never said I consider you odd. Unconventional, yes, but not really, er, odd, and I definitely never said you were unalluring.”
She released a snort. “That was convincing. But tell me this, does the reason you thought I was unromantic stem from the fact that I run an inquiry agency, own a boardinghouse, once preferredtrousers over feminine attire, can wield a variety of weapons better than many gentlemen, and can hold my own in a boxing ring?”
He ran a hand through his hair, wondering how the conversation had turned so tumultuous, and so quickly at that. “Those aren’t exactly normal occupations for a lady. Besides, you’ve always projected a practical, no-nonsense air, and that is not something one associates with a romantic.”
