A wistful smile appeared on Meredith’s lips. “About getting married, you mean?”
“That’s precisely what I mean. He’s an unmarried marquess. He needs an heir too. Why are you so set on pairingmeoff?” He tried to keep the irritation from his voice, but he hadn’t been entirely successful.
Meredith smoothed her skirts over her knee and shrugged again. “You know Ash. He’s hopeless. Trying to convince him of anything is like talking to a stone wall. He says he’ll never marry. I suspect he will, but not a day sooner than when he’s good and ready.”
Griffin settled his shoulders and lobbed another stone across the water. “And I’m what? More…pliable?” So much for nonchalance.
She stood and stared off across the water. “Ha. You’ve never been pliable, Griff. But you are morereasonable.At least you admit you’d like to marry and that you should. You’ve given every indication that you intend to settle down. You simply need a bit of a push.”
Griffin stood and smiled wryly. “I should count myself fortunate then to have such a dearfriendto push me.”
Meredith leaned down and plucked a daffodil from the ground near the boulder. “You know you need to marry,Griffin.” Her voice took on a serious tone. “You may not have wanted it, but you’re the duke now. Your mother?—”
“I’m well aware of my mother’s feelings on the subject,” Griffin ground out. “Don’t you thinkyourmother would want Ash to marry too?” Why was he bringing this up? Because it kept the focus off himself.
Meredith bit her lip and frowned. “I suppose if Mama was still alive, she would push Ash to marry. I think he’s convinced he’ll end up like Father.”
Griffin arched one brow. “A horse’s ass, you mean?”
Meredith shook her head. “No. Alone.” A frown line appeared on her forehead. “Father did the best he could.”
Griffin’s jaw clenched. He’d heard this argument time and again from Meredith. It always angered him. “Your father went to London and left the two of you to fend for yourselves before returning only when you were ready to make your debut and forcing you into the first match that came along. An awful match at that.”
Meredith’s jaw was tight. She shook her head determinedly. “No. He picked Maxwell. He chose adukefor me.Mama wanted that.” Her voice was low and heated.
“A duke at any cost?” Griffin shot back, his hands on his hips.
“What do you mean by that?” Her voice trembled with anger.
“You know what I mean, Meredith. The cost of your happiness.”
She folded her arms over her chest and drew up her shoulders. “I had to marry someone.”
Griffin expelled his breath. He glared down at the grass beneath his boots and lowered his head. “I’ve always thought you could do better. Find love.”
She slashed an arm through the air. “Perhaps. But if I’dmarried for love, you and I might not be as close as we are. Have you ever thought of that?”
“Every damn day.” Griffin clenched his jaw. They’d had this discussion time and time again. It never ended in a satisfying way. The fact was that he’d begged Meredith not to marry Maxwell all those years ago. His pleas had fallen on deaf ears. Then and now.
He lifted his head and shook it.
“No good can come from us rehashing the past this way,” she said quietly. “What’s done is done.”
Oh, yes, time to change the subject as it always was when things got too intense.
Griffin grabbed up another stone and tossed it in the air. Pretending to be nonchalant was going to bloody well kill him. “Are you worried that Ash will marry someone you don’t like?” he asked, doing his best to infuse the conversation with their normal lighthearted tone once more.
“Not at all.” Meredith’s answer had been too quick. She was clearly still shaken too.
“Why?”
The hint of a smile touched her lips. “Because by the time Ash marries, I shall be far too old to care.” Ah, there she was. The Meredith she wanted everyone to see. The one who was never hurt, never angry. Quick with a jest. The eternalfriend.
The woman who refused to see what she clearly didn’t want to see.
Griffin forced a half-hearted smile to his lips. He was playing with fire now, but perhaps fire was needed. “Ash told me if I tell the woman I fancy that I fancy her, he will choose a bride next Season.”
Meredith’s jaw dropped open. Her eyes went wide. “Are you jesting?”
