For the first time since she’d stepped into the curricle, she seemed at a loss.She turned away, her gaze tracking a family on foot with two small children tossing bread to ducks.
Nicholas didn’t press.He kept the horses steady, allowing the quiet to bloom again.
After a long moment, Lady Beatrix spoke.“What do you mean by that?”
“I respectfully decline to answer.”
She eyed him warily.“Fine then.Answer this.Why do you want to court me?Knowing I am opposed to it.”
Ah.Now they were getting somewhere.
He considered the question carefully.She would never accept a pat answer.No, this called for truth.It was a dangerous moment, to be honest, but anything less would insult her.“Because you’re the most exceptional young woman in all of England.”
She turned her head toward him again, her gaze sharpening as if she found his words both fascinating and deeply suspect.
He quickly realized…waiting had served him well in Parliament.Here, it would ruin him.
“You don’t flatter,” he swiftly continued.“You don’t dissemble.You don’t perform for Society the way the others do.When you speak, I know it’s real.And very few things in my life are.I am a politician, after all.”
She stared at him, something uncertain flickering in her eyes.
He offered her a small smile.“Also, I find you maddeningly beautiful.But I assumed it was too soon to say so.”
Lady Beatrix looked away again, with a slight jerk of her head.She lifted her chin, but her scowl had not faded.
This time he remained silent.Pressing now would tip her from consideration into retreat.
They turned the corner near the lake, the wind lifting the edge of her bonnet ribbon, stirring a few stray strands of golden hair.
She smoothed her gloves but didn’t speak.
Nicholas didn’t mind.
He had all the time in the world.That had merely been his opening volley.
