She blinked at that. “For sport?”
“I mean, ye don’t work, which surely gives ye a great deal of time to fill.” He gave her a lopsided grin before adding, “When ye’re not busy with social calls, that is.”
“Oh.” She sat back, noting the looks of interest on all three faces. “Well, most young ladies like to paint or play an instrument and are generally very accomplished at needlework. Some might pass an entire day selecting the gown for their next social event, visiting the modiste and going for rides or walks in the park.”
“But that doesn’t answer the question. What I wish to know is what ye—you,” he amended, “like to do.”
Gabriella bit her lip. She rarely spoke of her hobby with anyone. People simply didn’t understand her fascination with insects and since they tended to respond with shock instead of interest, she generally chose to avoid the subject unless she felt a need to press it, which was what had happened the other day with Fielding.
But the thought of possibly sharing her greatest passion with someone and not feel so alone . . . “Entomology.”
Silence.
They stared at her, all three. Gabriella felt the heat of censure creep up her spine. She cleared her throat. “It’s the study of—”
“Insects,” Juliette supplied.
“That’s what you enjoy doing?” The question was asked by Amelia.
Gabriella gave her a tiny nod. “Yes.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Huntley said. His eyes sparked with renewed interest. “I’d never ‘ave thought it, but ye might just be the most interestin’ contradiction I’ve ever ‘ad the pleasure of meetin’.”
And just like that, Gabriella’s heart melted. She was doomed, she realized as she got to her feet with a sudden desperation to quit his company. All because he’d given her the nicest and most meaningful compliment she’d ever received. “I really must go,” she said as panic tightened its hold on her, squeezing until she could scarcely breathe.
This must have been how her sister had been lured away from Bellmore, with pretty words and a devilish smile that made her feel things that no young lady had any business feeling. Gabriella began backing away, adding distance, almost stumbling into a side table in her sudden haste to get away. “We can resume your lessons tomorrow,” she told the sisters. “Will the same time do?”
“Yes. That’ll be fine,” Amelia said while Juliette nodded. Both were watching her desperate departure with wide-eyed curiosity, while Huntley himself . . .
Gabriella averted her gaze from him and focused on reaching Anna, who was waiting for her by the door.
“Me lady,” Huntley said, drawing Gabriella’s attention back to him with great reluctance. “Thank ye again fer doin’ this—fer wantin’ to help. We’re most appreciative.”
His sincerity was almost too much to bear. Oh, if he’d only been rude and unpleasant. But he wasn’t. Quite the contrary. He was charming and funny. Which meant that she had no choice but to like him, no matter how much she feared doing so. His sisters were safe, but Huntley . . . he was the furthest thing from safe that she’d ever experienced. “You’re welcome,” she managed, her voice a little raspy.
Reaching the door, she paused just long enough to bid them all a good day. And then she fled without a backward glance.
Chapter 10
“I need a break,” Raphe said as he stood up and strode toward the parlor window. It was Wednesday morning, with only two days to spare before the infernal dinner party at Fielding House, but by God he would go mad if he had to practice his heiches and dees for one more second. Not to mention that there was a right and a wrong spoon depending on the meal being served. Idiotic. A spoon was a spoon. It served the same purpose regardless of shape and size.
Apparently not.
“Very well,” Richardson said while Pierson looked on with concern. “Will one hour do?”
Raphe glared at him.
“We’re only trying to help,” Humphreys explained as though speaking to a stubborn child.
“Fine,” Raphe agreed. “We’ll reconvene here in one hour.”
The servants filed out of the room, leaving Raphe alone. He considered the table that had been set up for him to practice at. There were five dishes, four of which were piled on top of each other while one—the bread plate, as they called it—stood to one side. Raphe stared at it. Who would ever have thought to make a special plate just for bread? Seemed strange.
Stranger still was the need for different glasses. There were four of these too, depending on what one was drinking. And all of this was surrounded by an army of silverware. Ten pieces to be exact, including the fish fork, the salad fork and the dinner fork, each with an accompanying knife to go with it. Picking up the dessert fork, he studied the piece for a moment and eventually shook his head. A grown man should not have to use such a tool. It was far too flimsy and feminine looking.
Grimacing, Raphe turned his back on the nightmarish place setting and strode from the room. With little time to spare before his lessons resumed, he’d be happy to catch some fresh air. But as he neared the doors leading out to the garden, he paused upon hearing a bit of laughter from one of the closest rooms. His sisters’, he recognized, but there was another more feminine sound, so pretty in its cadence that he simply had to see . . .
Approaching, he reached for the door handle to the room, and then paused again. Aware of the distress he’d caused Lady Gabriella the last time he’d seen her, he’d deliberately stayed away from her since, allowing her to tutor his sisters in private. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t thought of her or been aware of her presence in his house.
