They were in each other’s lives for the duration of the Season. For now, she had to leave it at that and hope he hurried to the nearest gaming house to have a drink and a game of cards. She certainly wasn’t going to marry him.
She couldn’t marry anyone.
Ever.
“I don’t know what happened to me,” she said, straightening her clothing. “I’ve never been so free before. I—I guess it was the thrill of the ride that caused me to forget myself to the point I lost all rational thought.”
“It was your desire for me that had you mindless of all else,” he said with a teasing grin as he picked up her bonnet from where it had fallen and handed it to her.
“What? No, no,” she argued, half irritated and half amused by his assertion as he laid her hat in her lap. “You’re a horrible person to insinuate that.”
“I’m truthful. I fully admit you have seduced me like no other woman, but you won’t admit I make you feel the same way.”
He was right. It was hard enough admitting it to herself.
She placed the bonnet on her head and stuffed strands of hair underneath it.
“Are you upset with me?” he asked, tightening his collar and then his neckcloth.
“Of course I am,” she said in a lighthearted tone. “You’re a beast.” But she was pleased that he had—well, by what he had done for her. “You ruined a perfectly good ending to an exceptional ride.”
He chuckled, pulled the brake handle, and gave thehorses a gentle nudge to start moving. The harness rattled once more, and the curricle lurched as they moved out from under the tree’s branches.
“What party are you attending tonight?” he asked.
“The Duke of Middlecastle’s dinner,” she answered, tying the ribbons under her chin. “He and Lyon are good friends. The duke is always at Lyon’s card club—anyway, I know him fairly well, and I’m going with Adeline and Lyon.”
“You know Lyon invited me to join his club,” he said offhandedly, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
“Yes. I shouldn’t have, but I jumped to conclusions and accused Adeline of asking him to do it so he could keep an eye on you.”
Zane whipped his head around to look at her. “Did she?”
“No,” Brina answered. “She assured me it was issued because of your reputation as a card player in London. I believe her and she forgave me. Apparently, many gentlemen are clamoring to play with you.”
Seeming satisfied with her answer, he gave his attention back to the horses. “I told Lyon if he has an opening after the Season, I’d be happy to join.”
“I am not opposed to you joining right now,” she said with a hint of delivery in her tone.
Zane chuckled. “Your wishes will not persuade me to go back on my word to you. I wasn’t going to attend Middlecastle’s dinner, but if you’re going, I will. Seated in a very small, uncomfortable chair, squeezed elbow to elbow at a table for a dinner that can last three hours is a form of torture.”
“I just had an excellent idea,” Brina said, before the plan had developed fully in her mind. “I think you should give a sit-down dinner party.”
“No.” He shook his head. “At my uncles’ insistence, I had one for my family shortly after I returned. I want it to be a long time before I have another.”
“Family dinners are easy.”
“So my uncles said, but there is nothing easy about my family and the things they want. More allowance, trips to America, commissions in the military, and land. Their requests seem endless.”
“You must decide about those things, but you say you want me to help you do things that are proper. A dinner party where you invite people such as the Duke of Middlecastle, the Earl of Lyonwood, and other peers who are in Town would be good for you. It will have to be toward the end of the Season as most evening dates are already filled for everyone, but I think we can fit one into everyone’s schedules.”
“No.”
“Yes,” she countered evenly. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. It will please your family for you to have a grand dinner for such important guests and prove to other members of the peerage that you are serious about your place in Society. Mainly that you want to get to know them and are willing to work with them should they need you.”
He grimaced. “They should know that anyway.”
“Some people need to be told and shown things like that. It will strengthen all your relationships. This will be wonderful for you.”
