Lewis knew the way and showed himself through. However, once he’d entered the room, he was at a loss as to what to do with himself. He had evaded disaster and made it to Munro House in time. But now the moment for which he had raced like the dickens had finally arrived. And suddenly, Lewis was nervous.
It was silly, really. Miss Kinsey would not have reached out to him in the forthright manner she had if she were not of the same thinking as he. Still, she could have changed her mind.Theycould have changed her mind. So, he stood and waited. He paced. He stared out the window. He paced some more.
Wherewasshe?
Just when Lewis thought he could bear it no longer, a light step approached the door. He knew that sound. Only one person walked as if the world were an open field and she must fling her arms open and spin until she tumbled, breathless with laughter, and watch the colorful blur of it settling upon her vision.
The steps paused. Another set of feet were catching up, feminine but more assertive, as though the hallway and the ground beneath belonged to her.
“Please, Jilly, think! You cannot change your mind without bringing shame on both households. Once it is done, it cannot be undone!”
“Good!” said the determined voice of Miss Kinsey. And she stepped into the drawing room.
Lewis sucked in his breath. This was it. She had wanted him here. And he had come. But there were unspoken things…
“Mr. Bradford!” cried Miss Kinsey as she entered the room alone. In a trice, she had crossed the space between them and looked about ready to fling her arms around him when she pulled up short and sat down quite suddenly.
“Ellena says I am too graceless to mix with your sort of people. But, as you can see, I am perfectly able to restrain myself, even in circumstances where the lack thereof would be quite forgivable.”
Lewis allowed himself a moment to process the series of emotions that had just bombarded his senses. Where to start?
“I see Lady Howell shares her husband’s reservations about… our, er… mixing company,” he began.
“Needless to say,” Miss Kinsey answered matter-of-factly, “it is not an opinion with which I agree. They are very sweet to worry, but their thinking is rather dull. I suppose it must be, when all day one weighs up matters of great importance.” She blinked twice, then her mouth made a shocked “o.” “Not thatyourwork isn’t meaningful. Goodness! I would never want you to assume I do not understand its worth. But you have wisely chosen to leave those dusty, old law books at the office and let yourself live a little. Lord Howell never laughs, you know. Well, not thatI’veseen, at any rate. What a waste, when the world is full of things to be joyful about. Although why I should tell you this when you and I are so like-minded that there is no need to explain… It’s only that their thinking is so very different and yet they are comfortable imposing their thoughts upon us as though they were the only ones worthy of consideration. Do you see?”
“Er…” said Lewis.
He had only witnessed this once before. This chattiness of Miss Kinsey. It had happened when they had first met, a year ago. She had been new to the city, the estate, the complexities of etiquette. And it had made her nervous. She had gabbled away in this seemingly easy way, but, really, she had just been covering herself in words like a protective blanket.
“Miss Kinsey,” he said, both to stem the tide of her words and to rescue her from the need for them, “let us speak plainly.”
“Oh.” She sat a little straighter, her hands clamped to her knees. “Yes.” She nodded briskly. “I am ready.”
Lewis suddenly felt quite out of his depth. This was not like a courtroom, where everyone else was either an opponent to be defeated, a witness to be summoned, or a judge to be convinced. The many years of study had given him little opportunity to consider marriage before now. No practice having been possible, nor, indeed, likely, as these things tended to be a once-off affair, Lewis considered himself wholly unprepared for this moment. Under different circumstances, he would have mulled it over more, practiced the wording of his case before presenting it to Miss Kinsey.
The young lady in question waited, her head tilted up expectantly.
Lewis sat down opposite her. He steepled his fingers, his wrists on his knees.
“Miss Kinsey.”
“Yes?”
Lewis cleared his throat and looked up into her lovely face. Saints above, but she was beautiful! He wished this awkwardness was behind him and he could claim those lips, those eyes, the soft skin inside her wrist…
He cleared his throat again.
“Your letter—for which I must thank you, as it was sent at great risk—was very, er…thorough.”
Miss Kinsey shifted happily in her chair. “Oh, good! Ellena was totally against any correspondence between us, of course, but then I wouldn’t have seen you formonths, and some grand heiress might have caught your eye.”
Lewis tried to hide a smile that was itching to surface. “I assure you, Miss Kinsey, no one else can catch my eye while you exist.”
“Oh, well, that’s all right, then.” Miss Kinsey beamed.
“It seems, however, that our friends do not share our enthusiasm when considering a match between our houses.”
Miss Kinsey giggled. “Is this your barrister voice? It isn’t half funny! I can just picture our crowded, little cottage wed to your parents’ fancy home.” Her eyes looked up to the side and were joined by a tiny frown. “Actually, I can’t imagine it all. I have no idea what their estate looks like, having never visited.”
