Page 50 of The Bridal Quest

The boy turned to look back at Gideon and Irene, and gave them an insouciant wave. Irene hid a smile at the gesture, but Gideon did not bother to hide his response and waved back.

"Stay away from my son!" Teresa ordered, turning to Gideon.

"I beg your pardon?" Gideon turned his gaze on her, flat and black, unyielding.

"You heard me," Teresa went on. "There is no reason for you to be around him."

"He is my brother," Gideon reminded her.

"He is none of your concern!" Teresa shot back.

Gideon raised his eyebrows a little at the force of her reaction, but he said nothing.

Teresa, however, was not finished. "You encourage him to misbehave. He did not escape from Miss Tyning nearly as often before you came to the Park."

"He knows that I frequently take a walk about this time in the afternoon," Gideon admitted. "I think perhaps he hopes to run into me here. If we were to set up a schedule, a time every day when he and I would go for a stroll, then he might not be tempted to 'escape', and you would not have to worry that he might be in danger. It would be good for him."

"I am the one who will say what is good for Timothy," Teresa told him.

It seemed to Irene that Teresa looked even angrier than before at what seemed to her a very reasonable and even generous offer on Gideon's part. There were not many men who would suggest taking on the company of a lively five-year-old boy even for a few minutes each day. Irene started to give Teresa her opinion, then realized that would probably only annoy the woman even more and certainly wouldn't help Gideon and Timothy's case.

Teresa went on, her voice rising into a screech. "Do you think I want my son to spend more time with you? Do you think I want him to speak like a shopkeeper or have the manners of a street urchin?"

Irene drew in a sharp breath at the insult and glanced quickly at Gideon. His face was stony. He looked at Teresa for a moment, his lips pressed tightly together.

Then he said, "I am afraid that you are quite overset, my lady. No doubt your worry for your son impels you to say things that you will later regret. I suggest we both forget this conversation." He bowed slightly toward her. "No doubt you wish to get back to the nursery to look after your son."

He turned to Irene, offering her his arm. "Lady Irene? Shall we continue our walk?"

"Yes, of course." She put her hand on his arm, and they stepped away from Teresa.

Gideon's arm was like iron beneath her hand, and Irene cast a quick glance upward at his face. His expression was still like granite.

"You must not pay any attention to what Lady Radbourne said," Irene told him. "She is a fool."

"There is no denying that," he agreed.

"I am sorry."

"For what? You did nothing."

"I know. But still, I am sorry that she was ... unkind."

"I have dealt with far worse than Teresa, believe me." He shrugged. "Anyway, she is merely the only one rude enough—or stupid enough—to say to my face what all my relatives feel."

"No. I am sure they do not," Irene protested. "Anyway, you don't speak like a shopkeeper. And your manners—well, perhaps you are not so polished as some gentlemen, but I have met a good number of gentlemen who are quite ill-mannered, I assure you."

He smiled, his face relaxing, as he flashed a look at her. "Are you trying to make me feel better, my lady?"

She lifted her chin. "I am simply telling the truth."

"Well, the truth is that I was a street urchin," he said.

"Yes, but obviously you became something much more than that," she pointed out. "As I understand it, even before the Duke of Rochford tracked you down, you had done well for yourself."

He looked at her. "I made a good deal of money, that is true."

"Well, that is admirable in itself, is it not?" she persisted.