Page 24 of A Wallflower to Win the Viscount

‘Yes,’ Reginald said and laughed. ‘He caused quite a stir at Fitz—’

‘Good, good,’ Beatrice said, interrupting her husband. ‘Then, you’ll be able to introduce Primrose to him. I’m sure you’ll find him much more agreeable than the Earl of Ashcombe, Primrose.’

This drew a harrumph from Lucian, while Primrose privately suspected it would be difficult to be more disagreeable than the Earl of Ashcombe.

‘So, it’s all arranged,’ Beatrice continued, with a small clap of her hands. ‘Tomorrow we shall call on you again at one o’clock, and the four of us will make up a jolly party.’

The talk did sound interesting, and Primrose was enjoying spending time in the company of Beatrice, who appeared to share her love of animals. Why Lucian was agreeing to these outings was more perplexing. He didn’t like animals. He didn’t like Primrose. And he did not look happy at the prospect of another talk. Today’s outing was simply a gesture of apology, and it was obvious the topic had held no interest for him, so why did he want to go to a talk on stopping fox-hunting?

She sent a sideways glance in his direction. Once again, the reasons behind human behaviour eluded her, and Lucian’s more than most. She supposed she could ask him, but what was she supposed to say? What is your actual opinion of me? Do you enjoy my company or not? She could not imagine herself being quite so forthright. Possibly the only question she could actually imagining herself asking was What is your opinion on fox-hunting? which, while she was interested to know, would get her no closer to understanding the man himself or the motives behind his behaviour or his mercurial moods.

The carriage rolled to a halt in front of her house. Lucian jumped out and helped her down the steps. And there it was again. The tingling that always erupted whenever he touched her.

It’s just a polite gesture. It means nothing. And remember, this is a man who thought the earl’s abhorrent behaviour was a source of amusement. So stop all this tingling now.

Her body did not listen. Her heart continued to flutter, her stomach to flip and her jittery nerves to quiver.

He took her arm and walked her up the pathway to her front door.

This, too, means nothing, she repeated to herself, while her body reacted as if having him so close meant a great deal.

He’s just being a gentleman. Settle down.

‘Thank you for escorting me to that talk,’ she said when they reached the door and she was finally able to let go of his arm. ‘I’m sorry if I was rude.’

‘Not at all.’ His smile returned, a wry smile as if laughing at a private joke. ‘The man was an ass, and your treatment of him was no worse than he deserved.’

‘Yes, he was, wasn’t he?’ she said and smiled back at him, not so much because of what he was saying but because it was so wonderful to have him smile at her like that. ‘Although, all the asses I’ve known have been much nicer than he was, the four-legged kind, I mean.’

Lucian’s smile grew wider. He was undeniably handsome when his face was all stern and serious, but when he smiled, oh, my, it was as if the sun was shining directly on her and she was wilting under its heat.

‘I hope that went some way towards excusing my own bad behaviour.’

Bad behaviour? Had he behaved badly? When? Where?

‘Yesterday? Dragging you down the path. The things I said to you,’ he responded, registering her confusion.

‘Oh, yes, that.’ How had Primrose forgotten? She had been going over and over it in her mind all day and night, remembering what he’d said and thinking of what she should have said in response. But then, when she looked into his eyes, when he smiled at her, her mind did have a habit of going completely blank.

‘Consider yourself completely forgiven and the entire incident forgotten,’ she said with all honesty, returning his smile.

‘Good,’ he said, remaining at the door, still gazing down at her.

Primrose’s nerves continued to flutter, along with her heart and stomach. Was he going to give her another of those looks? Primrose both hoped he would and feared he might.

‘Until tomorrow,’ he said with more briskness than she expected, then knocked on the door. When Alfred opened it, he bowed and walked down the pathway to the pavement, where Beatrice and Reginald were climbing out of the carriage.

She watched him walk away, once again struck by his manly grace. How could a man who was so tall, so broad-shouldered, so decidedly masculine be so elegant?

He followed his cousins up his path, paused at his door and looked over in her direction.

Oh dear. Should she still be standing here, staring at him? Would this join the list of not normal behaviours she was prone to displaying? Unsure what one was supposed to do to appear normal and composed, she darted into the house, and Alfred shut the door behind her.

Still standing in the hallway, trying to compose herself, she was greeted by Clawdia, who meowed and rubbed herself against the bottom of her dress.

After handing her hat and gloves to the maid, she made her way down to the drawing room, followed by her furry companion.

‘Everything about today has been extremely confusing,’ she told the cat as she took her seat. Clawdia sat at her feet and looked up at her. ‘And it just confirms my belief that animals are so much easier to understand than humans.’