previously.
He wanted to send her away, and they might not cross paths again. The thought inspired honesty, of a sort, and sadness.
“Why I did what?”
“Why did you leave your family at Three Springs to make wealthy, spoiled people look pretty for all eternity?”
“Why did you leave?” Polly had never been intimidated by him, not by his size, his intellect, his brooding silences, or his irascible demeanor. “You told Allie your family was in trouble, but this”—she waved a hand—“looks as untroubled as can be.”
“I lied.”
“You don’t lie.” She took a sip of very smooth spirits, such as a true lady would not admit she drank. “Well, perhaps you do.”
“Not willingly or often,” he countered. “I don’t care for it.”
She glanced at the saturnine planes of his face as the firelight cast them in flickering shadows. He did not care for himself when he dissembled.
“Which was the truth, then? That you desired me, or you were only humoring my… attraction to you?”
He helped himself to a sip of her drink though she’d brought him one of his own. “Polonaise, will you never learn a little indirection? The day has been long and fraught, and either answer leaves me looking like a bounder.”
“So which bounder will you be?” She sipped her drink from the exact same place on the glass he had, and let the brandy burn down to her center before going on. “Will you be the man who didn’t want to tell me my importuning was pathetic to one of his stature, or the man who took small liberties for the sheer hell of it, without thought to the consequences?”
“Not pathetic,” he ground out. “You’ve gotten your nightcap. Hadn’t you best be off to bed?”
She tidied her skirts as if to rise, but rather than heed him, she scooted her feet up under herself on the sofa.
“I’d like an answer,” she said. “Any answer, Gabriel, because you owe me that much. I don’t have to like it, but if it’s the truth, I’ll live with it. You mean to send me away, after all, so grant me this boon: What were you doing with me, Gabriel? Why mess about with the lowly cook when you could have entertained yourself in any style you chose in Town?”
“You’re not asking what I was doing at Three Springs in the general case, I note.”
“That is your business. I’m not going up those stairs until you tell me what you were doing with me, in the specific case.” She had no way of enforcing her threat. Sore back or not, he could easily toss her over his shoulder and eject her from the room bodily.
And she would like to see him try, because it would give her an excuse to be in some form of his embrace.
“I’m not sending you off immediately,” he replied, and they both knew he was dodging her question yet again. “Aaron wants Marjorie’s portrait done now, and I will respect his wishes, but there are rules.”
Polly took another sip. “With you as the Marquess of Hesketh, one expects rules regarding a great deal.”
“You will pose her indoors, and there will be footmen in attendance,” Gabriel said. “You will keep me or Aaron informed of your whereabouts at all times, and when Marjorie’s portrait is done, you depart without a word of the goings-on here.”
She gave him a peevish look for the insult implied at that last condition.
“Whatever is going on here, the news has already reached every estate within a five-mile radius, Gabriel.”
“You don’t need to add fuel to the flames of gossip. For your own safety, you do not.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Jesus save me.” He hunched forward and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You’d call me out were it intended as such.”
“And my weapon of choice would be the muffin pan,” Polly replied. This provoked a tired smile from the man beside her, and she let herself smile back. “Gabriel, I really would like to hear that you weren’t trifling with me. A woman feels foolish when the first man she’s taken an interest in
He wanted to send her away, and they might not cross paths again. The thought inspired honesty, of a sort, and sadness.
“Why I did what?”
“Why did you leave your family at Three Springs to make wealthy, spoiled people look pretty for all eternity?”
“Why did you leave?” Polly had never been intimidated by him, not by his size, his intellect, his brooding silences, or his irascible demeanor. “You told Allie your family was in trouble, but this”—she waved a hand—“looks as untroubled as can be.”
“I lied.”
“You don’t lie.” She took a sip of very smooth spirits, such as a true lady would not admit she drank. “Well, perhaps you do.”
“Not willingly or often,” he countered. “I don’t care for it.”
She glanced at the saturnine planes of his face as the firelight cast them in flickering shadows. He did not care for himself when he dissembled.
“Which was the truth, then? That you desired me, or you were only humoring my… attraction to you?”
He helped himself to a sip of her drink though she’d brought him one of his own. “Polonaise, will you never learn a little indirection? The day has been long and fraught, and either answer leaves me looking like a bounder.”
“So which bounder will you be?” She sipped her drink from the exact same place on the glass he had, and let the brandy burn down to her center before going on. “Will you be the man who didn’t want to tell me my importuning was pathetic to one of his stature, or the man who took small liberties for the sheer hell of it, without thought to the consequences?”
“Not pathetic,” he ground out. “You’ve gotten your nightcap. Hadn’t you best be off to bed?”
She tidied her skirts as if to rise, but rather than heed him, she scooted her feet up under herself on the sofa.
“I’d like an answer,” she said. “Any answer, Gabriel, because you owe me that much. I don’t have to like it, but if it’s the truth, I’ll live with it. You mean to send me away, after all, so grant me this boon: What were you doing with me, Gabriel? Why mess about with the lowly cook when you could have entertained yourself in any style you chose in Town?”
“You’re not asking what I was doing at Three Springs in the general case, I note.”
“That is your business. I’m not going up those stairs until you tell me what you were doing with me, in the specific case.” She had no way of enforcing her threat. Sore back or not, he could easily toss her over his shoulder and eject her from the room bodily.
And she would like to see him try, because it would give her an excuse to be in some form of his embrace.
“I’m not sending you off immediately,” he replied, and they both knew he was dodging her question yet again. “Aaron wants Marjorie’s portrait done now, and I will respect his wishes, but there are rules.”
Polly took another sip. “With you as the Marquess of Hesketh, one expects rules regarding a great deal.”
“You will pose her indoors, and there will be footmen in attendance,” Gabriel said. “You will keep me or Aaron informed of your whereabouts at all times, and when Marjorie’s portrait is done, you depart without a word of the goings-on here.”
She gave him a peevish look for the insult implied at that last condition.
“Whatever is going on here, the news has already reached every estate within a five-mile radius, Gabriel.”
“You don’t need to add fuel to the flames of gossip. For your own safety, you do not.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Jesus save me.” He hunched forward and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You’d call me out were it intended as such.”
“And my weapon of choice would be the muffin pan,” Polly replied. This provoked a tired smile from the man beside her, and she let herself smile back. “Gabriel, I really would like to hear that you weren’t trifling with me. A woman feels foolish when the first man she’s taken an interest in
Similar Books
