“I doubt that very much.”
She shifted, so he shifted too, but the bench was narrow, so there wasn’t much space to maneuver. Their arms and legs were crushed together all the way down.
“I hate parties,” she said.
“Who hates a party? That’s a ridiculous comment.”
“I especially hate this one.”
“Why?”
“I don’t like my brother, and I can’t abide his London friends.”
He pondered his reply, debating whether he should be polite or if he should be candid. Candor won out. “I can’t abide any of them either. I’m here because my brother dragged me along. I’m often away in the navy, so I don’t spend as much time with him as I’d like.”
“You get on with him?”
“We’re best chums.”
“You’re lucky then. Gregory is my only sibling, and I don’t have the luxury of a close bond. I like my cousin, Caroline, though. She’s always been like a sister to me.”
“I like her too,” Blake said, “and I’m sad that she’s marrying Gregory. She seems very sweet. It’s too bad she couldn’t wind up with a husband who deserves her.”
“My father arranged the match ages ago. She’s twiddled her thumbs for seven years, but Gregory wouldn’t proceed. Have you ever heard of anything so rude?”
“Seven years? Your brother must have been convinced of her affection. How could he be sure no other fellow would swoop in and steal her away when he wasn’t paying attention?”
“He’s fortunate no one ever did, but we don’t have many handsome bachelors stopping by. She’s never been doted on by a beau, so she waited for Gregory.”
Fleetingly, Blake wondered if Caleb might have decided to dote on her. His brother was surrounded by women. With his being notorious, every doxy in the demimonde tried to curry his favor, but he was persnickety and rarely interested.
Their father, and his licentious habits, had made Caleb wary of romantic entanglements. A man could orchestrate enormous folly if he wasn’t careful where he sired his children.
Miss Grey yanked his focus back to her. “I wish I could stuff Caroline in a traveling trunk and take her to London. I’d like to save her from her dire fate. I have some money of my own. I ought to beg her to run away with me. We could rent an apartment and live alone—a pair of contented spinsters.”
“You’d run away to save her from matrimony? What a bizarre statement. Isn’t marriage the goal all women seek?”
“Not every woman. Some of us realize the trap a man can present.”
“Men and marriage are a trap?” He cocked his head and studied her. “You have to be the strangest female I’ve ever encountered.”
“There are more women like me than you can imagine,” she snottily said. “And just so you know, I’m not impressed by you, so don’t flirt with me.”
“Oh, I definitely won’t flirt.”
The remark was a lie. He was fascinating and enchanting, and women couldn’t resist him. His impulses couldn’t be tamped down or controlled.
“Charm practically oozes out of you,” she scathingly said.
“I can’t hold it in. I’ve never been able to. Should I apologize for being marvelous?”
“No! I don’t care if you’re marvelous.”
“Well, you certainly told me, didn’t you?”
“For a few minutes this afternoon, I allowed myself to be swept away by the notion of engaging in a dalliance with you, but I came to my senses quickly enough.”
“What was it, pray tell, that jerked you to reality?”
“After we chatted on the stairs, I actually went to my room and changed my clothes so I’d look more fetching for you. I had my hair curled and my slippers brushed, then I rushed down to find you. I was hoping to. . . to. . . entice you, but you were nowhere to be found, which was a great relief. I didn’t make a fool of myself.”
She’d spewed so many odd comments that he felt dizzy with trying to sift through them all. He settled on the one least likely to provoke her. “I would love to have seen you in a pretty gown.”
“But don’t you understand? I don’t want to look fetching!”
She was so aggrieved that he laughed out loud; he couldn’t help it. “I repeat: You are incredibly strange. What’s wrong with being fetching? To me, it seems a normal feminine instinct. Are you determined to be completely abnormal?”
“There are more important things than flirtation and romance.”
“I’ve never stumbled on any.”
“I have no desire to tempt men with my looks. I intend to be respected for my intellect and my stimulating personality. I’m smart and driven to succeed. I should be able to accomplish any goal I pursue. I shouldn’t have to demean myself into believing matrimony is my only option.”
“Yes, but the sole avenue society permits is for you to be a wife and mother. What alternative is there?”
“I most particularly don’t want to be a wife and mother!” She glared at him as if the unfairness of her lot was all his fault.
“What will become of you then?”
“I haven’t figured it out yet, but I will. There has to be a road that will lead me to the life I crave.”
“What life would that be? Are you planning to be a dictatorial spinster who constantly complains about men?”
“We should complain. My brother is the prime example of why! I’d say it’s time for women to speak up.”
Since his own father, the grand and glorious Captain Miles Ralston, had been a philandering roué, Blake couldn’t argue the point. Then there were the irresponsible wastrels who ruined themselves at Caleb’s club. They would blithely imperil their wives and children by wagering until their pockets were empty.
Maybe if women ran the kingdom, it wouldn’t be in such a dire condition.
The instant the peculiar thought slithered by, he tossed it away. As if women should run the world! As if things would be
