Her friend regarded her blankly. “Of course. Whyever would you ask such a thing?”
“Because I find it tedious.”
“Do not let the Earl of Wilton hear you say that. Every husband expects his wife to know how to do such tasks. If he learns you hate them, he might very well call off the wedding.”
Lizzy sounded perfectly serious. If Abby had thought for one single minute that her friend was right, she would have detailed her dislikes immediately. She was growing increasingly convinced that she could never be the wife Riley Walker expected. She surely couldn’t keep up her sweet charade much longer.
“Call off the wedding? Not likely,” she said wistfully. “It seems to me that the Earl of Wilton is caught up in his own machinations to which I am not privy.”
Lizzy seemed puzzled. “Machinations?”
“I mean he’s an even more elaborate schemer than I am. He cannot possibly wish to marry me, and yet he insists on going through with this charade. I shall very likely be left standing at the church door with no groom in sight. He probably longs to humiliate me to get even for what I did to him at the Foxworths’ ball.”
“Abby, you cannot possibly think such a thing,” Lizzy protested. “He would never have declared his intentions if he did not intend to marry you. That would be most dishonorable.”
Abby shot her friend a wry look. “Were you not the very one who chose him for me at the Foxworths’ because he was known far and wide for precisely that trait?”
That silenced Lizzy for a time. Eventually she asked in a small voice, “Do you not think he is in love with you? My brothers say he acts as if he is thoroughly besotted. They are quite disillusioned with the turnabout. He impressed them more when he was gambling his nights away in London and paying visits to his mistress.” She regarded Abby seriously. “Men are not always terribly smart about such things, are they?”
“Apparently not,” Abby agreed. “Though I must admit to having some sympathy for your brothers’ position. I, too, thought I was getting a more daring suitor. Now it appears Wilton has gone and done a switch on me and turned into a most respectable gentleman.”
“Perhaps you have tamed him,” Lizzy suggested, putting an optimistic spin on things.
“Or perhaps he is merely trifling with me.”
Before they could resolve which might best explain his surprising behavior, the very gentleman in question was announced. Lizzy stared in open-mouthed admiration as the Earl of Wilton strode into the room, his breeches clinging to his well-muscled thighs, his hair tousled from his ride. Abby could understand her friend’s reaction. Though Riley Walker was not the most handsome of her suitors ever, he looked intimidatingly masculine, Abby decided as she studied him objectively. Her pulse, undeterred by any attempt at objectivity on her part, picked up speed just at the sight of him.
“Ladies.”
“My lord, I wasn’t expecting you to call this early in the day,” Abby said. “Is there some problem?”
“Nothing that cannot be resolved with a trip to London. I just wanted you to know that I most likely will be away for a week or more.” Apparently interpreting her expression as one of concern, rather than fascination, he said, “Never fear, my dear. I shall be back in plenty of time for the wedding.”
Though his words diminished the seriousness of the problem, Abby was certain she detected worry in his eyes. This seemed the perfect time to show him how helpful it would be to have a true partner who could share his burdens. “Perhaps I could assist in some way, my lord.”
His lips curved slightly. “This is not a household matter, my lady.”
“I was not suggesting that it was,” she retorted irritably. “I do have a brain, my lord. I was merely intimating that I would put my wits at your service if that would help.”
“It has to do with business. Walker Shipping to be precise. Are you familiar with shipping, Lady Abigail?”
His acid, mocking tone set her teeth on edge. “Perhaps as much as you, if the tales of your disinterest are true,” she snapped. “As it happens, my lord, I have read a great deal about shipping. Books can be quite educating if they are well-chosen, and my father has quite an extensive library.”
“You could read a hundred books, and it would still be a far cry from having practical experience.”
She frowned at his refusal to bend on the point. “To be sure, but many matters can be resolved with logic and quick thinking, can they not, my lord?” she countered tartly. “I do not believe that those abilities are limited to the masculine brain. In fact, I have had cause to wonder quite recently if men have such powers at all.”
The deliberate challenge, coupled with her earlier remark about his inattention to his shipping company, hung in the air. Lizzy’s eyes widened as she stared from Abby to the earl and back again. She looked uncertain, as if she could not decide between vanishing into thin air or staying for the fit of temper that was surely to come.
Abby had to admit that she was rather uncertain herself whether it had been wise to speak her mind so plainly. Her taunts had been deliberately sharp edged, perhaps too much so. As tolerant as the earl appeared most of the time, he was a man, and men, she had been trained, would only take so much before retaliating. She imagined that he would be quite clever about exacting his revenge.
The truth of it was, though, that she had grown weary of watching every word she uttered in his presence. Perhaps it was time that he see her precisely as she was, plain speaking and all. He had claimed to want that very thing, had he not?
She lifted her chin and gazed directly into those sparkling green
