“I didn’t mean it that way.” Bloody hell, every time he opened his mouth, he insulted her. He thought for a moment, trying to choose his words carefully. “Everyone wants something that is theirs alone. If you had returned with your brother, you would have lived in his shadow the way I live in your family’s shadow. If anyone understands why you didn’t want that, it’s me.”
Looking gratified by his words, she slid her hand in the crook of his elbow. His blood warmed at the touch. God help him, how he wished he didn’t respond to her like this.
Then again, he felt amazingly calmer now. No doubt her chatter, her very presence, had something to do with that.
So he allowed himself to enjoy it for the moment as they moved down the cobblestone street, his cane tapping the stones rhythmically.
“Why, sir,” she teased him, “is that a smile I see tugging at your lips? Oh, now I really do wish I could paint. I would love to capture the image of Major Wolfe’s smile in the wild. Otherwise, no one will believe it exists.”
“Joshua’ssmile in the wild.” He allowed his smile to broaden as he stared down at her. “You heard what your mother said. ‘You needn’t speak so formally.’”
Her eyes shone as green as the commons they were skirting. “Then you must call me Gwyn.”
He hadn’t really been serious, but now that he’d spoken the words, he rather liked the idea of calling her by her given name. And theyweresort of family.
No, not family in the least. Even his family had not seen him do what he’d done earlier in the street. “But no given names in public,” he said.
“Right,” she agreed, with an unaccountable softness in her voice. “Only in private.”
The word “private” sent his heart pumping. The idea of her being with him in private made a wild exultation course through his veins.
Anunwiseexultation.
Then, as if to remind him that desiring her was madness, his stomach growled.
She laughed. “NowI think we should return to the inn. You seem calm enough. And perhaps that’s why you reacted so . . . violently earlier. A fellow as tall and muscular as you can’t go too long without a meal.”
“True,” he said, though despite his hunger he found himself oddly loath to return.
They turned and headed back for the Golden Oak.
“You know,” he said, “you never did tell me what your twin said to run off that Hazlehurst fellow.”
She frowned. “You’re correct. I didn’t.”
“Gwyn, tell me. I want to know.”
For several moments, she was silent. Then she dragged in a heavy breath. “Oh, very well.” She walked a few more steps. “Thorn paid him to leave Berlin. For all I know, he paid him to join the . . . er . . . navy, too.”
Joshua gave a low whistle. “If I had tried that with Beatrice, she would have, to use your phrasing, ‘handed me my bollocks in a box.’”
“Ishouldhave,” Gwyn said blithely. Although she sounded nonchalant, he couldn’t help noting the heightened color in her cheeks.
“Surely your brother’s reason for paying the man off was sound,” he said, imagining himself in such a position. “Once the fellow took the money, he proved himself a fortune-hunter, and you would not want such a man as a husband, would you?”
“Of course not. But it was still presumptuous of Thorn.”
“Clearly. Although your brother must have offered the man a great deal of money indeed to have made Hazlehurst willing to turn down a chance at your dowry.”
“It wasn’t just the money, to be honest, because Thorn offered him only a few thousand pounds. But Thorn also told him that if . . . er . . . Hazlehurstdidattempt to elope with me, he would cut us both off.”
“Ah. Do you think he would have done it?”
Her shoulders slumped. “It hardly mattered. Hazlehurst wasn’t willing to gamble on losing my fortune, so he grabbed his bird in the hand and ran for all he was worth.” She looked up at Joshua. “You say thatyouare cynical about love and marriage? Well, I’m beyond cynical. Knowing that most men see me as a walking bank has a way of keeping me from liking them.”
“So that’s why you’re thirty and still unmarried. I did wonder. You seem to be exactly the kind of woman gentlemen in society want.”
She laughed bitterly. “You clearly haven’t been in society for a while or you would realize I am nowherenearthe kind of woman gentlemen want. They prefer wives who will hand over their dowries and never attempt to have a say in how the money is used. They want women who keep silent about anything that matters and who only speak to say, ‘Yes, dear,’ ‘Whatever you want, dear,’ and ‘You are my lord and master, dear.’”
