She thought he could train her to shoot in one day? She was the one who was half-mad. Or she believed him to be a magician.
But he did find her urge for speed curious. “You never saidwhyyou wish to learn to shoot. I’m assuming you have no weapon, and because your brother hired me to protect you, you don’t need one. So why insist on this nonsense?”
She stiffened. “Never mind that. It’s my business, not yours.”
Nothing like putting him in his place. If he’d been starting to feel guilty over how he was planning to thwart her tomorrow, her answer squelched that. She didn’t want to confide in him? She wanted to use her exalted rank as an excuse for hiding the truth from him?
Fine.
“Well, then,” he said, “we can meet tomorrow morning at ten. Just tell your mother we’re going riding. We’ll have to, actually, in order to practice shooting. That has to be done in the country.”
“I suppose you will provide the firearm?”
“I will provide everything,” he said.
But she was not going to be happy when she sawwhathe provided, although at the moment, he honestly didn’t care. He didn’t. Absolutely not.
“By the way,” she said, “did you spot anything odd on the trip today? I mean, concerning that fellow you thought might follow us?”
“Afraid not. I looked for him, but even if he were trying to catch us in a moment of distress, I wouldn’t have been able to see him, with the horses kicking up so much dust. And because we didn’t break down—”
“He probably gave up before we reached London.”
“Precisely.”
“Not to change the subject,” she said, “but there is one thing I should warn you about Armitage House before we reach there. Sheridan is trying to avoid having to rent it out until after the Season, so at present it is in a state of some disarray. Most of the rooms aren’t open, for example.”
“The way it was at Armitage Hall.”
“Precisely. While that will save the dukedom money, it makes finding one’s way around a bit . . . disconcerting. It took me nearly a week to figure out where the servants’ quarters are.”
Obviously that veiled reference was meant for him. “I assume that is where I will be staying.”
She blinked. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re Mama’s nephew—you’ll be in a room upstairs, probably in the wing where Sheridan’s room is, though you and he will be the only two in it.”
An entire wing? Bloody hell, another mansion, then. He kept forgetting that the dukedom extended back to the early 1700s. “I did wonder if Sheridan would be coming for the Season.”
“We’re not actually certain.” She glanced away. “He will need a wife at some point, so he might as well start the process now. But he seems to be dragging his feet.”
“Can you blame him? Faced with the prospect of assessing all the—as you put it—‘walking banks’ in society, he is probably not eager to begin looking. Few men enjoy being fortune hunters, despite what women think.”
Her gaze shot to him, full of curiosity. “If you say so. You don’t . . . see yourself as a fortune hunter, do you?”
“How can I? Unlike your brother, I own no property to support.” He wouldn’t say more than that. She didn’t need to know about his hopes to return to the Royal Marines. He could hide as much as she could, and be better at it besides. She would find that out soon enough.
After another moment staring at him, she sighed. “Fortunately, we won’t be doing any entertaining ourselves because Mama is still in mourning, so we won’t have to deal with the gossip about why Armitage House has so many closed rooms, even during the Season.”
He nodded. He was not in the mood for casual conversation with her.You’re being the grumbler she always accuses you of being.
Yes, he was. To hell with it. To hell with her.
Chapter Seven
Gwyn awakened far too early. She generally did during her first day back in London. The excitement of being in the City was so palpable, she could hardly sleep. But she had even more cause for it today. At last, she was going to learn to shoot! It was all she could do not to shout it to the rooftops.
Instead, she leaped from the bed and dressed in her favorite riding habit, careful to tell her maid that she was riding with Major Wolfe and they would be suitably chaperoned by a groom. Then she tripped down the stairs to breakfast well before nine a.m. To her surprise, the footman serving at table informed her that Joshua had not only already eaten but had gone for a walk.
“I was that taken aback, I was, my lady,” the footman confided. “I didn’t think the major would wish to walk, with his leg like that.”
