Leo paused. Given how he thought about the lady,gentlemanwas perhaps not the best word to describe himself. “Well, I suppose.” He felt a little awkward saying that. “I would like to spend more time in her company, truth be told.”
“You have not said that about a woman since Her Grace,” Mrs. Gunderson said, her voice equally wondering and sympathetic.
He had not felt this way about any woman since Lydia. “I know.”
Mrs. Gunderson looked askance, and Leo knew she was thinking about something very hard. She looked as though she were trying to decide if she ought to tell him something. Leo felt a strange sense of unease. He took a sip of his brandy, waiting silently for Mrs. Gunderson to come to her inevitable conclusion. After a long moment, she cleared her throat.
“You are thinking something which would displease me,” Leo said.
“Possibly.”
Leo sighed. “You might as well say it, then. Otherwise, I shall drive myself mad with worry over what you wished to say.”
He hoped that she had not sensed that his feelings towards Violet were less than noble. Sure, he had not said anything in particular which might give that impression, but Mrs. Gunderson was remarkably observant and knew him a little too well. Mrs. Gunderson’s face softened with sympathy. “You should try not to worry so much, Your Grace. Otherwise, you will be an old man well before your time.”
“Be that as it may. You can relieve my anxieties at once.”
“I was thinking that you ought to consider seeking out this young woman.”
Leo stared incomprehensibly at his housekeeper. “To what end?”
“You clearly have a high opinion of her, and you have given me no indication that she did not likewise enjoy your company.”
“Shedidenjoy my company,” Leo replied, “but she also did not realize who I was. I did not tell her, so she passed the evening by calling me Sir Gawain. I am quite sure that her opinion would change if she knew who I am.”
“Perhaps not. She enjoyed your company,” Mrs. Gunderson replied. “She also seems to be an intelligent woman, and therefore, I would imagine she would be more likely to withhold judgment on you.”
Leo frowned. “I am not certain that she would be when the rumors are that I killed my wife. That seems like a story which a young lady would do best to be cautious of.”
“Cautious does not mean unreasonable.”
Leo shrugged and sipped his drink. Was Mrs. Gunderson’s argument really that persuasive, or was he simply allowing himself to believe her because his desire to see Violet again was so great? “To what end, though?” Leo asked. “I cannot simply invite a young woman into my house because it suits my fancy. Even if she were willing to trust me, the people in the village would be merciless. They would talk and gossip about her.”
“Orshe might be helpful for dispelling the rumors,” Mrs. Gunderson argued. “Have you considered the possibility that making the acquaintance of such a lady might bring the villagers some ease? The rumors persist in part because you have resolved to keep yourself so distant from them.”
“I suppose that is true.”
“Itis.”
“But that still begs the question…” Leo trailed off. “If I am inviting a young lady here and enjoying her company, I imagine that villagers will have certain suspicions about my motivations. And surely, a woman like this is looking for a husband. An acquaintanceship with me might very well ruin her chances. People would assume that we were involved.”
Leo was not certain that he could be trusted having the young lady so close to him. Eventually, he would want more than was appropriate from her, and he would inevitably ask for her to join him in bed. And that would be disastrous.
If she refused, he would feel like a monster for taking advantage of an innocent young woman. If she agreed, he imagined that he would feel equally wretched, and worse, he would worry that Violet’s agreement stemmed from an obligation to please him rather than a genuine desire to join him in bed.
“Would that be so terrible?” Mrs. Gunderson asked carefully. “If you truly were involved with one another?”
“Why would we be?”
Mrs. Gunderson took a large swallow of brandy, which was Leo’s first indication that he certainly would not like what was next to come. “Your Grace, you have often mentioned that you are distressed by your lack of heir.”
Leo pressed his lips together in a thin line. That insinuation was somehow worse, given his own thoughts towards Violet. “I have made my worries known. That is because I trulydoneed an heir.”
“And you have made no efforts to find a suitable duchess, which is necessary to providing the dukedom with an heir.”
“You are forgetting that this young woman lives in a village,” Leo said. “She is not one of the ton. She is not even the Baron of Wesbrook’s daughter.”
“Does the title of your bride matter so much to you?” Mrs. Gunderson asked. “If so, I am certain that Lady Priscilla would be delighted to wed you.”
