A Wedding In Springtime(55)

“I should really return soon,” said Genie, taking another bite of a scone still warm from the oven. “They will surely miss me soon.”

“And I will miss you as soon as you leave.”

“This cannot be proper.”

“Probably not.” In truth, Grant knew it was not. He had never entertained a lady in his sitting room. He had entertained ladies, surely, but he had an apartment in Town for that sort of thing. His mother’s sitting room was, well, his mother’s sitting room. It was not a place to bring young ladies. He was on shaky ground with Miss Talbot, but he in no way wished her to leave.

“So, your mother is with your sister?” asked Genie, taking another warm scone. It was not for nothing the Grant household employed the best chef in London.

“Yes, I have five elder sisters. All now happily married.”

“I have two elder brothers and two younger. I did find it a bit difficult to be the only girl in a house of boys. Did you find this also to be the case?”

“The only boy in a world of females?” Grant gave a mischievous grin. “Never was there a boy more coddled. My parents waited fifteen years before I finally made an appearance. As the only son, considerably younger than my sisters, I was prized, spoiled, and utterly bossed about by my six mothers.”

Genie smiled. “It does not sound too terribly bad.”

“It was not, I confess. I was never at a loss for amusements.”

“Then why, please forgive me if it is impolite to ask these things of a self-proclaimed rake, but why have you decided never to marry?”

“Ah, yes, marriage. Well, perhaps you have no understanding, since you were not raised with sisters, but in a household of five elder sisters, there was nothing more important or spoken of with more fervor or at more length than the topic of matrimony. My sisters must be wed, of course, and the prospect of their subsequent entries onto the marriage mart comprised my entire upbringing. By the time I reached my majority, I was rather tired of the whole conversation.”

“Still, it seems a bit drastic to declare never to wed.”

“Had to. Only thing I could do. Have you any idea how tiring it is to have six matchmakers parading potential brides before you like an auction at Tattersall’s?”

Genie considered the urgent focus on finding her a husband and nodded. “I think I may understand you.”

“The ladies were getting insistent. They even tried arranging situations to entrap me. My own mother even tried to force my hand to marry the daughter of a marquis. It was a sly game, I confess, but they did not expect me to jump from the balcony.”

“You jumped from the balcony?”

“Indeed I did. I was trapped on the balcony with a young lady screaming that I was molesting her and tearing her own bodice. What else was I to do?”

“Were you hurt?”

“Broke my ankle but still managed to run down the street until I found Thornton. Hid at his castle in Scotland for the rest of the season.”

“That is horrible. No wonder you have a fear of debutantes.”

“Dreadful fear, I’m afraid.”

“But what about me? You are sitting quite alone with me. Should you not be afraid that I might cry that you have made violent love to me and entrap you into marriage?”

“Might you be willing to allow me to make violent love to you?” Grant asked, moving from his seat to sit beside her on the couch. Their clandestine kiss was still fresh in his memory. It had not been the most passionate or skilled kiss he had ever enjoyed, but at present, hers were the only lips he wished to taste again.

Genie laughed and turned away, smoothing her skirts in a nervous fashion. “Am I to be frightened? I cannot imagine that you would molest me in your mother’s sitting room.”

“True. You are aware of my partiality for trees.”

Genie’s color heightened and she deftly redirected the conversation from the dangerous topic of trees. “Seems too benign of a parlor for a scene of seduction.”

“Truly? You are an expert on seduction? What are they teaching farmers’ daughters these days?”

“I am somewhat an expert if you must know,” said Genie, turning back to him with a sly grin. “I have secretly read many gothic novels, and I can say with every assurance that seductions do not happen in front parlors.”

“You don’t say. Do go on. Where must I linger for an appropriate seduction?”