Secrets of a Spinster (14 page)

Mary looked up at him in surprise, as if she had forgotten he had been there. “Was it really so long?” She glanced over at a clock and her eyebrows shot up. “My goodness! I’m sorry, Geoff, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting so long.”

He smiled and waved a hand. “Don’t worry about me. I enjoy sitting in uncomfortable chairs for long periods of time.”

Mary snorted a laugh and rose, stretching a bit herself. Then she moved towards the door to the room.

“Besides,” Geoff continued as he followed, “I enjoyed watching.”

“Watching what?” she asked in confusion as she turned her head to look back at him.

“You.” She looked surprised again, and he chuckled. “I never noticed how well you do this.”

She stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Do what, exactly?”

“Play the debutante.”

A bemused smile formed on her lips. “I wasn’t playing anything just then.”

Geoff stared at her in abject confusion. Of course, she had been playing then! How could she not have been? She was eager and interested and amused by them, and the Mary he knew wouldn’t have… She’d never…

He really had no idea what she would or would not do anymore.

“But… you were listening so keenly to James Finley-Ashe,” he said with a weak laugh.

Mary shrugged. “It was fascinating.”

Now he laughed in earnest. “Fascinating? Mary, how much wine did you drink last night?”

With a bit of a huff, Mary frowned and looked at him. “I didn’t have any wine at all last night. Did you?”

“No,” he replied as his laughter faded. “But Mary…”

“Oh,” she said softly as comprehension dawned. “Oh, you think I shouldn’t have found Mr. Finley-Ashe so interesting because he is generally thought of as dull and boring and far too scholastic.”

Something like that, yes.

“Well, I…” he began.

“I, on the other hand,” Mary overrode, looking disapproving, “choose to find out for myself what to think of other people. Mr. Finley-Ashe, for example, is a very intelligent man and is as equal in stimulating conversation as any other man who is appreciated. I greatly enjoyed hearing his theories for improving farming techniques.”

“Mary, you don’t farm,” Geoff pointed out matter-of-factly.

One shoulder lifted in a bit of a shrug. “I could learn,” she said simply. She turned and continued down the hall, leaving him there in stunned confusion.

But only momentarily.

“Wait, Mary, wait,” he called as he hurried after her. He wished the halls in this blasted house were not so cramped, for as she turned again, her eyes a bit impatient, he actually felt a little afraid. “Erm, I apologize for thinking so badly of Mr. Finley-Ashe?”

“Is that a question or an admission?” she asked, raising one eyebrow.

“You know, your ability to put a man on the spot is very disconcerting,” he admitted with a half-smile.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled back. “Is that your favorite part of me?”

“Definitely not,” he replied proudly.

“Good.” She turned and entered the dining room, where a luncheon had been set. “You might as well help yourself, Geoffrey. Cassie rarely eats in here except for dinner, and with you here, it is impolite for me to eat alone.”

“Oh, no, thank you, I have eaten already at Derek’s,” he told her as he sat. “How are you holding up under all of this?”

“Remarkably well, I should think,” she replied lightly. “I admit, I was overwhelmed at first, but soon it all began to feel natural, and I find that I am enjoying myself quite a bit.”

“Are you really?”

She nodded and started eating. “And no, I am not really considering Mr. Finley-Ashe as a suitor, but I do find him interesting, and his theories really do make one think more logically. But I have no intention of letting him court me.”

“Well, I am relieved to hear it,” Geoffrey sighed as he sat back. Then he realized what she had said and froze. “Court you? Mary, you are looking for courtship now?”

“Not in so many words,” she replied slowly in between bites of food. “But when I was at dinner with Lord and Lady Danton a few nights ago, I thought…”

“You had dinner with the Dantons?” he interrupted, shooting forward in his chair.

She reared back a little, surprised by his reaction. “Yes, Lady Danton sent a note around asking if I would join them for a small supper party with a few other friends.”

“When did you and Lady Danton become friends?” he asked, feeling oddly defensive.

“Well, I don’t…”

“I mean, you would think that Lady Danton, as my cousin, would have informed me of a dinner party, particularly when she knows that we are friends,” Geoffrey explained, feeling rather miffed at Lavinia for her lack of family loyalty.

“Oh, please, Geoffrey, you would have hated it,” Mary scoffed, rolling her eyes. “It was blue stockings and academics, all of us enjoying intelligent conversation without the trouble of flirtation.”

He looked at her carefully, then smiled a bit. “But you flirted anyway.”

She returned his smile with a rather devious grin. “Well, I do have to practice.”

“I think you have done quite enough practicing, if the number of admirers is any indication,” he laughed, jerking his thumb towards the front door. “Still, I would have been glad to escort you to the Dantons, even if I had been bored stiff. I am your permanent escort, remember.”

Mary chewed slowly, looking at him. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. While I was at this party, it occurred to me that even though this may have started out as a game, it might be possible to have… other advantages.”

Geoff stilled in his seat as he stared at her. Cautiously he wet his lips. “What other advantages?”

“Promise you won’t breathe a word to my sister?”

He ought to have said something glib, something that Geoffrey Harris would say to Mary Hamilton, but he only managed a nod.

“Suppose I actually find a husband,” she said in a low voice, her eyes bright. “I’ve never had opportunity like this, Geoff. I haven’t felt like this since I was seventeen. Suppose one of these men that comes calling at my house or dances with me in a ballroom or regales me with farming techniques might actually be a man I could marry and have a family with.”

Geoff opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Mary find a husband? Well, of course, he wanted Mary to find a husband, if possible. She deserved to find one. She deserved a family.

So why could he not feel his heart beating?

He swallowed and tried for a look of innocent surprise. “Well, that must have been a startling realization.”

Mary grinned and buttered her roll. “It was. I almost fell out of my chair. I have been so used to the idea of being alone forever that it never occurred to me that this lark could actually work. Not that anybody has said or done anything that leads me to believe a match is on the horizon,” she allowed, which made Geoff’s heart resume a normal rhythm, “but I’m not going to rule it out either.”

“And this affects my escorting duties how?” he asked, feeling a little better.

“I don’t want you to have to be my nanny, Geoffrey,” she told him with a smile. “If I’m not going to laugh at everything we used to, then it would hardly be good fun for you to come to things you hate just to be with me. And I hardly need you to keep me company once we are there. I cannot even manage to keep myself company these days. And if I am to be so busy, it would be rude to take up all of your time when it is hardly worth the effort.”

“Mary…”

“And…what if someone else wants to take me to something?” she asked in a shy voice, not meeting his gaze.

“Ah,” he said slowly, leaning back again. “Does someone?”

“Not yet,” she admitted with a scowl.

He grinned. “Very well, if and when that day comes, you need only tell me and I’ll take Cassie instead.”

Mary laughed out loud and covered her mouth quickly. “That would be more than you could handle, but if you insist.”

Geoffrey reached over and squeezed her hand. “I will always have time for you, Mary, whether I like the event or not.”

She smiled back at him. “Thank you.”

He nodded and removed his hand. “Would you like to go to the theater on Friday? There is a new comedy out, and I’ve reserved a box. We can show you off in grand style.”

“Oh, that would…”

“Pardon me, Miss Hamilton,” Winston interrupted gently from the door. “There is a gentleman here who wishes to speak with you. A Mr. Burlington.”

Mary paused, her surprise evident. “He is?” she managed.

Winston nodded, smiling a little.

Mary also smiled, then swallowed and said, “Send him in here. I have finished, and it would be no inconvenience.”

Winston bowed slightly, then disappeared.

“That’s not bad form, is it?” she whispered as she and Geoff stood. “Having him come in the dining room.”

“Not that I am aware of, no,” Geoffrey assured her.

“How do I look?” she whispered again.

He smiled at her. “Lovely as ever.”

“You are biased.”

“Guilty.”

Winston reappeared and bowed. “Mr. Burlington, Miss.”

Mr. Burlington fairly swept into the room, his gold-lined great coat billowing slightly. He swept into a deep bow, then removed his feathered hat and set it beneath his arm. “Miss Hamilton, it is truly a delight to see you again.”

Mary curtseyed and smiled politely. “And you as well, Mr. Burlington. You know Mr. Harris?” she asked, indicating Geoff.

“Indeed,” Burlington replied jovially as they bowed to each other. “How do you do, Harris?”

“Tolerably well, thank you, sir,” Geoff replied, though it was lost on the man as he had returned his attention back to Mary.

“You must forgive me for not calling sooner,” Burlington was saying as he moved around the table towards Mary. “But you see, I never call immediately, as it would lump me with the rest of the masses. And I desire to stand out to you.” He took Mary’s hand and kissed it.

Geoffrey felt nauseated.

“Well, it is good to see you here at last,” Mary managed, sounding a little confused, but not displeased.

“I had my new phaeton out today,” Burlington told her, his dark eyes eager, “and I thought, ‘It is such a fine day, would it not be lovely to have Miss Hamilton sitting beside me as we drive about the city’, and it was such a capital idea that I drove straight here, determined to have you join me. Will you?”

Mary grinned and nodded. “I would be delighted. I shall go get a coat and bonnet.”

“Excellent, I shall be eagerly anticipating the gracious blessing of your company by the phaeton out in front.” Burlington bowed and turned his remarkably shiny shoes on their heels and removed himself from the room.

“Will you need a chaperone?” Geoff asked.

“Not at all,” Burlington called from the hall. “My man sits in the tiger seat, all is quite proper, no need to fuss.”

Geoffrey glowered after him, then turned to Mary, who was smiling brightly.

“I have not ridden in a phaeton for ages!” she fairly squealed as she dashed from the room.

“Mary! The theater! On Friday!” he shouted after her.

“Yes!” she yelled back. “I have a new dress that would be perfect for the theater!”

He heard her thundering up the stairs, and then moments later, heard her flying back down. The front door closed with a loud bang, and then it was silent.

Geoffrey sank back into his chair, feeling completely lost. What in the world was happening here? Mary had just said she had not given up on marriage after all, and such was her luck, it was actually possible now. And he had not missed her expression when Burlington was announced. Did all callers have that effect?

He frowned, unable make it all out.

“Would you like something to eat, Mr. Harris?” one of the kitchen maids asked as she began clearing the meal.

He looked over at her, then at the food, and then he sighed. “Yes, I would.”

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