“This Miss Longerbeam didn’t actuallytryto throttle you, did she?” Camilla asked.
“I believe I’m simply going to adhere to my statement about not enjoying revisiting unpleasant circumstances from my past and leave it at that.”
After sending him a look that suggested he’d managed to irritate her yet again, Camilla turned to Luella. “It seems it’s going to be up to you to explain all about Miss Longerbeam, so ... did she resort to throttling your brother?”
“I’m sure she at least contemplated throttling after she somehow concluded that, because Owen asked if she, along with her parents, wanted to accompany him to view his new project underway up by our country house, that he was intending on showing her the initial plans for another house he was beginning to build, one she assumed he was building for her.”
“Why would she assume that?” Camilla asked, catching Owen’s eye.
“Hard to say,” he admitted.
“Had you been spending a great deal of time with Curtistine?”
“Define ‘a great deal.’”
“More than a few outings.”
He shook his head. “I’m going to say no because I only went to dinner with her twice, but her parents were included as well, and before you ask, no, I didn’t specifically ask her to dine with me. Her father had recently put in a lucrative order for nails, and I thought treating the whole Longerbeam family to dinner would be seen as a gesture of appreciation.”
Camilla frowned. “Did you specifically tell Mr. Longerbeam that you wanted Curtistine included?”
“I think I said something when I extended the first invitation about how nice it would be if Mrs. Longerbeam and their daughter could join us.”
“And the second invitation?”
“Well, Mr. Longerbeam had returned to the nail factory, you see, telling me he was there to place another order, and then...” Owen tilted his head. “He mentioned how much Mrs. Longerbeam and Curtistine enjoyed our previous dinner, so I offered to host dinner again.”
“And it never occurred to you that Mr. Longerbeam may have put in another nail order, and then broached the dinner idea, because he and Mrs. Longerbeam were hearing wedding bells on behalf of their daughter?” Camilla asked.
“It was just dinner.”
“It’s never just dinner when a young lady with marital prospects on her mind is involved.”
“Considering Curtistine is friends with Miss Pauline Zavolta, a lady who literally crosses the street if she sees me coming, it never occurred to me that Curtistine would ever turn her eye on me as a potential suitor.”
Camilla frowned. “Why not?”
“Because it’s not a secret that Pauline has mentioned to all her friends that I’m a cad.”
“Because...?”
“I think the answer to that falls under the whole I-don’t-care-to-revisit-unpleasant-situations.”
It was hardly surprising when Camilla began tapping out a rapid tattoo with the tip of her dainty shoe, but when she took to narrowing her blue eyes on him as the toe-tapping increased, he set aside his coffee and blew out a breath.
“Fine. If you must know, Pauline Zavolta believes I’m a cad because of an unfortunate riding incident we didn’t enjoy together.”
Camilla blinked. “I’ve never heard of a man being accused of caddish behavior during a riding excursion.”
“There’s always a first time for everything,” Owen muttered. “But I had the best of intentions when I offered to take Pauline Zavolta riding. She’d suffered a mishap on her horse a few monthsprior to our conversation, and because of that, she was nervous about riding again. I offered to help get her back in the saddle, but my good intentions turned into a complete fiasco after Pauline met me in my stables.” He shook his head. “The second I got Pauline situated on top of Clementine, the gentlest horse I own, she started sobbing, although I got the distinct impression her sobs were somewhat rehearsed.”
“You thought she was feigning her distress?” Camilla asked.
“Pauline is known to be overly dramatic,” Luella interjected. “She thrives on attention and uses tears to persuade people, especially gentlemen, to get what she wants.”
“Ah, I see,” Camilla said before she sent a nod Owen’s way. “As a matchmaker, I’ve seen all sorts of convoluted situations set up by young ladies hoping to achieve a certain result from a gentleman they’ve set their sights on. If I’m not mistaken, in your particular case, this Pauline wanted to set the stage so that she could enjoy a hero moment, one where she probably imagined you sweeping her from the saddle a second after she started sobbing, enfolding her in your strong arms, and giving her consoling pats on the back. However, I get the distinct feeling that’s not what happened, so what did you do instead?”
It was oddly satisfying to learn Camilla had taken note of his arms, and apparently thought they were strong, and...