And then being forced to marry her. Neither shenorHeath wanted that.
Thus far, the lads had talked about cricket, Heathbrook’s least favorite subject; hunting rifles, Heathbrook’s second least favorite subject; and religion, Heathbrook’s third least favorite subject. So help him, if they started talking about medicine, he might just leap from his landau.
When had boys stopped talking about pirates and horses and the best hand at whist?
Probably around the time his own boyhood had been cut short after he was forced to accompany Father to France.
“Have you really known Giselle for ten years?” Evan asked.
Hah! Giselle was always one of his favorite subjects. “Yes.”
Evan and Kit exchanged glances. “That long?” Kit ventured. “But Cousin Yates said—”
“I can well imagine what our cousin said,” Heathbrook retorted. “But Yates doesn’t always tell the truth.” And, come to think of it, he might not have taken Heathbrook at his word.
“So, when are you getting married?” Zack asked.
Heathbrook stiffened. “We haven’t … er … set a date for the wedding yet.”
“Why not?” Kit said. “I like her. She’s pretty.”
“You like all the pretty women,” Evan drawled. “They just don’t likeyou.”
Kit crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t exactly see beautiful ladies tripping over themselves to get toyou,Evan.”
“They do often enough,” Evan said loftily. “You just don’t know about it because I’m discreet.”
“What’s ‘discreet’?” Zack asked.
“You’ll find out when you’re older,” Evan said.
Zack slumped in his seat. “That’s what you and Kit always say. But when I’m older, you’ll both be even older than me, so I’ll never find out.”
“Don’t be in a hurry to grow up, Zack,” Heathbrook said. “Sometimes a boy can grow up too fast.” If anyone knew that, it was him.
“Like Kit,” Evan snapped, “swanning around the Isle of Thanet with Jane Gray as if they’re betrothed.”
“Perhaps we are,” Kit said hotly.
“Perhaps you’renot,” Heathbrook interrupted with a scowl. “You’re too young for that.” And he wasn’t about to let any of his brothers make the same mistakes he’d made at their age.
“I’m not really betrothed, Heath,” Kit said with a roll of his eyes. Then he glared at Evan. “And at leastIdon’t have my heart set on Miss Uppish Uppington who lives in the estate next to Cousin Yates’s.”
“Watch your mouth!” Evan growled. “What you mistake for uppishness is actually Miss Mariah Uppington’s elegance and her superiority to the likes of Jane Gray.”
Damn. In this at least they were definitely his brothers. “Didallof you leave behind sweethearts in Broadstairs?”
“Not me,” Zack said sullenly. “And I don’t want any, neither.”
“It’seither,Zack,” Evan said. “And for your information, some of usdowant sweethearts, and we’d rather be near them than live in Longmead, cut off from the world.”
That stabbed Heathbrook right through the heart. “We have plenty of beautiful girls in Somerset, you realize.”
Evan stared out the window. “A man can’t change ladies like he changes his clothes, Heath. Or I can’t, anyway.”
Ouch. Nothing like being forcibly reminded of his reputation. And his age. And how long he’d been out of their lives.
A heavy silence fell on the carriage. Heathbrook was considering what else to say when Zack said, “I’mstarving.How much longer until we get there?”