“Telling me what to do is not working together.”
“Neither is walking away before I have had a chance to amend my behavior.” Rather than reach for her, he folded his arm across his chest as they faced one another eye to eye. “Who taught you to expect the worst at every turn?”
“I don’t,” she said, though she didn’t sound entirely sure. “I believed in our business idea from the very first. It is a sound idea.”
He acknowledged the point. “Then it is not ideas that disappoint you, but people.”
She swallowed. “You do not know me well enough to say such a thing.”
“Then let us rectify that.” He smiled at her. “Come with me to Lincolnshire. You can work directly with the plants there, I will have time to explain my thoughts in detail, and we can make decisions that will satisfy us both.”
He could see that she was considering it, but he had to wade through her objections. The first was easily dispelled.
“It would not be proper.”
“Bring your maid. That harridan is excellent protection from everything, especially for a woman so firmly on the shelf.”
“Webster does like things proper.” It sounded like she meant Webster made everything excruciatingly painful.
“My sisters will delight in making you comfortable,” he countered.
Her eyes widened in alarm. “Your sisters! But they will want to talk to me about things, and I shall have no time to work with the daffodils.”
“I promise you they will not. They have more hobbies than any ten women and are perfectly content pestering me. If I tell them to leave you alone, they will.”
She didn’t look like she believed him, and truthfully, he prayed he could convince his family to let Lady Gwen be. They would not mean to bother her, but—
“If they are pestering you, then we cannot get anything done.”
“Do you know how to handle your mother such that she leaves you alone? What if Elliott knocks on your door, or Lilah?”
She nodded. “I have a great deal of experience in avoiding them.”
“Then trust that I can handle my family as easily.”
“It’s not easy!”
Neither would it be with his. “But I can make sure everything will go as it ought.”
She sniffed. “It seems I am to trust you in a great many things.”
He shrugged. “What better way to find out if you can rely on me?”
He could see her thinking about it, but in the end, she nodded. “Very well. We can leave after the Season—”
“Today. This afternoon.” He glanced at his pocket watch. “I need to secure the carriage and will be back for you in an hour—”
“Today!” she gasped. “You cannot be serious. I cannot up and fly to Lincolnshire as if I were popping around to the milliners.”
He took a breath and released it with care. “My lady,” he said slowly. “You must choose. Do you think our business idea a good one?”
She nodded. “I have said so.”
“Then do you wish to do everything you can to make it a success?”
“Of course!”
“Then you cannot be forever walking away, saying no, and throwing up obstacles. Fortunes do not land in anyone’s lap without discomfort and hard work.”