“My lord,” she huffed out. “Your son is teaching me to give compliments. I am to give one to every soul in this household.”
“That shouldn’t prove difficult. He’s always been adept with a glib tongue.”
“Maybe he has, but I have not. He tells me it must be an honest statement, and so I said it to you.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I know you think his daffodil idea is a mad scheme, but it is a hard thing for anyone to stand against someone as persuasive as your son, myself included. But you have. You are not thwarting him out of hatred or petty jealousy. You are standing firm to protect your family’s assets. Indeed, I believe you have set your life to the careful, conservative management of your finances. That is admirable indeed.” She blew out a breath. That was the longest statement she’d ever made to someone who was not part of her family or interested in botany.
And it was clear that the earl had no idea how to respond to that. He pulled off his glasses and leaned back in his chair. He regarded her with a heavy stare. “And what do you think of his idea?”
She considered her words carefully. “I believe in him and the work he has done. Despite the risk, I have pledged my dowry to his use.”
“What?” the man exploded. His foot—which had been crossed over one knee—dropped heavily against the floor and he leaned forward to bellow. “You are marrying him?”
She leaped back a foot. “No! No, I am giving him my dowry.”
“The devil, you say.”
She had never understood that expression, not knowing whether the speaker was arguing with her statement or with her. Fortunately, she was saved an answer, as Jackson came back into the room. His expression was locked down, but his jaw was clenched tight and so Gwen guessed he wasn’t happy. But about what she wasn’t exactly sure.
“Father, I believe you have startled our guest.”
“No, no,” Gwen rushed to say. “I think I startled him.”
“I’d say she did,” the earl barked. “You are marrying her?”
“No!” she rushed. “I am old enough to manage my own funds—” she began, but no one appeared to be listening to her.
“Would you object?” Jackson said, his voice sounding more like a threat than a question.
“I won’t have it!” his father said as he pushed to his feet. “Bad enough you are destroying your money, but to take a naïve girl’s dowry is heinous.”
Jackson didn’t answer, but Gwen could see his jaw tick in fury. Fortunately, she had the right response now. And she said it before more angry words could flow between the two men.
“What I find heinous,” she said into the silence, “is that you could dismiss my intelligence so completely. That you have no understanding of your son’s integrity. And that you would feign outrage over my dowry when in truth you object to the idea that your son would stoop so low as to marry one such as me.”
Jackson spun to her, his eyes wide. “That’s not what he meant.”
“Try to see this logically,” she said. “If you had come here with a polished lady of thetonand presented her as your bride, he would have embraced me with open arms. He has not. Instead, you have fought night and day over your plans for the daffodils. And now he accuses you of marrying me for my dowry.”
Jackson shook his head. “The fault is between me and my father. It has nothing—”
“Did you argue with him before I came?”
“No, but—”
“Then you can see how my conclusion is sound.” She turned to his father. “You do not approve of me, correct?”
She wasn’t sure he would answer honestly, but in this he was very much like his son. Despite the way his teeth ground together, he spoke the truth. “Jackson has always chosen the right path, seen the right way, but he’s never been smart with women.”
“What?” Jackson gasped.
“You turn their heads, and then they turn yours. It happened with Lady Meunier.”
“Isabelle has nothing to do with anything.”
The earl shook his head. “All the heiresses you could have charmed. Every single one of them an excellent choice for your bride. Instead, you pick a widow who might as well be a man. She dines with bankers, speaks often on how useless men are, even pushes the vote for women.”
“Isabelle is a woman of many opinions, and I learned a great deal from her.”
The earl took a step forward as he glared at his son. “She turned you away from the normal way of things. Find a wealthy woman, marry her, and launch your sisters.”