“That is not the only way to make money.”
But his father wasn’t to be deterred. Now that he was finally speaking his mind, he would not stop. “Always the odd women with you, strange ideas and ridiculous chances.”
Jackson straightened up to his full height. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Why can’t you do things the normal way? You never listen. Always one wild hair after another, and all because of your women.”
“And by my women, you mean Isabelle and Gwen?”
“You need to find a woman like your mother or my Jenny. A solid woman who settles you and doesn’t encourage you on wild tears. Daffodils! What’s wrong with corn?”
Jackson didn’t answer his father’s tirade. Instead, he turned to her and bowed deeply before her. “Lady Gwen, I apologize for my father. He is in his cups and has forgotten himself.”
Was he? Gwen looked back at the earl. It was true, his eyes did shine bright and there was the unmistakable odor of port. But she doubted that was the real reason for the outburst. Then she turned to see Jackson’s sisters at the base of the stairs, looking on with stricken eyes. They were dressed oddly, but Gwen dismissed it as yet something new she didn’t understand.
But the outrage on the earl’s face and the pain in Jackson’s stiff bearing was something she did comprehend. So she touched Jackson’s arm and tried to gently draw him from the room. He didn’t move at first. Instead, he shot his father a furious glare.
“We will speak of this later,” he said. Then he gave Gwen his arm and together they walked past his sisters and out of the house. They didn’t stop when Camile touched his shoulder or Abigail pulled off a heavy gardening hat and threw it onto a bench. They didn’t even stop when Lady Albury ducked her chin and headed back into the kitchen without saying a word.
They headed out the doors and ended up in his mother’s daffodil garden. It wasn’t until he was standing there among the blossoms that he turned back to her.
“I’m terribly sorry. That was inexcusable.”
“You’ve never seen it before, have you?”
“What?”
“The things men say about odd women.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“Didn’t Aunt Isabelle mention it?”
“Well, of course there are always ignorant people who refuse to take orders from a woman. I was there at her side telling them to shut up or lose their job. I never thought my own father would…”
He shook his head.
“I was engaged for one night, did you know that?”
He jolted. “What?”
“A gentleman in my third season proposed and I accepted. He had a fondness for science, and we got along well. Then I chanced to overhear him speaking with his oldest friend.” She smiled. “I’ve learned to be quiet in rooms and often overlooked. I’ve heard the most interesting things that way.”
“It must have been idiotic, whatever you heard.”
“The exact words don’t matter. Suffice it to say that he said something very similar to what your father said. That I was an odd duck, but my dowry was worth it. His mama would just have to get used to it.”
“Who was this blighter?”
She smiled. “He married someone else two years later and I’m told she’s a terrible shrew.”
“Good. I hope he’s miserable. Saves me from calling him out.”
She touched his face, gently encouraging him to look directly at her. “Jackson—”
“I cannot apologize enough for my father’s abominable behavior—”
“I think he was right,” she said.