“That when I have made my fortune, I will have my pick of women. Then you will believe that I freely choose you.”
She smiled. “I will not hold you to your promise, my lord.”
“I don’t care,” he returned tartly. “Because I am holding you to yours.” Then he kissed her again, and she reveled in it. Except that she could feel the anger in him still. She didn’t know what to do about it. She had no words to console him. She had long since learned to feel pride in her strengths even if her intelligence, for example, was considered unusual.
He would have to find his own peace with his oddity.
Then he surprised her. He pulled back from their kiss and pressed another one to the tip of her nose.
“No one,” he rasped. “No one will ever disparage you like that again. Not in my presence. Not even my own father.”
His words were illogical. Even as formidable as he was, he could not stop everyone, nor could he see what the future held. And yet, his words warmed her nonetheless. Warmed her until she kissed him as desperately as he seemed to need her.
It was many hours before they returned to the house.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Life progressed veryquickly after that. Jackson spent the bulk of his time with Gwen, helping her learn the art of conversation, and he was proud of how earnestly she worked. Once she’d given her word, she did as he asked with little objection. He saw how difficult it was for her. Conversation was often awkward, but she got better with every dialogue.
Fortunately, his sisters threw themselves into the task as well, dressing up as one character after another as they pretended to be boorish or bad smelling or whatever their inventive minds could make up. Then Jackson took Gwen to meet every single soul in Lincolnshire. He found himself showing her off with pride and was inordinately pleased when she did well with them.
Oddly enough, she was much more at ease with the laborers than she was with anyone else. They spoke about crops or medicinal plants, and she listened closely to whatever their ideas were, even if their opinion was that it was stupid to change a good oat crop to flowers.
A total success—in Lincolnshire. But tomorrow dawn they headed for London and the real test.
“But don’t you want to talk to your father before we go?” she asked Jackson as they strolled one last time through the daffodil garden.
“The man has been drinking since supper. No good can come of a conversation now.”
“I hate being the cause of a rift between father and son.”
“You were merely the catalyst. The reaction would have happened eventually.” He felt proud of himself for using a chemical comparison, and she smiled in acknowledgement. Though her silence told him that he had not made a perfect analogy. He would have to study more if he wanted to keep up with her brilliant mind. Or maybe he would just have to make sure he satisfied her in other ways. In the short five days since their trip to the castle, he had found ways to expand her education in sexual pleasure. If it weren’t for the prune-faced maid who was going to sit with them during the carriage ride, he would have looked forward to their travel. As it was now, he was simply anxious to get it over with.
“I have memorized the facts you gave me,” she said. “Lord Blackstone revels in his military past, Lady Morgan enjoys a fondness for pugs.” She blew out a breath. “I am able to memorize lengthy facts about various plant specimens, but this taxed even my skills.”
He had given her notes on every member of theton.It had taken him years to amass that information and she had memorized it in a few hours. “You amaze me.”
“Just don’t hate me if I fail to take in London.”
“If you stumble, that will be from my mistakes, not yours. And since neither of us is prone to failure, I believe you shall be a complete success.”
She shook her head. “I was less nervous at my first come out.”
“Then allow me to distract you for a time.”
She did. She always did, and it pleased him to feel how easily she allowed him to touch her now. She never flinched anymore. In truth, she tended to lean into his caresses and even initiated many of her own. How far they’d come from the very start.
“In three nights, you will be the belle of the ball.”
“Then I suggest you make sure your distraction techniques last a very long time.”
He grinned. “I will do my best.”
And he did. But even the best seduction techniques faded after a day in a carriage. By the time they arrived in London at the end of the second day, they were both a bundle of nerves. Everything depended on the ball the next evening.
But the moment he stepped out of the carriage at her home, he knew there was a problem. It was early evening during the Season. Gwen’s home should have been quiet as her mother went to parties. Instead, the house was ablaze with lights and at least two coaches were waiting on the street for their owners to return.
“Is your mother hosting an entertainment tonight? Perhaps an intimate supper?”