Page 82 of A Well-Trained Lady

I gave a small curtsy as he approached. “Yes. It is too fine a day to stay indoors.”

He glanced around. “May I join you?”

Lady Beatrice and Miss Browning both nodded their agreement, and I offered a hesitant smile. “Please do.” He extended an arm toward me, and I accepted it. “Did you enjoy your morning ride?”

“Yes. Some of the men wished to see Branbury’s property lines, so it took a bit longer than I had originally planned.”

“I did not think I’d see you until dinner, so this is a pleasant surprise.”

He appraised my profile. “Is it?”

“Of course,” I said, feeling that all-too-familiar prick of guilt.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”

We followed Lady Beatrice and Miss Browning in relative silence to the large gardens situated behind the house.

“Miss Godwin, I can’t help but wonder if there is something amiss.”

“Not in the least.”

He paused his steps, causing me to stop also. “And yet I am perplexed by you.”

My chest tightened. “I’m not certain what you mean.”

A smirk came to his lips. “I’m trying to make sense of it myself, though I’m having a difficult time of it.” He heaved a heavy breath. “When we came to retrieve you from Fairhaven, I wasn’t expecting to find you so …”

“Disheveled?”

His laugh boomed, causing Lady Beatrice and Miss Browning to glance over their shoulders at us. “I suppose that is part of it, and yet I’m pleased I glimpsed you in such a state. You stirred something inside of me that day, and I long to witness it again.”

It was then that I noticed the unusual glint in his eyes. It could not be. I wanted no false expectations in a marriage partner. “And here I thought you sought an impeccably-trained lady, my lord.”

“I do. An impeccably trained lady with a spark about her.”

I glanced away, allowing my bonnet to conceal my pained expression. The spark Lord Thorton spoke of had been ignited by a man now gone from my life forever. A spark I was certain he would never be the cause of.

“Miss Godwin, could I speak candidly?”

“Is that not what you have been doing?” I asked, a laugh behind my words to soften them.

“Yes, I suppose I have.”

I drew in a calming breath, setting my gaze on Lady Beatrice and Miss Browning several paces in front of us. “But, by all means, please continue.”

“It is apparent our mothers are quite set on seeing us married.”

My stomach knotted. “Yes. I believe they are.”

“And from what I know of you and your collection of refused offers, your is not so different a past from my own. The only variation seems to be how we go about rebelling. I refuse to offer for the women my mother attempts to throw at me, while you refuse to accept the men your mother thrusts at you.”

Lord Thorton’s reasoning was as good as any I could offer and far preferable to the truth that I’d come to understand at the beach—that my love for Augustus was the actual reason behind every refusal. But Augustus could not be my reason any longer. “And yet it seems you have the upper hand.” I forced a playful smile. “No one knows of how often you disobey your mother’s wishes, while all of the Beau Monde whispers of mine.”

“And that is precisely why I have never judged you for your reputation. I always assumed we were similar in that regard.”

“Yes.” Why did the admission feel so painful? Lord Thorton and I were a suitable match, and I had known it all along.

He hesitated. “And that is also why I believe we should both agree to lower our guards and actually get to know one another. We may soon discover we are as compatible as our mothers believe us to be.”