Page 39 of How to Tempt an Earl

“I’m sitting straight. I don’t like anyone to stand behind my back.”

“Why?”

“A man can attack from behind.”

She made a face. “Imagine you are in a fine dining room, not in the rookeries. No one is going to attack you from behind, especially not a footman. You must accustom yourself.” At his shrug, she continued. “The order of the silver must be observed.” She went over the use of every fork, knife, and spoon. “The footman will clear your plate between each course and serve the next.”

“How many courses?”

“Six, sometimes seven.”

“Torture. I’ll die of gluttony or boredom.”

“Are you going to argue over every detail?”

“Only the ludicrous ones.”

He topped off her glass, and she drank. “You grew up in an earl’s household and must be familiar with everything I’ve told you. You’re jesting with me, aren’t you?”

“I am.” His eyes glinted with humor, somehow making him even more attractive.

“Why?”

He winked at her. “You are easy to tease.”

She frowned again and reached for her glass. “You’re maddening.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You really shouldn’t tease. You should take everything I say to heart.”

“Now it’s my turn to ask why?”

“Because I met your sisters.”

He looked at her in surprise. “You met Ellie and Olivia?”

She experienced a moment of satisfaction that she’d taken him off guard. “I did. They are charming and lovely young ladies.”

“They are.”

For once, he was agreeing with her. “They are nothing like you.”

He let out a bark of laughter.

She sipped her wine. “That was not meant to be a compliment.” She knew she was being horribly rude but couldn’t seem to stop. The truth was she was enjoying herself. As she sipped from her glass of wine—a glass that Ian kept refilling—she began to relax.

“Where did you meet them?”

“At the milliners. I was—” She stopped herself just in time. Good God, she’d almost slipped that she was at the shop to deliver business ledgers to the owner. It had to be the wine loosening her tongue. She hadn’t eaten in hours, and the wine was delicious…and potent.

“You were at the milliners and what?” He was looking at her intently as if trying to read her mind.

She cleared her throat. “I was with my friend, Lady Prudence. We were shopping for hats.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I assumed so if you were at the milliners.”

She shot him an exasperated look. “Your mother, Lady Castleton, arrived with your sisters. Prudence and I have been acquainted with your mother from the Orphaned Children’s Relief Society.”