Page 36 of The Language of Love

“I was just thinking about my pony. I’m sorry, but you asked me something, didn’t you?”

He cocked his head. “You have a pony?”

“Not anymore. What was it you asked me, Mr. Parker?”

He hesitated slightly before he answered. “I asked why you assumed your cousin was rude to me?”

“Because Percy is rude to everyone.”

His hand tightened on her waist. “Is he rude to you?”

“I am so far beneath his notice I doubt he’s even aware of my existence.”

“What in the world has given him such an elevated opinion of himself?”

“His mother and sisters; they dote on him excessively. What did he say to you?”

“It doesn’t signify, Miss Bowman.”

“I wish you would call me Annis.”

“You do?” Both his dark brows shot up this time. “But wouldn’t that be rather forward?”

“Perhaps, but it would be far simpler.”

“Simpler?”

“There are threeMiss Bowmans currently inhabiting this one room. Besides, I daresay we might be seeing a great deal of you, if his lordship’s interest in Susanna is anything to go by.” She looked pointedly toward where the earl was dancing with her cousin. “That is their second set tonight.”

Parker followed her gaze, his eyes narrowing in a way that made him look fierce. In fact, he looked very much like a portrait of Alexander the Great she’d come across in a Greek history book.

“Ο κατακτητής του κόσμου,” she murmured, studying Mr. Parker’s striking profile.

“Pardon?”

“It means the Conqueror of the World. That is what people called Alexander the Great.”

“Is that right? And what about him?”

“I was just thinking of him. Not that I know him, of course.” Annis bit her lip; how much more dimwitted could she sound?

His hard mouth curled into a slow smile. “I should hope not. He’s been dead for a while.”

“Two-thousand-one-hundred-and-forty years.”

“So, you’ve been reading about ancient Greece today?” There was an amused twinkle in his eyes.

“No, today I was reading about the year 1666.”

“You have eclectic tastes,” he said. “Interesting year—the Great Plague, wasn’t it?”

“And also the Great Fire of London.”

“So, a year for greats, in other words.”

“Don’t you think it must have been an exciting time to live?”

He laughed and the rich, deep sound drew glances from other dancers and observers alike. “Exciting, perhaps, but not very comfortable.”