Page 14 of Discovering Her Earl

And the smile was gone instantly.

“We will be in each other’s company for the next two months. Perhaps we should come to an agreement, so the time is not spent in immense irritation,” she offered with a tilt of her head.

“I have been the very picture of gentlemanly behavior.” When the scowl returned with a vengeance, he quickly backtracked in the hope she wouldn’t bury his body on some muddy road on the way to Scotland. “What do you propose?”

“I assure you; I am not attempting to trap you in marriage. In fact, if it were up to me, I would much prefer not to have you accompany me on this journey at all. But since I am to be saddled with you, please refrain from offering empty platitudes or attempting to sway my favor with your relentless efforts to be charming.”

He opened his mouth and shut it, then repeated the process three more times before gathering enough of his thoughts to form a coherent response.

“You actually despise me.” He blinked as a feeling he hadn’t felt since his father was alive slithered over his skin. Disapproval. Rejection.

“Clearly,” she answered and focused on the view out the window as they made their way to the edge of the city. He still had time to abort this mission and run home, away from her judgement and the pain of being found lacking.

But he was no longer a child who ran away from things that troubled him. Especially not irksome women whose opinions didn’t count for anything.

He would not allow her to chase him away from something he truly wanted.

And what he wanted was to go to Egypt.

He needed an adventure before he was leg-shackled to some proper society chit who would bore him into an early grave with discussions of the weather and high fashion.

This expedition would be the highlight of his life. The thing he would look back on and say, “I did something amazing, before I sacrificed my love of adventure to take care of the people who depended on me.”

He leaned closer, resting his hands on his knees so he could look into her eyes with the utmost seriousness.

“Did I personally do something to earn your contempt, or do you hate all men?”

“You truly do not remember me, do you?” Her eyes went wide.

“Should I?”

He realized immediately that his retort wounded her. He should have been pleased. He’d scored a hit after taking a barrage from her. But he was anything but pleased to see the pain cut across her face.

Her eyes glistened and for a moment he worried she might actually cry, but he should have known Miss Bantham wouldn’t succumb to something as mundane as human emotions.

“No. I guess you shouldn’t remember me.”

She pulled the walls up as one would shrug a cloak closer on a cold day.

He allowed her to retreat and tend to the wound he’d unknowingly inflicted. He needed a moment as well. Had they met before? They must have for this was personal for her. He had hurt her in some way and not even realized it.

He was sure enough in his honor to know anything she might have considered an insult could not be so serious. He’d never forced a woman for so much as a kiss, he’d never spread mistruths, he’d never lured an innocent to wickedness.

He was not guilty of any of the horrid sins that happened in the shadows of a ballroom when the ton was otherwise distracted.

He felt sure he had done nothing to injure her, yet he reached out and took her hand, glad he still wore his gloves since she did not. He was sure touching her skin to skin wouldn’t help the situation at all.

“I am truly sorry for whatever I might have done to cause you distress, Miss Bantham.”

She pressed her lips together and looked everywhere but at him for a moment. She put her other hand out on the wall of the carriage as if to steady herself.

Finally, she pulled her hand from his and nodded once.

“Perhaps we should focus on our excavation of the ruins in Scotland.” The smile she offered was strained to the point of breaking, but she held strong and he did something he so rarely did. He offered her a smile as well.

The smile itself wasn’t a rarity for he was hardly without it while in the company of other people. But this pull of his lips was offered with sincerity.

Somehow, she seemed to detect the difference when so many others—even perhaps his best friends—did not.