He was behaving perfectly gentlemanly, and she couldn’t determine why she didn’t trust him or his behavior.
She clambered into the coach and took her place on the seat beside Lady Anne while Weddington climbed inside and sat opposite her. With his walking stick, he rapped the ceiling of the coach, and the conveyance lurched forward.
“I’m so pleased you’re joining us this evening,” Lady Anne said. “I do so love the opera.”
“Then you shall miss it when you marry your commoner,” Weddington said.
Kitty smiled although she doubted it was visible within the shadowy confines of the coach now that the door had been closed, effectively cutting off most of the light, except for that which sneaked in through the windows. “Are you engaged, Lady Anne?”
“Hardly. Although I am quite taken with a gentleman.”
“Only taken with him?” Weddington asked. “The last I heard he’d captured your heart for all eternity.”
“Don’t be difficult, Richard.”
Kitty was amazed by the obvious affection in Weddington’s voice as he verbally sparred with his sister, the affection in hers as she parried back. She didn’t know what possessed her to cast herself into the fray. “Do you not believe in love, Your Grace?”
“I believe in it wholeheartedly, if you’ll forgive my pun. I am also of the conviction that women give it away far too easily, before they’ve considered all the ramifications.”
“So you believe one should shop for love as one might consider a new evening gown?”
“More along the lines of purchasing a new pair of gloves, I should think, where the snug fit is as important as the appearance.”
“Perhaps it has failed your notice, but the bodice of an evening gown may fit just as snuggly.”
“I promise you, Miss Robertson, the snug fit of your bodice did not fail to garner my notice. However, you did not specify the bodice, but rather the entire gown. It is the skirt which I believe completely fails your analogy.”
“On the contrary, Your Grace, it allows freedom, which I believe is essential to the success of love. Gloves can be quite confining; my fingers often become numb before the evening is done. I should hardly welcome your concept of love, and I fear you will have little luck in securing a woman who does.”
His laughter rumbled through the coach, a sonorous echo that pleased her for reasons she couldn’t begin to fathom. It was a sound much deeper, much richer than any laughter Farthingham had ever engaged in. As though Weddington saved his for special moments, which made it so much more precious, while Farthingham shared his with casual abandon.
Lady Anne had begun to clap. “That was marvelous, Miss Robertson. I do believe you’ve met your match, Richard.”
“I doubt that not for a moment, Anne.”
Lady Anne placed her hand on Kitty’s arm. “Most women say very little to Richard for fear in opening their mouths and wagging their tongues, they’ll lose favor.”
Losing his favor was exactly what Kitty had hoped to accomplish, but she was left with the impression that she’d failed miserably. “I take it, then, that you’ve never held a woman’s heart, Your Grace.”
“What would it take to hold yours, Miss Robertson?”
His question hardly served to answer hers, and she wondered why she’d thought Lady Anne’s presence would protect her. His voice shimmered with memories that united and divided them. If she claimed that Lord Farthingham held her heart, would Weddington then ask why she’d met him at dawn? What would he reveal in front of his sister, what would he keep secret?
“That is a complicated question, Your Grace, not easily answered. I don’t have a list of attributes that I can check off to ensure that a gentleman gains my favor.”
“And what of you, Anne?”
Although he’d asked the question of his sister, Kitty could feel his gaze riveted on her.
“It’s intangible, more of a sensation of belonging together, I should think.
She clambered into the coach and took her place on the seat beside Lady Anne while Weddington climbed inside and sat opposite her. With his walking stick, he rapped the ceiling of the coach, and the conveyance lurched forward.
“I’m so pleased you’re joining us this evening,” Lady Anne said. “I do so love the opera.”
“Then you shall miss it when you marry your commoner,” Weddington said.
Kitty smiled although she doubted it was visible within the shadowy confines of the coach now that the door had been closed, effectively cutting off most of the light, except for that which sneaked in through the windows. “Are you engaged, Lady Anne?”
“Hardly. Although I am quite taken with a gentleman.”
“Only taken with him?” Weddington asked. “The last I heard he’d captured your heart for all eternity.”
“Don’t be difficult, Richard.”
Kitty was amazed by the obvious affection in Weddington’s voice as he verbally sparred with his sister, the affection in hers as she parried back. She didn’t know what possessed her to cast herself into the fray. “Do you not believe in love, Your Grace?”
“I believe in it wholeheartedly, if you’ll forgive my pun. I am also of the conviction that women give it away far too easily, before they’ve considered all the ramifications.”
“So you believe one should shop for love as one might consider a new evening gown?”
“More along the lines of purchasing a new pair of gloves, I should think, where the snug fit is as important as the appearance.”
“Perhaps it has failed your notice, but the bodice of an evening gown may fit just as snuggly.”
“I promise you, Miss Robertson, the snug fit of your bodice did not fail to garner my notice. However, you did not specify the bodice, but rather the entire gown. It is the skirt which I believe completely fails your analogy.”
“On the contrary, Your Grace, it allows freedom, which I believe is essential to the success of love. Gloves can be quite confining; my fingers often become numb before the evening is done. I should hardly welcome your concept of love, and I fear you will have little luck in securing a woman who does.”
His laughter rumbled through the coach, a sonorous echo that pleased her for reasons she couldn’t begin to fathom. It was a sound much deeper, much richer than any laughter Farthingham had ever engaged in. As though Weddington saved his for special moments, which made it so much more precious, while Farthingham shared his with casual abandon.
Lady Anne had begun to clap. “That was marvelous, Miss Robertson. I do believe you’ve met your match, Richard.”
“I doubt that not for a moment, Anne.”
Lady Anne placed her hand on Kitty’s arm. “Most women say very little to Richard for fear in opening their mouths and wagging their tongues, they’ll lose favor.”
Losing his favor was exactly what Kitty had hoped to accomplish, but she was left with the impression that she’d failed miserably. “I take it, then, that you’ve never held a woman’s heart, Your Grace.”
“What would it take to hold yours, Miss Robertson?”
His question hardly served to answer hers, and she wondered why she’d thought Lady Anne’s presence would protect her. His voice shimmered with memories that united and divided them. If she claimed that Lord Farthingham held her heart, would Weddington then ask why she’d met him at dawn? What would he reveal in front of his sister, what would he keep secret?
“That is a complicated question, Your Grace, not easily answered. I don’t have a list of attributes that I can check off to ensure that a gentleman gains my favor.”
“And what of you, Anne?”
Although he’d asked the question of his sister, Kitty could feel his gaze riveted on her.
“It’s intangible, more of a sensation of belonging together, I should think.
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