Elizabeth Mansfield by A Very Dutiful Daughter Page B

I make you uncomfortable, but I know no other way to learn to understand you. Why did you not wish to ride with me today?”
    “I should think the answer to that would be evident,” Letty said, matching his directness with her own. “People in our … situation do not usually seek out each other’s company, do they?”
    “By ‘our situation’ you are no doubt referring to the fact that I am your rejected suitor. I can perfectly understand your reluctance to accept me as a husband, Miss Glendenning, but does it necessarily follow that I am unacceptable as a friend as well?”
    She looked up at him candidly. “As a friend, my lord? Is that your purpose in seeking me out? To develop a friendship between us?”
    “Yes,
one
of my purposes. Why not?”
    “I know that friendships between men and women do exist, but I can’t believe they can come about after such a beginning as ours,” Letty said skeptically.
    “I don’t think there are any immutable rules governing the conditions in which friendships can develop,” he pointed out reasonably.
    “Perhaps not, but in our case, there are … certain blocks …”
    “Such as?” he asked intently.
    She lowered her eyes. “Such as a feeling of discomfort … about the past.”
    “But I assured you last night that we need think no more about the past. I promise to avoid thesubject of marriage completely—at least until or unless you give me leave to reopen it. Doesn’t that dispense with the embarrassment of the past?”
    Letty, intensely aware of a greater embarrassment by far than his rather uninspired proposal, did not answer.
    “Doesn’t it?” he insisted, looking at her closely.
    She knew that a negative answer would prompt closer inquiries, and a positive one would be tantamount to giving him permission to pursue their relationship. Either course of action would give her pain. How like him to place her in this untenable position!
    Before she could decide what to say, he abruptly steered the horses to the side of the road and brought them to a halt. He threw down the reins and turned to her, grasping her shoulder and turning her so that she had no choice but to face him squarely. “Letty, let’s be honest with each other,” he said earnestly. “I know that I thrust upon you an unwanted proposal of marriage and that I’ve said or done something that offended you. But please believe that I wish nothing more than to make amends.”
    Letty raised her eyes and looked at him levelly. “That is not honest. It’s your
mother’s
wish, not yours.”
    Roger dropped his hold on her and stared in astonishment. He had not expected quite so much honesty as that. “My mother’s wish?” he asked awkwardly.
    “Your mother’s and my aunt’s,” she said calmly.
    Roger smiled ruefully and rubbed his chin. “That’s a leveler,” he admitted. “You have me there.”
    “Then there isn’t any more to be said, is there? I think you’d best turn the horses around and take me home.”
    “No, not quite yet, young lady,” Roger said, undaunted. “There is still a great deal to be said. I admit that, at first, my interest in you was inspired by my mother. But since last night, my interest has needed no outside prodding. In fact, I’ve been wishing that both your aunt and my mother would, in future, stay out of our affairs. I hope you believe me.”
    “It makes no difference whether I do or not,” Letty told him bluntly. “A friendship between us is impossible in any case.”
    Roger shook his head. “If we were to be completely honest, my girl, we’d admit that even the things we’ve just been saying are nothing but subterfuge and nonsense. There can be only
one
real barrier to a friendship between us.”
    “Oh?” Letty couldn’t resist asking. “And what’s that?”
    He took her chin in his hand and tilted up her face. “That you hold me in dislike,” he said simply, his eyes fixed on her. “Only tell me
that,
and I shall disturb you no