Lord Greywell's Dilemma by Laura Matthews

seem to have occurred to her that his calling so frequently was with matrimony as his intent.” Sir Edward lifted the bottle of port in his pacing about the room, but he didn’t ring for a glass. With his eyes averted from Greywell, he muttered, “She’s hopelessly naive, you know.”
    “You surprise me. Living in the same house with you . . .”
    “‘Who is so deaf or so blind as is he/ That willfully will neither hear nor see,’” Sir Edward quoted, much to his visitor’s astonishment.
    “Miss Parkstone is obviously aware of your . . . activities. Her sight and hearing don’t appear to be in question.”
    Sir Edward frowned at him. “Her understanding is superficial. Elspeth disapproves of my ‘activities,’ as you call them. She doesn’t like having a lot of half brothers and sisters wandering about the neighborhood, but she feels it’s her duty to see to their welfare. Her annoyance with the whole situation has made her an incredible prude, Greywell. I can’t talk to her about it. I’m her father, for God’s sake. Maybe you could talk some sense to her.”
    Greywell was hastily reviewing his various conversations with Elspeth for some clue that her father was wrong, but everything he remembered only served to substantiate the baronet’s statement. Her confusion was not maidenly modesty; he had realized that at the time. There was a much more painful expression of her agitation whenever any mention of physical intimacy was made. Even her departure had coincided with his remarking on her possible future children, something to which he hadn’t really given a thought. Greywell was still in mourning for his wife; he had no intention of establishing a physical bond with Elspeth—now. But marriage was forever, and especially if Andrew died, Greywell would wish to try for further children. The Foxcott family had not been prolific. If he didn’t provide an heir himself, the title would die out.
    It was only at this point in his reflections that Greywell realized Sir Edward had finished his remarks with the comment about talking sense to Elspeth himself. “You can’t be serious,” he said, his voice chilly. “I’ve just met Miss Parkstone.”
    Sir Edward was exasperated. “You’ve asked her to marry you. I can’t think what further recommendation you need to be the one to enlighten her.”
    “She refused me.”
    “Well, of course she refused you! I’m not saying you should seduce the girl. Just talk with her. Make her understand there’s nothing wrong with intimacy between a man and a woman, at least if they’re married. She isn’t likely to come around if you’re too pristine to talk about it.”
    Greywell, who was deciding again that the whole situation was a farce, stared coldly at his host. “Really, Sir Edward, you haven’t the first notion of decorum, have you? Miss Parkstone would be justifiably upset if I raised the issue with her, and I doubt it would do the least good. Such an aversion isn’t rational, and can’t be explained away rationally. I’m sure with time and patience and affection something might be done to overcome it, but I haven’t the time, I doubt I have the necessary patience, and there is, as yet, no question of affection. I think we would do best to forget the whole scheme.”
    The room was beginning to chill, and Greywell rose from his chair to stand regarding Sir Edward’s back. The baronet stood gazing into the dying embers, his shoulders slightly slumped but his booted feet spread apart in an almost defiant stance. He turned slowly to face Greywell.
    “As you wish, of course. I can’t force you to marry her, or her to marry you. Her mother would have approved of the match, I think. It’s not much of a life for Elspeth, living here with me. She’s an exceptional woman, you know, just requiring the right man to give her enough room to be herself. Though she didn’t inherit her mother’s looks completely, she’s a handsome woman, and she’d look even