Page 21 of Marriage Most Scandalous
“You were trying to make me laugh? I should warn you, then. I don’t.”
“Rubbish. Everyone laughs. It’s human nature. Can’t be helped.”
“So now I’m not human?”
Margaret gritted her teeth. Odious man. And her appetizer hadn’t even arrived yet. This was going to be the longest dinner of her life, she was sure.
In an effort to put the conversation on a proper track, she remarked, “I expected John and Timothy to join us. They weren’t hungry?”
“On the contrary,” he replied. “But being back in England has had a profound effect on John. Etiquette demands he take his meals with the rest of the servants now. He is my valet, after all.”
“I gathered he was more than that.”
“Indeed, he and I have been through a lot together. But there’s no point in arguing with him. It’s not just England, it’s this house. Reminds him of tradition and all that rot. Back in the fold, as it were.”
“You don’t sound happy that he has reverted to form,” she commented.
“I’m not, but you couldn’t drag him in here with a horse. And the boy takes his cue from John.”
Margaret wasn’t happy with John’s desertion either. It meant she’d be sharing a lot of meals with Sebastian—alone. She couldn’t even invite other guests, not while he remained incognito. She could hope that he wouldn’t have to stay hidden for very long. Or she could make an effort to get along with him, despite her dislike. Familiarity breeds indifference, as it were. Not bloody likely, with him.
“By the by, why didn’t you want a come-out?” he asked.
Margaret stared at him, wondering how long he’d been mulling that over, to finally ask. There were a lot of circumstances responsible for her current single state, some of them common knowledge that he wouldn’t know about due to his long absence. She saw no reason not to tell him.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t want one,” she said. “But when the time was ripe for one, I was still in mourning. I’d just lost my father. I was living in a new home with your father. By the time my mourning period had ended, I had decided I could do without a husband. After all, I’d witnessed the heartache of love gone awry in my sister’s case. And having watched your brother and sister-in-law go at it tooth and nail, as it were—well, not a very good recommendation for marriage, that.”
“Admit it. You declined a come-out because you think no one will have you.”
Was he making an effort to tease her, or did he really think that? It was impossible to tell with him. But it was probably the latter. She doubted the man knew how to tease anymore.
So she snorted. “Rubbish. And I wasn’t finished.”
“You really decided not to marry?”
“For a brief time I actually did. Those were just the thoughts of a young girl, though. I simply wasn’t old enough yet to decide the matter maturely. But by the time I came to my senses and realized I was being silly to be deterred from marriage by my sister’s broken heart and your brother and his wife’s constant bickering, I was a bit past the prime for a come-out.”
“For God’s sake, you’re only twenty-three. You haven’t passed anything.”
“Allow me to know what I’ve passed or not,” she replied a bit stiffly.
He sat back, said casually, “I find it hard to believe that in all these years you haven’t been courted. Have all the young bucks left the neighborhood?”
“Not a’tall. I’ve been courted to distraction.”
“And none would do?”
“A few might have, but I suppose I’ve set my standards a bit high. The choice is mine, you see. Were my father still here, he probably would have made some recommendations and I probably would have agreed with him. By having the choice to m’self, I find no need to hurry.”
“Then you’ve chosen to be an old maid?”
She gritted her teeth. The insults were piling up. “Really, Sebastian,” she said dryly, “you shouldn’t strive to be so charming.”
“Yes, I know. Bad habit.”
She almost laughed. But that would encourage him to make more outlandish remarks, so she restrained herself.
“As it happens, I’m still being courted,” she told him primly.
