Page 133 of The Wallflower Takes All
“And if his answers satisfy me?”
Gabriel’s chest tightened. “The decision is yours, of course.”
“How generous.”
“This is not generosity.”
“No?” She left the tray and crossed toward the window. “Lord Rillington vanished when Mama nearly financed an opera. Lord Ketterham wanted quiet. Lord Caldermere is the first man who has not fled, and you arrive before his call to explain that he may be unsuitable.”
Gabriel tugged at his coat. “He may be.”
“He can house Mama. He can pay every creditor. He can keep Algernon from casting us out. He can give me a place no one may take away.” Her voice did not rise. That made the hurt in it sharper. “And still you object.”
“I do not?—”
“Stop.” Poppy put up a hand.
Gabriel had spent the carriage ride building a reasoned argument. It collapsed beneath that one syllable.
Her voice softened. “In what capacity are you telling me this?”
He said nothing.
“As my solicitor?” she asked.
He held her gaze.
“As my friend?”
Still, he could not answer.
She took one step toward him. “Or as the man who kissed me on the sofa the other night and then behaved as though wanting me was an error in judgment?”
The words struck precisely where she aimed them. Gabriel felt the last of his composure fray. “Wanting you was not an error.”
“You said you should not have done it.”
“I meant I should not have allowed my desire to outpace my honor.”
She turned away from him sharply. “Your honor appears remarkably determined to push me into the arms of other men.”
“Because they can offer you what I cannot.”
“A title?”
“Yes.”
“A large house?”
“Yes.”
“A place for Mama and all her foibles?”
His jaw tightened. “Yes.”
“And what do you offer, Gabriel?”
The question hung between them.
