Page 66 of The Duke on Her List
“You know those scandal writers make up whatever they want,” Gabriel said dismissively. “It’s not as if she went and found them and gave them a report on the nature of our conversation.”
“All right,” Nathaniel said. “But is that the reason she ended things?”
“Yes.” Gabriel took another drink.
He was spreading that story because it was in keeping with what he had promised Agnes he would do. In fact, it was he who had let things slip into the channels of gossip by going into town and making a comment to a shopkeeper in front of a large number of people. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he was doing it deliberately, it would have been intensely foolish behavior.
But he was helped along by the fact that a part of him believed the story might actually be true. He hated to think it, but Agnes had certainly ended things with him forsomereason, and it had happened right after that kiss that he had been so sure was so memorable and significant. She had been ready to put a stop to their involvement the moment that kiss had been over.
Only one of two conclusions was possible. Either the kiss had soured her on the whole enterprise, so that she had lost any interest in their time together, or else she had never had any interest in the first place, and it had always been a logistical affair. She had simply wanted to complete her list, and now she had done that, so there was no reason to drag things out any longer. No reason for the two of them to pretend that things between them mattered any more than they did.
Except that Gabriel wasn’t pretending. Not anymore.
She did matter to him now.
Maybe she’d mattered right from the start, from the moment he had seen her sneaking around his house and decided not toinvolve the authorities. Something had held him back, after all—could it really have been nothing more than how intriguing he found her?
All he knew for certain was that he was devastated to have her out of his life.
He couldn’t let his friends see that, though. He knew what their response would be all too well. First, there would be a rousing round ofwe told you so,which he didn’t want to stomach. And when that was over, they would try to convince him to get her back.
And that would be even worse, because he couldn’t have her back. He knew better than to dream of it. All he could do was try his best to let her go and move on, as sick as it made him feel to do it.
“I always knew you were a bit boring,” Nathaniel said mildly. “But in my experience, ladies like that sort of thing. They like reliability. They like a gentleman they can count on, someone who isn’t going to surprise them or make them guess as to his affections.”
“Well, that may be true of some ladies,” Gabriel said. “But it isn’t true of Agnes. She loves adventure. She likes doing the unexpected.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Jonathan said. “If she wasn’t comfortable with the unexpected, she wouldn’t have chosen toremain unmarried all this time. She wouldn’t be a spinster. Unless it’s because nobody ever asked her.”
“No,” Gabriel said, aware that his tone was unduly sharp. “It isn’t that.”
“All right.” Jonathan’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know.”
“Pay him no mind.” Nathaniel reached for the bottle and poured himself a small measure of scotch. “He’s in a bad mood, that’s all. He’s not really angry at you.”
It was true, so Gabriel didn’t bother to argue even though he didn’t appreciate being spoken for. He sipped his drink instead.
“You know what you should do?” Nathaniel asked him.
“Oh, this ought to be good.”
“It will be. You should get involved with someone else.”
Gabriel stared at him. It was truly the last thing in the world he would have expected to hear. “Why should I do that?” he asked. “You know perfectly well that the only reason I got into this business with Agnes in the first place was to warn people off of trying to make a match with me. You also know that it worked. My reputation has been tarnished here. No one is interested anymore.”
“Oh, they would get interested again,” Nathaniel said, waving a hand at the details. “You know that you could bring them back if you decided you wanted to. All you would need to do would be to present the story that you were devastated by this circumstance. That you had been humbled and that you had utterly learned your lesson. There would be plenty of ladies who would enjoy that little tale. They would come flocking back to you, I have no doubt of it. And then you would have your pick of them.”
“But why would I do that when I’ve just gone through all this in an attempt to drive everyone away from me?” Gabriel frowned. How had his friend arrived at the conclusion that this was a good idea?
“Well, just look at how miserable you are,” Nathaniel said.
“I’m not miserable.”
“Don’t bother with that. We can see that you are. Perhaps you’ve learned that courtship is something that can genuinely make you happy,” Nathaniel said. “Perhaps you’re ready to try it in earnest. I think you should. At the very least, spend some time in society and see what’s out there.”
“I’m only involving myself in society for Helena’s sake. You know that.”
“And you don’t think that Helena could do with a feminine influence on her life?”
