“I need to ask the ladies for help. Am I invited to dinner?”
Littleton gave a knowing nod. “Naturally. I’ll see you then.”
Gavin attempted to use the time to formulate a series of questions to pose, but it all came down to one: How did he get her to agree to marry him?
Fortunately, he arrived as tea was being served. He bowed to the ladies, and Lady Littleton ordered something more substantial to be brought.
He’d no sooner taken a sip of tea when the duchess asked, “Have you kissed her yet?”
Gavin swallowed in a hurry. “No. I mean, of course not. We aren’t betrothed.”
“Slow top,” her grace mumbled into her cup.
That wasn’t at all fair, and he had almost kissed her. “But what if she doesn’t want to kiss me?”
“In that case, my boy,” Lady Featherton said, “you had better look elsewhere for a wife.”
Good Lord. Nothing he’d done was right. “You think she wants to kiss me?” Three pairs of eyes, brows raised, stared at him. “I—I did not think she would kiss me if we were not betrothed.”
“Gavin, my dear boy,” Lady Littleton said. “I shall tell you about the first time Adeline considered that Littleton might want to marry her. Naturally, this is between the four of us.” Gavin nodded encouragingly. “They were at some garden party and somehow she and my son were alone. He brushed his lips against hers. She told him that he should not kiss her, and he said he knew.”
Why hadn’t he heard that story? Not that a gentleman should tell anyone about kissing a lady. “You think I should kiss her lightly?”
Her ladyship gave him an exasperated look. “I think that you should begin the kiss, and see where it leads.”
He glanced at her grace and Lady Featherton. Both of them nodded.
“I’m dining there tonight.” He offered the information hoping they would give him more of an idea when he should kiss Georgie.
“No, not in the house.” Lady Featherton held her cup out for more tea. “Pick a place where it does not look as if you have to hide.”
“We will most likely go riding tomorrow.”
“Without a groom?” the duchess asked.
“No. Johnson is always with us.” And there was no way that Littleton would let Gavin go off with Georgie without a groom.
“Is there not a garden party at the Turners’?” Lady Littleton asked.
He raked his fingers through his hair. “I have no idea.”
“Lord help me,” the duchess groaned. “Cristabel, do you not have the schedule?”
“I do.” She went over to a desk tucked in the corner of the room. “And I made a copy in the event we required it.” She took out a piece of foolscap and handed it to him. “It is always a good thing to know what is being planned.”
Much to his chagrin, he felt like a child again. “Thank you, my lady.”
“It is my pleasure. Once I see you settled I can look forward to even more grandchildren. Even if yours are not of my blood.”
He held the list out to her. “No, take that and make note of any opportunities you can contrive to kiss my granddaughter.”
Somehow he got the feeling that this wasn’t the first time she had done something like this. “I shall follow your advice.”
“It’s about time,” her grace muttered.
Gavin finished his tea and suppressed the need to dash from the room. With any luck, his valet would have brandy in his chambers. He was grateful for their advice, but it was a bit overwhelming. Especially the part about kissing Georgie. Not that kissing her wasn’t exactly what he’d been wanting to do for months, but that her grandmother and the duchess were so adamant that he do so soon.
He strode into his parlor and his valet handed him a glass of brandy. “How the devil did you know I’d need this?”
Ardley cleared his throat. “A footman stands at the door of any room her ladyship is occupying in the event she might want something. He overheard what the duchess said, and sent up the brandy with a message.”
Gavin downed half the goblet. “Good God, don’t tell me the servants gossip.”
“Not outside of the house, my lord.” His valet straightened up a desk that did not need straightening. “Lady Littleton is particularly kind and pays very well. They would never betray her.” Ardley finished and straightened. “Shall I order a bath?”
“Yes, please. I am dining at Littlewood.”
“Very good, my lord.” He helped Gavin rid himself of his jacket.
Drat, he’d forgotten all about the frippery. “There is a length of red ribbon in the tail. Please put it in the jacket I’ll wear this evening.”
“As you wish. If you need anything else, I shall be in the dressing room.”
“Thank you, Ardley.”
“You are quite welcome, my lord.”
The door closed and Gavin paced the room. He’d not even spent enough time here to notice it more than in passing. It was a large parlor that had windows on two sides. He wandered over to one set of windows near the corner of the room and looked out. In the distance he could see one of the top towers of Littlewood peeking through the trees. Georgie was there, and he wished he was with her. That wanting brought him back to his conversation with the ladies. Why had he not kissed her? Just a brush across the lips. Lord knew he’d been wanting to do it for months. But he’d convinced himself that he should not kiss her until they were betrothed. But Littleton had kissed Adeline and, according to the ladies, it had aided his case. Gavin perused the paper he still held in one hand.
Garden party
Informal dance
A ride to ruins
Ball
He knew from catching snatches of conversation that there was an extensive wood on the estate. Some of it was planned with benches, ornamental sculptures, and a path to a lake. Perhaps he and Georgie should take a stroll. He should be able to find a place to steal a kiss. On the other hand, part of him was afraid she would reject him. Then it might be as Lady Featherton had said. She was not for him, and he should look elsewhere for a wife.
He didn’t like that idea at all. He tossed off the rest of the brandy. Well, he wouldn’t know until he tried.
Chapter Twenty
Georgie paced the parlor she had been given. She’d been happy and satisfied with the day until just a little while ago. Turley had seemed more at ease, and she certainly had been easier around him at the market. But now she wondered why she and Turley had not spoken more in Town. Did no one have normal conversations there? She shook her head. It wasn’t that. Frits and Adeline had fallen in love there. As had Dorie and Exeter. What was wrong with Georgie that she and Turley had not done so? Was it the whole bit about him not wishing to love his future wife? But if that was the case, then why were they more open now? Was he falling in love with her? How would she know? After all, she had thought he loved her before his disastrous proposal.
Georgie poured a glass of wine from the cut-crystal decanter that had been left on a small table, took a sip, and stopped. She had never before been given wine in her room to drink. Naturally, her mother and grandmother had wine in their parlors, but she was apparently too young and unmarried. Just having it in her room made her feel older and more mature. She would have to remember to thank her maid or whoever had brought it.