Sir Oliver dropped the book on the desk as if it had burned his fingers. “Bad habit, I’m afraid. I tend to judge a person’s character by the books he reads. Ovid’s Epistles. I’m quite impressed.”
“Don’t be.” James took his chair, ignoring the hand extended over the desk. “It belonged to my father.”
“I see. Well, I hope this is not an inconvenient time to call.”
“It is. I was in the middle of an important meeting.”
“Ah. Then I shall be succinct. I’ve come to discuss the matter of Ivy Fenwick.”
James smiled. “Do you have a complaint to lodge against her? If so, I suggest you put it in writing so that my estate manager can review it at his leisure. Now if that is all,” he said, rising.
“Dash it,” Oliver said forcefully. “I am seeking your permission to court the lady, not complain about her.”
James leaned forward as if Oliver were a fly he were about to flick off his desk. “What?”
“Hasn’t she mentioned me?”
James widened his eyes. “I do not engage in personal conversations about members of my staff with strangers.”
Oliver tapped his finger on the arm of his chair. “No,” he said. “I don’t imagine you would. But I just introduced myself.”
“Unless, of course, she came to me with a problem that required my intervention. That would be a different matter.”
Oliver nodded in understanding. “A problem such as a recalcitrant child?”
“Or the unwelcome advances of an admirer.”
There was a pause. “I imagine it is a common problem inside a house this large.”
James waited for another moment to pass. “It is a problem outside this house, too, I fear. Not even a week ago my governess was accosted on the park grounds.”
Oliver’s eyes glinted; he’d raised his guard. “She told you this?”
James shrugged. “She didn’t have to. I witnessed the offense with my own eyes.”
It was Oliver’s move. He gave a soft laugh. “Perhaps the scene you witnessed looked incriminating, but I assure you it was innocent. We’d had too much wine and were overcome with high spirits on the ride here.”
“My governess did not appear to be in high spirits when she was running from you through the maze.”
“Man-to-man, Your Grace, isn’t ‘offense’ an exaggeration? She resisted one last kiss outside my carriage. It was only mischief.”
He scowled. “Man-to-man, Sir Oliver, I consider Lady Ivy to be an essential person in my household and any offense against her will be regarded as an insult served to me.”
Oliver crossed his knees. “Do you mean that if I want to court her, I’ll have to court you, too?”
“Don’t play with words.”
“It’s what I do. I am a poet. I write pretty words.”
“Keep this up, and the next thing you’ll be writing is your eulogy.”
“She’s only a governess to you, but to me—she is everything. Please give me your approval, and share whatever advice you believe might help my cause. I’m still encountering resistance from her.”
“I’m not giving you my approval because you annoy me, and I have no advice to share on the subject except to say it will have to be a very long courtship, almost a year, so that she can fulfill her obligations to me.”
“But there must be other governesses.”
“Oh, there are,” James said. “The reception room was packed with them. Carstairs might have even retained their names if you’d like to select another one to court.”
“I mean governesses that you could choose from after letting Ivy go.”
James stared at him. “Now why would I want to go through all that rigmarole of interviewing another governess when the children have grown so fond of the one we have? The entire household is passionate about Lady Ivy. We are so passionate about her that we are no longer allowing her a day off.”
At this point James forced himself to stop before he revealed his own passion for Ivy to the presumptuous coxcomb. He rose from his chair, indicating an end to the conversation.
“I have no advice to share, I’m afraid. I am no Casanova. But I do have a steward named Carstairs who will see you to your carriage.”
“Well, I’m not quite finished. I—”
James strode from the room before Sir Oliver could complete whatever irritating statement he had been about to make. If he wanted Ivy so desperately, and she wanted him, then James wouldn’t stand in their way.
Yes, he would.
As he reached the front door, he realized that he couldn’t afford to deceive himself. He would stand against this man like the Cliffs of Dover against a French invasion, and obviously he didn’t have the luxury of the year in which to win her over.