“Do I look all right? Honestly, I could scream.” She began to pace back and forth in front of him, looking proud and determined, yet at the same time heartbreakingly fragile. “Lord Guilfoil is an utter dolt. They’re all dolts, and they hate me for my heinous crime.”
He arched an eyebrow in question. “I never took you for a criminal. What did you do?”
“Applied for membership in their Royal Society.” She stopped pacing to pin him with a glare. “Don’t tell me you agree with those wooly mammoths.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Not I. Did I give you that impression? Were I a member, I’d cast my vote for you.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded. “We’re not as stodgy up in Scotland. In fact, we have many female members in our historical and scientific societies. Several also serve as directors on our society boards.”
“They do?” She gazed at him with longing. “I wish it were the same here.”
He wanted to reach out and swallow her in his arms, but knew she’d resent it. Lily was the sort of girl determined to stand on her own. He liked her all the more for it. “It will be in time. Soon, I’m sure. And you’ll be the one to lead the way.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cameron. I appreciate your attempt to cheer me, but I don’t think anything will work just now. I’m so angry I could spit. I have only myself to blame. I knew it would happen, but I couldn’t help myself. That’s my failing... one of my many. I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut.”
“Nor should you, lass.”
She cast him the softest smile. “That isn’t what my family says. Well, most of them. Not my father or Uncle George. They’re not afraid of my brain. Everyone else is. My mother thinks I’ll die an old maid, that any man who spends more than a few minutes in my company will run off screaming.”
“I haven’t.”
She shook her head and laughed. “What does that say about you?”
He wasn’t certain. Hadn’t really given it much thought. In truth, he’d been worried for her safety in that hall, a slip of a girl standing alone and defiant, surrounded by a crowd of men who somehow felt their masculinity threatened by this innocent.
“By the way, where’s Jasper? I half expected to find him out here waiting for you.”
“I left him at Lotheil Court. He must have chewed the legs off several priceless chairs by now.” He called over a flower girl who happened to be strolling by with a basket of violets and purchased a bouquet. “Here, Lily. I know they’re just flowers, but I can’t think of anything better to cheer you. Well, that isn’t quite true. I considered slamming my fist into that idiot Guilfoil’s nose.” He would have pounded his fists into any man who attempted to touch her.
“So did I. It wouldn’t have helped. We would have been tossed out and banned from ever stepping foot inside there again.”
“Who cares?”
“I do,” she said quietly, her pretty lips quivering as she struggled to hold back tears. “I love the lectures. The science and discovery. I wish they’d allow me to be a part of it. This isn’t the first time I’ve been shouted down at the Royal Society.”
Once again, he was struck by the urge to take her into his arms. Of course, he couldn’t act on it. Wouldn’t act on it. “Still doesn’t make it right, lass.”
“I suppose not. Thank you for these.” She held up the bouquet of violets and graced him with a smile as spectacular as a smooth, well-aged scotch. Ewan felt that cannonball shoot straight to his heart, the force of her sweet innocence almost dropping him to his knees. “No one’s ever given me flowers before.”
He was glad to be the first and felt surprisingly possessive about it. About her. No, not her. He wasn’t interested in women... rather, he wasn’t interested in nice women, at the moment. He was in London because of the damn promise he’d made to his father. Once he’d fulfilled his duty, he’d head back to Scotland.
That’s where he belonged. Not here. Not losing his mind and handing this lovely slip of a girl a handful of violets. Bloody hell, what was wrong with him? In time, the girl would forget the gesture. Despite what she thought, he knew she would have a steady stream of admirers through her parlor.
He shifted uncomfortably. The notion troubled him. He couldn’t understand why. It just did.
Lily gazed at him with those soft, blue eyes of hers. “Mr. Cameron, you may not look the part of a proper gentleman, but you are one. Thank you for making me feel... no longer miserable.”