“Not insufferable?”
“You’re a fascinating speaker. Positively gripping. And I’m sure I would have been enthralled had I bothered to listen.” Oh, crumpets. “Please tell me what you said.”
“No, not even if my life depended upon it.”
***
“I didn’t think it possible,” Ian said, catching up to Gabriel in Lord Hornby’s crowded gaming room later that evening. “You’re afraid of the girl.”
Gabriel stifled a sigh, knowing Ian would not relent in his quest to unearth the latest gossip about him and Daisy. “What girl, Your Grace?”
“Don’t you dare Your Grace me. You’re obviously trying to avoid the question, but you can’t. I’m speaking of Miss Daisy Farthingale, of course. Could I be speaking of anyone else?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t know. By the way, thank you for Desiree. She was every bit as compliant as you indicated. We passed a most pleasant evening.”
“Ah, very cleverly switching the topic of conversation. But it won’t work. I know you spent the night alone at home and not with Desiree. I’m guessing Daisy had everything to do with that surprising decision and I’m now determined to learn everything I can about the girl.”
“That’s easily remedied. Why don’t you ask her to dance?” Gabriel gazed through the double French doors into the Hornby ballroom, which was packed with revelers, the women in crisp satin and jewels, the men in white tie and black formal attire. Strains of a waltz drifted through the hallway toward them. “There she is by the door, chatting with her Aunt Julia and Lord Hornby’s insipid son, Lumley. I’m certain she’d love to be rescued.”
“Not by me. I readily admit to being too cowardly to approach any of the Farthingale girls. Can’t risk being caught up in the whirlwind of marriage.” Ian let out an exaggerated shudder. “No, very happy to observe from a distance. But you’ve actually exchanged bodily fluids with her cousin. Or rather, you were on the receiving end of his little gift.”
“Damn it,” he said, curling his hands into fists to stem his exasperation. “Three-year-old infants have accidents, and I grant you I’d be laughing heartily if it had happened to you.”
“Gabriel, I don’t mean to give you a hard time. It’s just that you seem so calm about your impending... ah, how shall I tactfully put it?”
“Doom? No chance of it. I’ve exchanged nothing but pleasantries with the girl.” That is, if one overlooked the heart-wrenching set down he’d subjected her to the first day they’d met. He still felt terrible about it.
“You’re hiding from her.”
“I am not. If anything, she’s resisting me.” Not that he blamed her.
Unaware of Gabriel’s earlier rough treatment of the girl, Ian chuckled. “What have you asked her to do?”
“Dance. She has refused.”
“That isn’t possible. She’s supposed to be chasing you and you’re supposed to be fleeing. But she’ll catch you anyway.”
Gabriel uttered a silent prayer for this conversation to end. “Neither of us is chasing and neither of us is fleeing.”
“I don’t understand,” Ian insisted with a shake of his head. “You’re cursed. You walked down that street. You’re a marked man. Your bachelor life is about to end, even though you put down a six-month deposit on a charming apartment on Curzon Street for the lovely Desiree.”
Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “Kindly amuse yourself at someone else’s expense. I do not like to be spied upon.”
“I’m just trying to protect you. Now, you say the girl has refused to dance with you?”
“Yes,” Gabriel said with a nod.
“And you asked her?”
He nodded again. “Yes.”
“Nicely?”
“I asked her very nicely.”
Ian shook his head again as though confused. “And she said no.”
“Yes, she said no. The girl is not interested in me. I bore her to tears.” Though she’d delighted him to no end on their ride to Lord Hornby’s.
Ian cast him a painful look. “This isn’t possible.”
“Now you’re the one looking like the deer about to be shot.”
“This is no jest, Gabriel. If you’re not the next victim of the Chipping Way curse, then who is?”
Gabriel grinned broadly. “Perhaps it’s you. Perhaps you were meant to walk down that street, rescue Harry Farthingale, and fall in love with Daisy.”
“Me?” Ian rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Is it possible? But I don’t wish to fall in love with her. She’s the silliest of the lot!”