“I should have walked you safely to the carriage.”
“That’s absurd,” she declared. “It was only across the street.”
She felt him shake his head, his chin rubbing a scratchy trail across her forehead. “It doesn’t matter how close it was, it was my duty to see you safely there. I failed in that.”
A long silence followed in which Sophie gave thought to what he had said and what she might say to make things right again. Finally, she decided on, “Hmm.”
Alex pulled her up by the shoulders to look at her. “What does that mean, ‘hmm’?”
“Oh, nothing,” she responded offhandedly. “I just realized this is one of those silly masculine things.”
Alex rewarded her impertinence with a small smile. “I don’t think you’re allowed to use the words ‘silly’ and ‘masculine’ in the same sentence.”
“Really? How odd I’ve only just now heard of this rule.”
“Well, you have been out of the country for a while.”
“Hmm.”
Alex moved to settle her back against him.
“Alex, I’m much recovered, please let me go.”
“Not quite yet.”
“Now,” she insisted.
He only partially relented, allowing her to remain sitting upright but refusing to let her off his lap. “I can’t understand this sudden aversion you have—”
“It’s not an aversion,” she interrupted. “It’s a matter of employing a little common sense and good judgment.”
“Fine, stop wiggling, sweetheart. I can’t understand this sudden interest in proper decorum. You were perfectly willing to forgo such nuances last night.”
“That was last night.”
“I am trying to understand what has changed between last night and this evening. Have I done something to upset you?”
“No! No, it isn’t that. Truly, I just…We can’t…” She heaved a frustrated sigh and gave up. “We just can’t.”
“Again, I don’t understand.”
“And I can’t explain it to you. I just need you to respect my wishes in this.”
Alex picked her up and reluctantly placed her on the seat across from him. “If this is a game you’re playing, Sophie,” he whispered, “I’m warning you now, you won’t like it when I win.”
Sophie scowled at him. “I’m not playing a game with you. You needn’t become insulting.”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing with all your suitors—Sir Frederick, Lord Verant, and their ilk—playing them for fools?” he asked with a trace of venom.
“I most certainly am not!” She knew he was annoyed by her rejection and was lashing out in reaction, but that didn’t make his remarks any less cutting.
She wasn’t playing with those gentlemen; she had very specific plans where they were concerned. Perhaps plotting and scheming were no more honorable than indulging in a game, but the final results were certainly different. She wasn’t trying to break their hearts or bilk them out of a fortune. She intended to make one of them into a respectable husband. It was a time-honored pursuit amongst unmarried women, and she refused to feel guilty about it. Or, at least, she refused to let Alex make her feel worse about it than she already did. He was wealthy, titled, and a man. The entire world was at his fingertips. He was in no position to judge what she did to survive.
She crossed her arms and stared out the window, pointedly ignoring him.
She heard him grumble to himself. Then shift in his seat. Then grumble some more. “I apologize if you felt insulted.”
“But you’re not sorry for the actual insulting,” she scoffed, turning her head to glare at him.
His forehead furrowed in a combination of frustration and confusion. “I fail to see the difference.”
“You just apologized to me for the way I felt, not for what you said. There is a world of difference, I assure you. Your version of an apology implies that you are in no way responsible for my feelings.”
“I am not interested in arguing semantics with you, Sophie.”
“That’s another evasion. And should you be interested, wars are fought over semantics.”
“I am not at war with you. This is a disagreement, not a battle. And I apologize for insulting you.”
He looked like he wanted to add a sarcastic little “happy now?” to the end of that apology, but to his credit, he held his tongue.
“Thank you,” she replied sincerely, albeit a little primly. “Forgiven.”
“And forgotten?”
“Not yet. I’m not sure I’ve milked it for all it’s worth,” she said with a small teasing smile.
Alex accepted her overture of reconciliation with a smile of his own.
They rode a while in thoughtful silence. Sophie thought of all the ways she could shore up that wall she envisioned earlier between her and Alex.
Alex thought of all the ways he could bring down that wall Sophie seemed so intent on erecting between them.