The Pursuit Of Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page B

sweets. Cassie barely noticed. “I didn’t mean…Regardless.” She released his arm and turned to meet his gaze. “Lord Berkley, I am trying to explain to you that in spite of my brother’s obvious intention of introducing us with an eye toward a future match, I must tell you I am not, well, interested.”
    “Interested?” He narrowed his eyes in confusion. “What do you mean, interested?”
    “In you.” She caught herself. “Oh, I don’t mean you as an individual, I mean you in the broader sense. The type of man you are. I simply have no interest in a man of your reputation.”
    “Infamous?” he said slowly.
    “Exactly.” She nodded and cast him a pleasant smile.
    He studied her thoughtfully. “Most women of my acquaintance find men of a certain nature, dark and dangerous and the like, to be rather exciting.”
    “No doubt women of your acquaintance do, which is exactly why they are of your acquaintance.” She met his gaze directly. “I, however, do not. A man with a reputation for gaming and drinking and consorting with countless numbers of unsuitable women—”
    “Countless?” Surprise sounded in his voice, and he actually appeared pleased. She pulled her brows together. “Surely that does not surprise you?”
    “No. No, of course not.” He tried and failed to suppress a delighted grin. “I was there, after all.”
    She sniffed in disdain. “At any rate, my lord, I am not interested in any man whose life is as fast and loose as yours. I do not find rakes and scoundrels to be the least bit attractive. Furthermore, I have no intention of reforming any man or molding him to my specification. No, I want a man who is already—”
    “Perfect.” Berkley’s eyes narrowed. “That’s what you’re saying.”
    “Nonsense, there is no such thing as a perfect man.” She thought for a moment. “Although I suppose that is what I’m saying.”
    “I see.” His tone was level and noncommittal.
    “I suspected you would. And while you are quite a bit nicer than I had expected,” she drew a deep breath, “you and I simply will not suit.”
    “I see,” he said again.
    “Is that all you have to say?”
    For a moment, she had the oddest hope that he would protest her words. Demand a chance to win her hand. Her heart. It was a ridiculous idea, of course. He was not at all what she wanted in a husband. It was probably nothing more than his infectious laugh or the intriguing nature of his gray eyes that had put such an absurd thought in her head.
    “My dear Miss Effington.” He chose his words with care. “I fear you and your brother have jumped to a far-fetched conclusion of permanence based on nothing more than a request for an introduction and an innocent walk in the midst of a rather substantial gathering.”
    “Oh no, I didn’t think—”
    “Oh, but you did.” His voice was cool, as if he were discussing something of no significance whatsoever. “And as you are a proponent of honesty, under most circumstances, I feel I should be entirely honest with you.”
    “Of course,” she said weakly. As much as she preferred honesty, she wasn’t entirely certain she wanted to hear whatever honesty compelled him to say.
    “You are obviously intelligent and confident in your own nature, qualities I quite admire in a woman. In addition, you are forthright and outspoken. While the tendency to speak your mind is perhaps not as preferable as your penchant for honesty, one never has to guess precisely where he stands in your eyes.
    And that is most beneficial. In that spirit, therefore, I must confess to what you already know.”
    His gaze was calm and unwavering, his voice level and matter-of-fact. The only evidence at all that indicated otherwise was the gleam in his narrowed eyes, eyes that now looked more silver than gray.
    “While you have no desire to marry a man in need of,” he cleared his throat, “reform, I have no desire for a wife with an unyielding view of the world and those in it. I am