But Drew whispered behind her, “He thinks you’re teasing, but I actually wish you weren’t. Pirates aren’t virgins and don’t give a damn about convention, so you could prove you really are one by spending the night with me.”

Gabrielle’s blush was immediate. But when she turned to rebuke Drew, she almost gasped, seeing his expression. There was such heat in his eyes, as if he were already imagining her in his bed. And, good heavens, she started to do the same thing. Her stomach wasn’t just fluttering now. Her whole body felt warm and as if it were trembling! She put her hand on her chest to try to contain the pounding there.

Behind her, Georgina was telling Rosalyn and Anthony about some of the parties she intended to take Gabrielle to over the next couple of weeks. But Anthony must have noticed the interaction between Gabrielle and Drew, because he remarked, “It shouldn’t take long to find her a husband. She seems to find the men in London agreeable, even the American ones.”

Hearing that, Georgina looked curiously at her brother, then her eyes flared slightly and she asked him,

“You’ve been behaving, haven’t you?”

He gave her a boyish smile. “Don’t I always?”

Georgina snorted. “No, you don’t. But see that you do, henceforth.” He rolled his eyes at her, as if she were making something out of nothing, but Gabrielle was very aware of the hand he put on her waist to turn her back toward his relatives. It was a very casual touch to anyone who might have noticed it, but not to her. She felt the slight squeeze of his fingers just before he let go.

Wilbur Carlisle had to say her name twice to gain her attention. She’d been too busy wondering why Drew had just touched her in what was a distinctly possessive manner to notice that her next dance partner had arrived to claim her. Had Drew seen the young gentleman approaching and touched her like that just to make a subtle point? Wilburdid glance at Drew a bit curiously. No, she was being silly and making something out of nothing herself.

She gave Wilbur a bright smile and her full attention. Now, here was a nice chap. If she had to make a choice immediately, she would choose Wilbur as a husband. He was handsome, amiable, and witty. She could find no fault with him, other than he didn’t make her stomach flutter the way Drew did. She’d met him last night at Regina’s and had enjoyed their brief conversation. He’d even made her laugh several times, something none of the other men she’d met so far had tried to do. She was pleased that he was there tonight so she could get to know him a little better. Without a doubt, he was the most handsome of the gentlemen who had flocked to sign her dance card as soon as she arrived. Not as handsome as Drew, of course, but…Good grief, she had to stop thinking of philandering rakes like Drew Anderson and keep her mind focused on the men who were as interested in marriage as she was.

Chapter 14

GABRIELLE GOT VERY LITTLE SLEEP THAT NIGHT.Rolling through her mind repeatedly and keeping her awake was Drew’s remark. Prove she was really a pirate by spending the night with him.

She should have been scandalized. But she wasn’t. When she took the time to think about it after she got home, she was too pleased by what she’d read between the lines—he wanted her. And what a remarkable effect that knowledge had on her. One moment she felt so excited she became almost giddy, and the next moment she experienced the deepest despair. Because she couldn’t do anything about Drew’s desire for her. Nor would he.

Margery woke her the next morning earlier than she would have liked. She almost shooed the older woman out so she could get a few more hours’ sleep, but she remembered that Margery hadn’t been home much the last couple of days. She had many old friends in London she wanted to visit. So now would be a good time to talk to her and get her opinion on her prospective suitors, in case Margery was going out again today.

“Help me figure out which qualities I should be looking for in a husband,” she said as Margery riffled through her wardrobe to pick out her day dress.

“Just use your common sense, girl,” Margery said, and held out two dresses. “The pink or the blue?”

“The pink,” Gabrielle replied without glancing at the dresses. “But common sense doesn’t really tell me what to look for, it merely helps me determine what I find agreeable about a man after I meet him.” Margery tsked. “Kindness, tolerance, patience, honor, compassion—”

“Wait!” Gabrielle threw up a hand. “Some of those qualities aren’t going to be obvious or come to light easily. I could know a man for years and not find out if he’s honorable or not. Or is there a way to tell that I’m not thinking of?”

Margery tossed the pink dress on the bed, then moved to the bureau to fetch some underclothes.

“You’re asking me if there’s a way to find out if a man has honor? Lord love you, lass, if I knew how to do that, I’d bottle it and sell it.”

Gabrielle sighed. “What else should I be looking for?”

“Your personal preferences, of course.”

“You mean like a good sense of humor? I’d really like that in a husband.”

“And?”

“A fine physique. I’m partial to that.”

Margery rolled her eyes. “No, you’re not. That Millford heir had a rotund gut to go with his handsome face.”

“Only a slight one and let’s not mention that snob,” Gabrielle said indignantly, then gasped, “Snobbery, of course! I won’t tolerate that!”

“What else?”

“A sallow complexion won’t do. I swear, half the men I’ve met here look like ghosts, they’re so pale.” Margery chuckled. “And how would you know what a ghost looks like, eh?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be discounting complexions, girl. Stick a man out in the sun for a few days and that takes care of that, don’t it?”

“True.”

“Have you started that list, then, that you were thinking of making?”

“That’s what I’m doing now.”

“Well, don’t be making this husband hunt more difficult than it is by listing a whole slew of names. You want a few choices, not a headache sorting them out. How many are you starting with?”

“Just a few,” Gabrielle replied, then frowned. “I think you’re right, though. These other two men I was going to put on the list, I’m not really interested in. And that leaves just Wilbur Carlisle for now.”

“You like him?”

“He’s almost too perfect,” Gabrielle replied with a frown. “There’s nothing about him not to like.” Margery chuckled. “Don’t you dare find fault with that, Gabby, so get that frown off of your brow and remember you’ve only been to two parties so far.”

Gabrielle grinned. “I know. Georgina has assured me there are many more men for me to meet. But I hope Wilbur will come by so you can have a look at him. I’d like your opinion—”

“All right, but my opinion won’t matter one bit and it shouldn’t,” Margery said. “Because you’ve already answered your own question, haven’t you? You know exactly what you want in a man. So go ahead and make your list, but trust your heart in the end.”

Margery said no more on the subject and helped her to dress as she did each morning, then went off for a cup of tea while Gabrielle sat down at the vanity to fix her hair in the simple coiffure she preferred for daytime. But Margery’s last remarks stuck in her mind, in particular, that she already knew what she wanted in a man. It struck her as odd that she’d saidman, rather than husband, but she didn’t find it odd at all that the only name that came to mind for aman was Drew. And back came the giddiness, and the despair, that had kept her awake so long last night.

But remembering how good it had felt when he’d held her in his arms while they’d danced, she soon began thinking about ways she might get around her own objections to him—and overcome his. Her main, no, really her only objection to getting involved with Drew was that he was a sailor, and that was an objection because she didn’t want to spend her life pining away at home, month after month, waiting for her sailor to come home, just as her mother had done.It was pointless to love a man who loves the sea. That advice had been drummed into her since she was a child, and she’d taken it to heart. But that was before she’d gone to sea and discovered that she loved to sail. So where was it written that she had to stay at home and let her man go off to sea alone? Why couldn’t she live at sea with her husband?

As soon as that thought occurred to her, the despair was gone, leaving only the giddiness. His objections to getting involved with her were minor. So he didn’t want to get married. Maybe he onlythought he didn’t. And maybe that was because he’d never had a reason to give marriage serious consideration.

She could give him that reason, if she’d stop pushing him away with every other word out of her mouth.

But she’d have to circumvent his own agenda first.A sweetheart in every port. That phrase was so very—annoying. She didn’t doubt he would have tried to make her his sweetheart in his English port if she weren’t actively seeking a husband. His outrageous remark about spending the night with her implied that he would.

The same thoughts followed her around the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. They were going to the theater tonight, but that didn’t distract her either. It was a new play, so even James would be attending. Which meant Drew wouldn’t have to escort her and Georgina. She wasn’t sure if she’d see him at all today, but she was anxious to find out if it was even possible to get rid of the antagonism that had grown between them.

It was actually a relief when Richard showed up to check on her that afternoon, not because she was glad to see him, which she was, but because she knew he would take her mind off of Drew, and he did that quickly enough with just his attire. She barely recognized him!

“Look at you!” she exclaimed when she came downstairs to find him in the entry hall, and gave him a big hug.

Richard was dressed as finely as any young lord. He’d even cut his black hair, or it appeared that he had, until he doffed his hat and his braid tumbled down his back.

“You’ve been shopping,” she continued.

“One of us had to, if we are going to keep coming to this end of town to check on you, and Ohr refused to go anywhere near a suit. So, have you found us a husband yet?” She laughed. “Us?”

“Well, we have a vested interest, don’t we? If you’ve got your husband picked out by the time Nathan gets here, then we can head home right after the wedding, and I don’t mind telling you, the less time I spend here the better.”

She raised a questioning brow at him, but he went right on to the next subject as if he hadn’t just admitted he was nervous about being back in England. She wondered if she’d ever find out what he was running away from.

“Have you seen your solicitor yet?” Richard asked.

“No, but I have an appointment tomorrow.”

A servant came down the hall. Gabrielle took Richard’s arm and led him out back to the large garden behind the house, thinking they wouldn’t be disturbed there, but he noticed immediately that it was already occupied.

“Wonderful,” he said. “I was so hoping I’d see her while I was here.”

“Her?”

“Lady Malory,” he answered.

She followed his gaze to where Georgina was sitting on the edge of a fountain, trying to read a book and keep her eye on the two younger children, Gilbert and Adam, she had with her. Energetic tykes; Georgina wasn’t getting much reading done.

Gabrielle had been introduced to the twins and their nurse just yesterday. She didn’t know why the nurse was absent today; perhaps the lady just wanted to spend some time alone with her children.

But it took her only a moment to recall the jealousy Richard had inspired in James Malory upon their arrival. She glanced at him, wondering whether she should laugh or clobber him.

She finally said, “Richard, she’s a married woman.”

“Yes, but look who she’s married to,” he replied. “She can’t really be happy with a brute like that.

Wouldn’t you agree?”

Absolutely, was her first thought, and yet she’d witnessed the way the couple behaved together, just as

Richard had, and while he might not have read between the lines, she certainly had. In addition to their obvious physical attraction to each other, she’d also sensed the emotional closeness between them, and the utter lack of fear on Georgina’s part. Any woman who could talk to her husband the way Georgina Malory spoke to James knew that she was loved and obviously reciprocated the sentiment.

But Gabrielle saw that her friend appeared to be serious, so she replied cautiously, “You’d think she’d be intimidated by a man who so easily inspires fear in others, wouldn’t you? But I never got that impression from her, just the opposite, actually. And I’ve spoken with her several times in private. She might not be happy with the current situation I’ve placed her in. They did have other plans, after all. But she hasn’t let on that I’ve inconvenienced her and seems happy enough otherwise. But then youwere just basing your opinion on who she’s married to, right?” He didn’t answer that and said instead, “I should talk to her.” She realized suddenly that he hadn’t taken his eyes off of Georgina since he’d come into the garden. It made her try to see the woman as a man would see her. Georgina Malorywas beautiful. Childbearing hadn’t disturbed her figure at all; it was nicely trim and curved where it should be.