Free Mr. Malcolm's List by Suzanne Allain

fairly obvious who it is
I am courting, isn’t it?”
    “But if
you were courting Julia and you had met Mrs. Covington, would it affect your
opinion of Julia?”
    “Well, it
would have to, would it not?   I mean,
that is something you have to consider when contemplating marriage with
someone.”   Malcolm looked over at Selina,
who was frowning.   “Why do you look so
grim?   Do not tell me you have a relation
as vulgar as Mrs. Covington?”
    Selina
forced a smile.   “No, I would not tell
you that.”   Not after Julia forbade me
to, Selina thought.
    “I am
pleased to hear it.”
    They had
reached the park and Malcolm nodded at someone in a passing carriage, but did
not stop.   He looked over at Selina,
wondering if he should take her home.   It
was obvious she was displeased with him.   Perhaps she thought his attitude toward Mrs. Covington arrogant.   But she had seemed out of sorts even before
that.   He was struck suddenly with the
thought that she might not like him.   It
was a novel idea, so accustomed was he to females of all kinds fawning over
him.   For the first time it occurred to
him that even if she passed all the items on his list, she may not accept his
suit.
    She was
looking exceptionally beautiful that afternoon in her russet colored carriage
dress, which just matched her hair.   Her
beauty shocked him each time he saw her, although she was not the most
beautiful woman he’d ever known.   It was
more than just her outward appearance he found so appealing, although he had to
admit he found it very appealing indeed.   But he was attracted also by her traits of character: her vitality, her
humor, her intelligence, her kindness.   She was everything he desired in a woman.   He wondered suddenly what it was that she
desired in a man.
    “Why did
you come to London ,
Miss Dalton?” he asked her.
    She looked
a little startled at the sudden question, and there was a slight pause as she
thought it over.   “Because I was lonely,”
she finally said.
    “That’s
interesting,” Malcolm said, and Selina looked over at him. “I was lonely before
you came to London ,
also.”
    Selina
smiled in response and Malcolm felt as if the sun had finally come out,
although it was still as cloudy as ever.
    “I am
having a house party at my estate in Kent ,
and I would be pleased if you would come,” Malcolm said.
    “I am
honored by the invitation, but I am a guest of the Thistlewaites—”
    “Oh, I
will invite them as well.   And Cassie, of
course.”
    “And Mr.
Ossory?”
    “If you
would like,” Malcolm said, a little displeased that she thought of him so
quickly.   “My mother is coming to act as
hostess.   I thought perhaps your parents
may like to come as well.”
    “Thank
you.   I shall write and ask them,” Selina
said.
    “If you
give me their direction I would be pleased to send an invitation.”
    Selina
supplied the information, although she was a little ambivalent about the house
party.   Her parents would be sure to
think she was on the verge of matrimony were they to receive an invitation to
the house party of a man they had never met.   Things were moving very fast, and Selina was afraid the climax was going
to come just as swiftly.   And while she
was involved in this stupid scheme of Julia’s, she was worried that the ending
would not be a happy one.
    The rest
of the drive passed a little more amicably than it had at the beginning, and
Selina began to forget her former annoyance with Mr. Malcolm and feel a return
of her previous feelings for him.   She
sincerely enjoyed his company.   And when
he reached up and grabbed her by the waist to help her down from the curricle,
she realized again the force of her physical attraction to him.   She felt a nervous excitement around him that
she had never before felt in her twenty-two years.
    But then
something occurred that brought a return of Selina’s previous ambivalence. When
Malcolm finally released her and she turned to