Free The Gallant Guardian by Evelyn Richardson

now admitted to himself, for the sole purpose of shaking that cool self-possessed air of hers, to make her blush and lose countenance, the result was that he was losing his own. Such a thing had never happened to him before, at least not within recent memory. The conversation was not going at all as he had planned. “Ah, but we were not talking about me. I asked you. And I was not speaking of the love between a brother and a sister.” There! Now he had her.
    Charlotte smiled faintly. Though he had neatly side-stepped the issue, her guardian looked distinctly uneasy, and she had the satisfaction of knowing she had at least disconcerted him. “The love and affection William and I feel for each other is more than enough for me, and far more than one finds in most marriages, I dare say.”
    But there was a strangely shuttered look in her eyes as she responded to his question that made Max think it was more complex than that. There was something she was avoiding, something she would not or could not discuss, and he resolved to get to the bottom of it, though he could not have said why it mattered to him whether or not she wished to share her life with a man other than William. But for some strange reason, it did matter to him. Perhaps it was because he had witnessed that very affection between brother and sister that she had spoken of. Having observed her warm and loving nature, he found it difficult to believe that sisterly affection was enough for her. Even odder still, he did not want it to be enough for her. He had seen firsthand her passionate protectiveness of her brother, her intense devotion to his welfare, and he did not like to think that such passion would never have any other outlet than a simpleminded brother, that such a vibrant young woman would live out her days as a spinster buried in the countryside without ever having experienced all the richness—both emotional and physical—that life had to offer. It seemed such a waste somehow.
    A slight cough startled the marquess out of his reverie and he glanced down to see Charlotte regarding him curiously.
    “I had not thought my observation was such an unusual one, but it seems to have given you pause for reflection,” she remarked.
    “What? Oh, the fondness one finds in most marriages, or the lack thereof.”
    “How many of the unions you know were founded on love, or give any indication that love exists between those involved?” She demanded.
    Max mentally reviewed the couples with whom he was most familiar, beginning with his parents. Certainly his mother and father had appeared to live in different worlds entirely as did most of his acquaintances in London. The men escaped to White’s or Brook’s in order to find true companionship and the women gossiped together over innumerable cups of tea.
    “You see? People are forever urging marriage on single men and women, touting it as a blessed state, but if one stops to consider how things truly are, one comes up with a different perspective on it altogether. Surely as an eligible bachelor you must constantly have people telling you to find a proper young lady and settle down.” Charlotte shot a triumphant glance at him.
    The marquess chuckled. For a young woman who had spent her days quietly at Harcourt, she had a keen grasp of society at large, but he still could not rid himself of the sense that she was avoiding something.
    But all speculation was put to an end as William burst around the corner of the stone wall protecting the rose garden. “Charlie, Charlie, Mr. Griggs let me give an apple to…” He came to a full stop upon seeing his sister’s companion. “Oh, excuse me, sir, I did not know you were here.” He subsided into respectful silence for a moment, but then, unable to contain his enthusiasm, he continued, “Mr. Griggs is ever so nice, isn’t he, sir? He allowed me to feed your team and showed me all their finest points.”
    “Yes. Griggs is as knowledgeable a man as you could hope to