“I hope you may not come to regret your rashness.” His voice was teasing. “It seems to me you are being very adventurous tonight.”
“Don’t mock me,” said Caroline crossly. “You have no idea how eager the gossips are to find fresh topics of conversation.”
“On the contrary, I have vast experience with them, as you certainly know. I usually ignore them.”
“But you are a man, and gossip only enhances your reputation,” responded Caroline. “As a woman, mine would be ruined.”
“If you do nothing you are ashamed of, then you needn’t fear what the gossips say,” countered Lord Gresham. “They will talk anyway. The only person you need to please is yourself.”
“And so you have done nothing of which you are ashamed?” asked Caroline, thinking of the countless stories she had heard of his exploits.
“Perhaps one or two things,” he responded. “I have not always been kind, and I have frequently been selfish. But I didn’t say I took my own advice.”
The music stopped as Caroline’s blue eyes met his gray ones. The mocking look was gone from his face and for a moment the chatter in the room seemed to fade away.
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A Most Unusual Situation: A Traditional Version Georgian Romance (The Gravesmeres Book 1) Page 29