She gave him a reproachful look. “Some of us do not have the luxury of being permitted the opportunity to thumb our noses at Society.”
Her words gave him pause, as he was momentarily humbled by the proof of his own conceit. Of course a young woman whose station and safety in life was inextricably intertwined with her moral appearance would indeed worry. With two long strides, Gabriel moved ahead of her. He planted himself before her, effectively ending her retreat. “Forgive me.”
Her eyes formed round circles. “You apologized,” she blurted. Was her opinion of noblemen truly so low? Or was it men in general who’d earned the lady’s wariness? He knew the ugliness of man. That she also knew some manner of ugliness dug at him.
“Despite my pomposity, I am not a total boor in terms of manners.”
“I didn’t say you—”
He dipped his head close. “I was teasing, Jane.”
“Oh.” A golden curl popped loose of her hideous chignon. She brushed the strand back, but the tress refused to comply. Gabriel took in that strand he’d caressed a short while ago. He peered past her spectacles and that painfully tight coiffure. By God…if one looked past the dragon skirts and severe hairstyle, Jane Munroe really was—by God, she was quite captivating.
“What is it?” she asked, still warring with that loose strand, a strand he gladly wished to see her lose. Those curls should not be smoothed straight but rather worn in their natural way, tight spirals that hung loose about her shoulders.
Reluctantly he released his hold on her silken blonde tress. “I don’t know another woman who would not revel in the purchase of fabrics and fans and fripperies.”
“You do your sister a disservice with your assertion.”
Goodness, she was a loyal thing, or she was adept at steering even the hint of compliments away from herself. Another protective measure? “You are indeed, correct. But for my sister, I do not know another, then. Aside from you.” That truth, the evidence of her character, a person who, presented with limitless garments and fripperies, should protest and fight at every turn, spoke volumes of who she was.
Gabriel expected another curt response. Instead, she picked up a strip of satin fabric and rubbed it between her fingers. He studied that subtle movement, hating himself for envying a slip of fabric. “I don’t desire fabrics and fripperies as you call them because there is little worth in them.”
He eyed the fine French fabrics that would put broke a lesser lord attiring his sister’s companion.
“I do not refer to monetary value,” Jane explained, accurately interpreting his musings. She let the satin fall and it landed in a soft, noiseless bounce atop the pile. “I am sure these fabrics together cost more than my earnings at Mrs. Belden’s.” Those words from any other young woman would have been intended to elicit sympathy. From Jane, however, they came out matter-of-fact. “A lady’s gowns and garments do not define her, my lord.” Unrestrained emotion filled her eyes and Jane pressed a hand to her chest. “It is who she truly is—her actions, her thoughts, her beliefs. That is what truly defines a woman.”
How many women aspired to the material and desired status? By the passion in Jane’s eyes and the fervor of her tone, she longed to be seen for more. Her quick-wit, coupled with her calm pragmatisms, was enough to rob a man of logic. Then he made the mistake of dropping his gaze lower, to her pert nose, ever lower to those tantalizing lips, and, God forgive him for having accused his brother of being a rogue, but Gabriel moved his stare downward to the modest bodice of her dress. There was nothing the least captivating or alluring about the drab brown dragon skirts as Chloe had referred to them. Yet, staring at Jane with the thrum of other patrons milling about the shop and a humming in his ears, he appreciated the extent of his own depravity. He momentarily closed his eyes. And he hated himself for it.
“My lord?” Jane whispered. It was a spark in her eyes and the parting of her moist lips.
Gabriel swallowed hard. She too felt this pull between them. “Yes.”
“Will you step aside? Lady Chloe is motioning to me.”