From the corner of his eye, he saw Jane sit forward in her seat, as though intrigued by his sister’s bold pronouncement.
Oh, bloody hell. He fought back a groan. Chloe would have this discussion again. Jane forgotten, Gabriel finished his coffee and set the cup aside. He waved off the servant who rushed forward to refill his cup and settled his elbows upon the table. “Chloe, you are one and twenty, nearly two and twenty,” he continued when she made to speak. “With several days in which to consider our last exchange, surely you see the necessity in securing a husband. I have already assured you, the man chosen will be honorable, caring, and considerate.”
“The man chosen?” His sister gaped at him.
What was it with young women and parroting back a person’s words?
Jane hopped to her feet so suddenly, the crystal clattered noisily on the table.
He spared a distracted glance for the young woman whose kiss had stolen his logic and, for that maddening loss of control, a reason he needed her gone. For a moment, he thought she intended to do precisely that. To turn, abandon the table, collect her valise, and then be gone. Forever. A vise squeezed his lungs. He tugged at his cravat. The blasted fabric was too tight, was all.
Instead, she made for the sideboard once more. He cast a glance down at her untouched plate and the impressive mound of breakfast meats and pastries and eggs she’d assembled.
“And I’ve told you, I do not want that.”
Gabriel jerked his head around to look at his sister. He really should do a better job of attending. Yes, Mrs. Munroe could not be gone soon enough.
“Do pay attention, Gabriel.” He winced as Chloe rapped him in the knuckles. “If you are going to speak on a matter of import, such as my marital state, then at the very least you can pay attention to me while I speak.”
Ah, yes. The business of finding her a husband. As he’d seen few results in ordering her about over the years, now he gentled his tone and appealed to her sister’s reason. “All I ask is for you to trust me and allow me select your husband as I did Philippa.”
By the fury lighting Chloe’s eyes, she appreciated his calming tone as much as Jane had two days prior. “I’ve already told you…” Her words trailed off and Gabriel followed her stare.
Jane marched over with an empty plate and thrust it under his nose. He eyed the porcelain dish and then gave her a perplexed look. What was she on about? She shook it at him. “Well, take it.”
And that was likely the clipped tone that had earned this woman and every other at Mrs. Belden’s the moniker of dragon. He quickly accepted the dish. “And what would you have me do with this plate, J—” His sister’s eyebrows shot to her hairline and he swiftly amended, “Mrs. Munroe?”
Chloe’s eyes formed perfectly round moons as she alternated her stare between him and Jane Munroe.
A steely glint lit the silver flecks of Jane’s eyes. She lowered her voice. “With such a total lack of faith in your sister’s decision-making on the matter of her future and the man she’d wed or not wed, perhaps you should begin selecting her choices for meals as well.”
Gabriel widened his eyes. By God. Had she just given him a public dressing down? Jane wheeled around and strode toward the door, nothing at all ladylike or Mrs. Belden dragon-like about her pace or furiously frantic movements. And she’d dismissed him. How had he ever taken her for a weak-willed, spiritless creature?
Jane stopped suddenly and spun back to face them. Color heightened her cheeks and he braced for her apology. “Forgive me, Lady Chloe.” Chloe? What of his apology? “I am sorry we did not suit and I wish you the best of luck.” She shot a glare in Gabriel’s direction. “With that one.” This time, without a backward stare, she stomped from the room.
The footmen at the back corner of the room shifted back and forth. By the tightly compressed lines of their mouths, they fought off humor.
With a curse, Gabriel grabbed his cup and raised it to his lips. His damned empty cup. He slammed it down with a loud thunk. How dare she enter his home and question his care and regard for his sister? By God, he’d failed his siblings in the past and, as such, he’d committed his life to righting those wrongs, and seeing to their happiness. Now this stranger, with her damned ugly spectacles and her painfully tight chignon, should challenge him for caring?