Jenna smiled her slow, thoughtful smile. “About Charity?”
His sister could be single-minded when she wanted. “Yes.”
“What about her? Are you by chance wondering why she granted this viscount two dances?” Jenna held up her fingers to emphasize her point.
Silence lingered for a bit. Ethan stood and walked over to the window, staring outside. “I asked her to marry me,” he murmured, aware of a deep sense of unease.
Jenna gasped. “Charity did not mention it to me!”
“She said no. I gather there was no news to report.”
That robbed Jenna of speech for at least a full minute. Ethan was impressed.
“Are you certain your words were interpreted correctly?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say, precisely. The words as you said them, Ethan, exactly as you said them.”
He shifted to face her, arching a brow at her intensity. “Marry me, Charity.”
Jenna deflated and flopped back against the cushions of the sofa. “Oh!”
“That is all you have to offer after your dramatics?”
“Well,” she said with a sheepish grin. “I thought you might have phrased it in a manner that was dubious, but that was very clear if unromantic.”
“She refused because I do not love her,” he said, not understanding the fierce ache inside his chest.
Jenna was silent for a bit, then she said, “It is the reason I have declined three offers thus far, Ethan. I would like to marry someone who I love and someone who loves me.”
“Charity did not say that she loves me,” he said with calm logic. “I am trying to figure out why she would want something from me that she has not given. Why should this be a basis for marriage when neither of us feels it?”
Jenna frowned. “Did…did you ask her if she loved you?”
“No. However, considering the kind of woman your friend is, she would have said it.”
Jenna smiled. “You understand her?”
“Somewhat.” He raked his fingers through his hair and voiced a matter that had been on his mind for the last few days. “I would like the chance to know her better.”
“Then tell her that,” she urged, leaning forward. “Tell her that…Arghh!”
“What was that Jenna?”
She stood and marched over to the window. “I cannot tell you what to say to Charity because it must be honest and truly I would not marry a man who does not love me or even understand why it is necessary for our future!”
Hell. Ladies were complex creatures. “I hate that I feel as if I do not understand this and because of that I might lose a chance with her.”
“That sounds like love.”
Ethan scoffed slightly. “I like and even miss her laughter, but that is about it.” He couldn’t express to his sister that he was already addicted to the taste of Charity, and he missed her moans and the heated delight with which she had held him deep inside her body. He missed all those things about Charity and found himself only yesterday staring at his ledger, unable to concentrate on his work. There was simply too much of her on his mind, and confoundedly, Charity did not leave him alone once his eyes closed. Even in his dreams, she visited and teased him…haunted her.
“Love is more, brother,” Jenna said, whirling around. “It is a…. sensation, I believe.”
“You do not seem so sure yourself,” he said with a gruff laugh. “You ladies can be so frivolous.”
A faraway looked entered her eyes. “Perhaps I am not too sure of the romantic sort of love, but I love you, and mama and Aunt Bess. That is love, and perhaps in how we feel about our families, we might understand it better.”