“Only a few weeks ago, you both orchestrated the kidnapping of a viscount without telling Colin, who is the head of this family and worries about you all daily, Nicholas.”
“Our sister’s happiness was on the line. Surely that was the only thing that mattered.”
“You are not even repentant,” she said with some outrage.
“Not even slightly.” He grinned, then offered some sort of consolation. “I did read the book and several others. Admit it, I am one of your top students.”
Hermina laughed. “Tell me, what wicked designs do you have on this season’s unrivaled diamond.”
“The lady visited…” He paused, suddenly filled with the strangest notion that he had to protect her behavior, even from his sister-in-law, who he knew was not a gossip. “She asked me to paint her portrait.”
“Oh, is this for her wedding? Or perhaps an engagement gift?”
His heart kicked. “Has an engagement been announced?”
Hermina’s eyes widened. “No, however, given they have been seen in each other’s company with such frequency, I would be very surprised if we do not hear about an engagement soon.”
Hell, that soured his mood fast, though he pretended not to notice it, for he would then have to dwell on the why. Nicholas stood when a loud crash came from outside. “What is that?”
His sister-in-law sighed. “Emma found a dog. It was flea-ridden and starving.”
“And she brought him home?”
“Yes. And bathed him herself and has been taking care of him these last several days.”
Another crash echoed. “That sounds like a vase just broke.”
“Perhaps. Lord Peter is blind in one eye.”
“Who is Lord Peter?”
Hermina laughed. “The dog.”
Nicholas chuckled. “I do not believe I want to hear this story. I have a meeting with a professor from the Royal Academy.”
“You still want to study there?”
He raked his fingers through his hair, that swell of frustration once more going through him. “I cannot say. I have been…” Unable to name his recent restlessness and dissatisfaction, he bowed and made his leave.
“Nicholas, if you please,” Hermina said when he reached the door.
He glanced over his shoulders. “What is it?”
“Perhaps you can affirm for me five important tenets of being a gentleman before you leave? Especially as it regards to a lady of society.”
He scowled and she grinned. With a sigh, he faced her. “A gentleman must never ask a lady to dance at a public ball unless he has been introduced to her.”
“And at a private ball?”
“I may ask, but only if we have been previously introduced by the hostess or her chaperone or a family member.”
Mina rose from the sofa and hugged the book to her chest. “Another one, if you please.”
“I must ensure when with a lady, my manner, the tone of my voice, language, and conversation should be modest, respectful, and well-modulated given her…er…fair and delicate sensibilities.”
Such rubbish. The ladies he had met were all brightly witty, so they dazzled and sparkled, no frailty or tender sensibilities had been observed by him. Still, he did not say so, lest his sister-in-law chase him through the hallway to continue her lessons.
He thought of the others and quickly recited. “If it be a lady offer her hand, but with a glove on, and having helped her into her carriage, I must wait at the coach-door until her carriage has departed. It is also improper at any time to introduce an inferior lady of rank to a superior lady of rank, unless at the superior’s request.” Nicholas scrambled inside his brain, looking for a fifth to satisfy his sister-in-law.Ah. “Last but not the least, ribald suggestions are ill-suited to a female’s disposition.”