Chapter 2
323 Words
Chapter 2
It was fortunate that, due to his age and single status, he didn’t belong to any specific group and therefore could be a flexible guest for his hosts. Especially since he was an extra man who had almost invited himself rather than received an official invitation and yet had been greeted with nothing but warmth.
As this evening had shown, he was still young enough to partner a left-out young lady at dancing but also able to join a more weighty discussion with the older gentlemen, which he did now, glass of wine in hand.
Although he was content to do his social duty, he mused that these days, he was more inclined to fall into conversation with his fellow landowners about crop rotation or field drainage than to join in with the noisy games of charades or impromptu amateur theatricals of the younger guests. When did that happen? This thought raised a rueful smile.
However, one of the advantages of being naturally au fait with his elders meant that the youthful damsels of the party regarded him in an avuncular way. He would much prefer that than them setting their caps at him. Sweet and delightful though all of them seemed, they also behaved much like his young nieces in the schoolroom and that made him feel positively ancient.
There was also the very carefully hidden fact that young ladies, in general, were not to his taste at all. Not that he would dream of hinting at his attraction to his own gender in present company, he thought with a wry grin. Causing an outrage and getting arrested wouldn’t help Freddy’s cause at all. But to be honest, he hadn’t felt the urge to express his desires for some years, not since…
His mind shut down on that notion automatically, cutting off the train of thought with accustomed control. Without a pause, he added his opinion on the depth required for field-edge ditches to provide proper drainage.
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