None of them found it strange she was talking to a book.
The ladies believed it held magical properties.
Ronan knew a little about The Book of Love since Joshua had tried to read bits of it to him and Robbie several months ago. Of course, at the time, he and Robbie had wanted no part of it. Too bad. He wished he had been paying closer attention. “Have you finished your tea, Dahlia?” he asked a short while later.
She nodded.
He extended his arm to her. “Come on then. Time to embark on the journey of love.”
She rolled her eyes and made a face, obviously uncomfortable with the notion. “I suppose it is important to learn how not to make a complete ninny of oneself while the man you thought intended to marry you was carrying on right under your nose and then told you that you were worthless.”
He cleared his throat. “Right, looks like we have our work cut out for us.”
They settled in the library, but he kept the door open for the sake of propriety. He knew Violet and Heather were going to put their ear to the wall to listen in on whatever he and Dahlia were saying.
It did not bother him very much. Right now, he and Dahlia were only going to read. He’d get her alone easily enough when the time was right. “Shall I read to you, or do you want to sit side by side and just read silently?”
Her hands were now clasped on her lap. “You read it aloud. My head is in a jumble, and we haven’t even started yet.”
“Very well.” He took a deep breath and commenced. “Love does not come from the heart but from the brain. It is the brain that sends signals throughout the body, telling us what to feel.” He paused a moment, for the next few sentences were devoted to a man’s arousal response, and he did not think this was appropriate material for Dahlia so soon after her beloved had been caught with his pants down about his ankles as he drove himself into another woman.
He cleared his throat. “This is how our senses are stimulated. By touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing.”
He glanced at Dahlia.
Her cheeks were a gentle pink and her eyes, as she looked at him, were curious and trusting. “Joshua read this part to me and Robbie a few months ago,” he said. “So I’m familiar with it. This opening chapter deals primarily with male responses, but I think the same would apply in reverse. For a man to win the heart of a woman, he would have to please her senses as well.”
She nodded. “We know what can happen when the affection is all one-sided.”
This is why he was glad they were reading the book together. She was doing exactly what he feared, berating herself and judging herself too harshly. As though any of what Wainscott did to her was her fault. The wretch had purposely duped and manipulated this guileless girl.
Ronan did not respond to her remark and read on. “A man’s sense receptacles do not operate in quite the same way as the female’s. Nor does a man’s brain. It is very different from the female brain.”
She snorted. “I’ll say. I would never have treated Gerald the way he treated me.”
“Because you are a far better person, Dahlia.” He returned his gaze to the book and read on about the differences but took the liberty of condensing it to a more palatable form. “What the author is saying is that men are guided by their brains to procreate in order to sire offspring. Unchecked, they will simply go about siring as many offspring as possible. A woman’s brain is guided by her need to protect herself and the offspring she delivers into the world. For this, she requires the male to remain by her side while she is at her most vulnerable.”
He paused again to glance at Dahlia. “A man will look at any and all women to make a quick assessment regarding her ability to bear his children. Is she too old? Too young? Too sickly or frail? And while a man will ultimately peruse a woman’s entire body, his first gaze is on her...”
Breasts.
He cleared his throat.
“Ronan, you are blushing.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, you know you are. What does a man look at first?” She cast him a mirthless smile. “No need to spare my delicate sensibilities. I have already seen my supposed beloved with his pants down as he...well, you know what he was doing with Lady Alexandra. I don’t think you can say anything that would shock me worse.”
He placed his hand over hers. “I know. I’m so sorry you had to witness that.”
“Do read on. Please.”
“Where was I? Oh, yes. Here.” He picked up where he left off. “When a man looks at a woman, he is making a series of quick assessments regarding her ability to bear his children. Is she too old? Too young? Too sickly or frail? And while a man will ultimately peruse a woman’s entire body, his first gaze is on her breasts.”
“I suppose it makes sense,” she said. “The female has to feed her newborn infant, so the man would want to know that she can do it or else risk the infant starving. Unless they found a wet nurse, of course. What else does the book say?”
“Yes, that is exactly right, Dahlia. While a man will ultimately peruse a woman’s entire body, his first gaze is...there...because they are the source of life, the source of milk for his newborn children. So, if he does not like the look of them, he will pass her over as a suitable mate.”
He paused again to gaze at her. “Wainscott did not pass you over for that reason. Your body is spectacular, if you want my opinion. And I am not saying this to flatter you. I am saying it because it is a fact. That weasel behaved abominably toward you because he is greedy and ambitious. He would have married a cow if she came with a title and a pot of gold.”
She laughed softly. “So, you still like him, then?”
He laughed along with her, for this was their private jest. He’d detested the man from the first, and Dahlia knew it. “So we’ve learned the man’s need is to spread his seed. But he also has to protect the children he sires, or they will die.”
She nodded. “How does a man reconcile these two urges?”
“The author states that a man’s brain functions on two levels. In effect, he has two brains. One is simple or low, and the other is a higher brain allowing for more complex thought. When a man’s brain is at its lowest function, he is only thinking of–”
He groaned and shook his head. “He is only thinking of sex. Sorry, Dahlia. Just let me know if you find this too offensive, and I’ll stop.”
“Heavens, no. These are the good bits, aren’t they?”
He grinned. “It is his simple brain at work, the one formed thousands of years ago at the dawn of Creation when men first walked the primeval earth. Very little thought occurs when the man’s sexual urges are aroused. Perhaps no thought at all.”
She was staring at him now, studying him quite intently as she took in his features. “I cannot imagine you ever behaving so crudely, Ronan.”
“I don’t know. This book is not far off the mark. You see a better side of me because that is how I am when I’m around you. A better man. Not that I am a fiend by any means whenever I am not around you, but neither am I a saint.”
“Oh, I see.” She pursed her lips in thought. “But I cannot imagine you doing what Gerald–”
“Never! There is no excuse for what he did. It was low and venal. As I said, I am not a saint, but to hurt someone as he did you? Wouldn’t ever happen.”