She looked up at him, her eyes wide and fearful. “But your expression when you walked in…”
He shook his head. “I was thinking, that’s all. He appeared to be on the mend when we left him yesterday. I cannot imagine what happened.”
Eden nodded and then turned to Aubrey, who had been listening in on their conversation. “I am so sorry, my lord,” she said. “We may have to postpone our outing.”
To the man’s credit, he took the disappointment gracefully. “I’ll be here waiting for you. Send word when you have news. I would offer to accompany you, but I think my presence would only be an interference.”
“You are too kind,” she replied. “Hopefully, it will only be a false alarm and we can be on our way within the hour. This is what my parents do. They thrive on drama and attention. One eventually gets used to it.”
Aubrey regarded her with surprising compassion. “I do not know that you have ever gotten used to it, Lady Eden. It takes a chunk out of your heart every time, doesn’t it?”
She pinched her lips and nodded.
Connor wanted to dislike this man, but could not while he was behaving kindly toward Eden. He still did not trust him, however. “We’ll keep you apprised, Aubrey.”
He walked out of the breakfast room with Eden, and was about to escort her out of the house when she stopped suddenly. “I need to get Priscilla’s card.”
“What?”
“Your daughter drew a card for my father and meant to bring it to him this morning. I won’t be a moment. Anyway, the children ought to be told why I must delay the start of our outing.”
“You think it will only be a delay?”
She nodded. “Connor, they do this to me all the time. One day it will be real, but by then I don’t think I will care. The two of them have worn me out.”
He nodded. “I’ll run upstairs with you.”
The children were disappointed not to join them, but old enough to understand the seriousness of the reason. Eden suggested they observe the birds and animal life in the expansive Lynton garden while they awaited her return. The children liked the suggestion, since they obviously preferred to be outdoors and not stuck in their quarters.
“Let’s go, Eden,” Connor said as she tucked Priscilla’s card into a pocket of her gown. It was one of those sturdy, serviceable gowns designed for practicality rather than style. Eden still looked spectacular in it, even though others would consider it drab bytonstandards. “The carriage should be brought around for us by now.”
The same brougham he had taken out yesterday drew up in the courtyard at the same time they walked out the front door. Eden climbed in, and Connor did the same right after her. However, this time he dismissed his driver and did the driving himself because he preferred to ride alone with Eden. He flicked the reins, and the horse immediately started along the familiar path. “Eden, about last night.”
She pursed her lips. “What about last night?”
“You fell asleep in Priscilla’s bed.”
Her eyes widened. “I did?”
He nodded. “I carried you down to your room.”
She laughed softly and blushed. “No wonder I could not remember returning there. Were you the one who…”
“Undressed you? Yes, but it was in the dark. I wasn’t trying to look at you. It must have been around three o’clock in the morning by the time I went upstairs to check on my children, and there you were, squeezed into Priscilla’s bed. And there was Priscilla poking and kicking you as she wriggled around.”
She smiled. “I wondered how I got that bruise to my ribs.”
“Puzzle solved. Priscilla was the culprit. She would have pushed you out of bed at some point during the night. I thought it best to carry you down to your own. But there was no one awake at that late hour to attend to you, so I attempted it myself. I tried to wake you, but you were too deeply asleep and would not rouse.”
He thought she would be angry, and was pleasantly surprised when she merely shook her head and laughed again. “Undressed by a Silver Duke and I completely missed it.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled. “You didn’t miss much. I wasn’t that competent. You wished me pleasant dreams, but I think you were actually saying this to the sweet pet you had as a child.”
She stared at him a moment and grinned. “You mean Beauregard?”
He nodded.
Despite her wearing spectacles, her eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she said, “Connor, I would never mistake you for my dog.”
