He caught her.
“Shall I commission leg braces for you?” His low voice rumbled into her hair.
Not a leg brace. A metal box to hide her heart away and keep it safe. But she suspected it was far too late for armor. With Theodore, she had no defenses at all.
“Virginia?”
She forced herself to look up and meet his eyes.
His smile was victorious as he dipped his head to steal a quick kiss. “I like how you waltz.”
“I like how you kiss,” she answered, and immediately ducked her head, so he would not see the full truth on her face.
He liked her well enough up here in Christmas, far away from his peers. London was a different world. If she gave her heart to him, only for him to toss her away…
She would not be able to survive it a second time.
Chapter 10
“Come,” Theo commanded.
Duke opened his eyes, yawned, and closed them again.
“If you can learn to respond to your name and your honorific, you’re clever enough to learn other words, too.” In fact, Theo was willing to bet Virginia had taught the beast an entire vocabulary. He crossed his arms. “Come here, now.”
Duke rolled to face the opposite direction.
Theo changed tactics. “Come hither, almighty cat-beast.”
Duke let out a short purr that sounded suspiciously like a snicker.
Theo tried again. “O great and powerful—”
“You have a visitor,” Swinton announced from right behind them.
Theo jumped, and winced when the action jarred his knee. He looked over the butler’s shoulder and saw no one. “Where is she?”
“In the outbuilding.”
Checking on the partridge? Theo frowned. He’d given his word to care for it. Surely, she trusted him by now.
“And the surprise I have planned?” he asked.
“In the mews, awaiting your summons.”
“Have a footman bring it up front.”
Theo had been waiting all day for Virginia to arrive. He hurried down the corridor as fast as his leg brace and wounded knee would allow.
He caught her in the outbuilding just as she was stuffing the partridge inside a wicker basket.
“What are you doing with Dancer?”
She shut the lid. “Taking him back to the castle.”
“I thought he was my responsibility now.” Theo folded his arms over his chest. “Part of my afternoon constitutional.”
She glanced up guiltily. “I may have neglected to mention that I don’t own this bird.”
