It worked. He heard her footsteps behind him as he returned to his desk. “Shut the door,” he instructed, and he heard it close and felt a sense of satisfaction. She was hard to control, but in the end, he was still the master of the house, and she wouldn’t forget it.
He took his seat. Caroline was standing near the door with her hands knitted together.
“Take that ridiculous hat off,” he told her. “Take your hair down. I’m not going to sit here and feel as if I’m talking to a pageboy.”
She did as he’d asked.
It had made him feel uncomfortable when they had been in the club to see her dressed like this with her hair down around her shoulders, revealing her true identity. But in the privacy of the study, there was something almost alluring about seeing her this way. The clothes she wore threw her delicate femininity into sharp contrast, so much so that he found he couldn’t understand how she had ever managed to sneak out of the house without being recognized as a woman. He had spotted her from the very start. How was it possible that everyone she saw didn’t see it as clearly as he did?
“Sit down,” he told her.
She did so. She wasn’t looking at him, and for a moment, he believed she was ashamed at having been caught.
“I trusted you not to do this again,” he told her. “I thought we had come to an understanding.
Now she looked up. Her eyes were blazing, and he saw clearly that she wasn’t abashed at all. She was angry with him. “How can you expect me to sit around the house andwaitwhile other people try—fail—to find my sister?” she demanded. “We did have an understanding, and it was that you were not going to ask this of me. And now you want to chastise me for going out to look for her when your man was unsuccessful at finding her?”
“I told you we weren’t going to give up,” Levi said.
“But you’re not out looking for her.”
“I’m not going to be out looking every minute of every day, Caroline. You can’t reasonably expect that of me. We will find her, but it may take some time. I thought we were in agreement that this is not an emergency?”
“You didn’t hear the way people were speaking of her at the ball!”
Ah. Now the pieces were beginning to fall into place. “What was said?”
“It’s just…the most vile rumors. We don’t know where she is, but I know my sister. I know the kind of person she is. None of those terrible things are true about her. And the sooner she comes home, the sooner she can defend herself and set the record straight.”
“I understand your concern,” Levi said slowly. “But Prudence is pretty smart, isn’t she?”
“Well, yes, of course she is.”
“Don’t you think it occurred to her that there would be gossip if she disappeared like this? Don’t you think she knew what she was risking?”
“That doesn’t make it all right,” Caroline said. “Even if she did know, what kind of sister would I be if I sat back and allowed it to happen? Prudence is my younger sister. Arabella always looked out for the two of us, but I also looked out for Prudence. I always cared for her. Icannotbe at peace while harm is coming to her reputation, even if she did anticipate that it might happen. I cannot accept cruel words spoken about my sister. Not for anything!”
Levi was quiet for a moment, regarding his wife. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing rapid, and he could see just how distressed she truly was. “I’m sorry,” he said. “As you know, I have no brothers or sisters. Seeing the way you defend Prudence…it’s something I’ve never encountered before. I have never felt this way about anyone, to tell you the truth. I’ve never felt as though I needed to go to such lengths to protect someone. I’ve always been able to keep my distance, to tell myself that other people’s problems were theirs and that my problems were mine.”
“That’s all well and good, but it’s not the way things are between my sisters and myself,” Caroline said. “They would do anything for me, and I would do anything for them. I know you think it’s foolish.”
“I don’t think that,” Levi countered. “I can’t allow you to dress yourself in this fashion and to go out on your own—that’sbeyondfoolish. But I don’t think your feelings are foolish. I have a lot of respect for your desire to protect your sister. I hope you believe me when I tell you it’s my intention to help you in that aim, whatever it takes. We’ll bring her back.”
“I want to believe you,” Caroline sighed.
“You don’t, though?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how to let go of all the rumors about you—the rumors that you’re a rake who cares only for himself. I don’t want to think those things are true.”
“Have you seen any sign of it from me?”
“I haven’t,” she confessed.
“Because it isn’t the truth. It’s all rumor and speculation, and none of it is real,” he said. “You know how things are among the ton. People will make up all kinds of things, but you know better than to believe a rumor.”
“I also know that I have to be careful,” she said quietly. “I can’t allow myself to be taken by surprise, Levi.”
Levi rose to his feet. Caroline stood too.
