The possibility chilled him, and he didn’t want to contemplate it.
“Was there something you wished to discuss?” he asked.
“Actually, we are discussing it: Mrs. Wood.”
Instantly, he was wary. Had Gigi guessed the nature of his relationship with Xenia? While they’d tried to be discreet, the scene Gigi interrupted had smacked of intimacy. Moreover, his sister was uncommonly perceptive. Since she was a girl, she’d been the first to pick up on tensions and intrigues within their family. At heart, she was a peacemaker who wanted everyone to get along…which had made things difficult for her these last few years.
“It is about the gift you asked me to order for Mrs. Wood,” Gigi explained.
He’d taken a calculated risk, asking his sister to order the dress for Xenia. But having observed Xenia’s soft, covetous expression when she’d touched the frock, he’d been determined to give it to her. Of course, he couldn’t buy a dress for his housekeeper without causing talk, and Xenia had so much pride that she might not accept it from him. Thus, he’d hit upon the plan of asking his sister to buy it.
Pulling Gigi aside, he’d told her that he saw Mrs. Wood eyeing the green dress and wanted to reward her for her excellent service. Gigi, being Gigi, picked up on the dilemma immediately. She offered to purchase the dress for Mrs. Wood—with Ethan’s funds, of course, since she was a sieve with her pin money. The situation had worked out well…or so Ethan had thought.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“No. But the dress just arrived, and I was wondering what you want me to do with it.”
“Give it to Mrs. Wood,” he said. “Like we discussed before, tell her it is a gift from you.”
Gigi gnawed on her lip, then blurted, “Mrs. Wood is very sweet, and you mustn’t hurt her.”
He stilled. “I beg your pardon?”
His sister’s cheeks reddened, but she met his gaze squarely. “I am not a dummy, Ethan,” she said. “It is obvious from the way you look at one another when you think no one else is watching that there is something going on.”
He grew uncomfortably warm under the collar. “If you are implying?—”
“I am not implying anything. I am saying it directly because you are my brother, and I care about your happiness.” She took a breath. “And you haven’t seemed happy, not for a long time. Not since…since the accident.”
He was momentarily stunned. While his family tended to be oversolicitous about his injury, they rarely addressed the subject of how he’d received it. They had their reasons. His parents and siblings didn’t want to upset him…and they feared widening the rift between him and Owen. Since the rift was more of a chasm, however, he didn’t think they could do further damage. Nonetheless, why would Gigi, the pacifist, bring up a topic she normally avoided like the plague?
“I didn’t think Constance helped matters,” his sister said, wrinkling her nose. “But when she broke things off, I was worried thathowyour engagement ended would make everything worse. You wouldn’t talk about it with the family, and then you came here, to a manor in the middle of nowhere. Bottoms House of Chudleigh Bottoms, for heaven’s sake. I was dreading the state I would find you in.”
“You needn’t have worried, Gigi. I am fine,” he said gruffly.
He was surprised to realize that this was true. He was in a different frame of mind now than when he’d left London…than he’d been in a long time, in truth. He had to credit the change to Xenia.
“I see that.” His sister smiled. “While the country air might agree with you, Ethan, I also think your improved mood has to do with Mrs. Wood.”
“She has been of great help. She’s made the manor habitable?—”
“And she’s madeyoumuch more comfortable to be around. You are far less brooding than you were, brother dear.”
“Is there a point to this analysis of my mood?”
“It is simply this: as relieved and overjoyed as I am that you are feeling better, I don’t wish it to be at the expense of Mrs. Wood.”
“I don’t follow,” he said.
“For years, I saw you surrounded by an adoring female horde. Even after your injury, when you avoided the public eye, Constance managed to worm her way into your sphere. I am not saying you encouraged any of this, but you are used to female attention, Ethan, and have always taken it as your due. But Mrs. Wood…she’s different from the others.”
His sister’s insights both disturbed and alarmed him. “How do you mean?” he asked.
“Mrs. Wood is not after your fame or wealth, for starters. And unlike Constance, she’s not using you to establish herself as some Paragon of Womanly Virtue.”
“Constance wasn’t using me…”
He trailed off, drawing his brows together at his sister’s unsettling supposition. Was that why Constance had pursued him after his accident? He’d thought it was because she was compassionate and willing to take on a damaged fellow like himself. Christ, he’d been grateful for her unending patience when it came to his brooding and irritability.
