And yet she still didn’t look athim. She never looked at him.
“Gray?” Felicity said.
He blinked and looked at his sister. “I’m sorry. I must be more tired than I thought,” he choked out. “My mind was entirely gone.”
Felicity stared at him and then looked at the table. He couldn’t tell if she was staring at his brother or at Rosalinde. Both were in her sightline. But she didn’t reveal herself. She merely squeezed his hand.
“Eat,” she suggested. “I’m sure you’ll feel better once you do so.”
Gray nodded as Felicity returned to her seat, but he had no certainty about that statement.Better. What was better when he held the keys to his brother’s demise? Or was it his salvation?
He walked to the table and took a place seat next to Marina and Folly. Servants came with dishes and the breakfast meal was lively and bright with conversation. Gray took part in none of it, eating slowly as he kept stealing glances down the table at Rosalinde.
Rosalinde, who still didn’t look at him. Never looked at him. She just ate, as quiet as he was, equally as watchful, only her attention was turned on Celia and Stenfax. He could almost read her mind as she sat there. She was trying to decide if she would indeed do as she had said she would last night.
She was trying to decide if she would make known her case for dissolving the engagement. As the meal ended and everyone began to rise and talk about a croquet tournament arranged as entertainment for the rest of what remained of the morning, Rosalinde took a deep breath and got to her feet.
For one fleeting moment, her gaze slid to Gray at last. He saw her hesitation in that look, but also her strength and her determination.
Gray found himself rising, found himself saying her name,sotto voce. She looked away.
“Lord Stenfax,” she said, her voice cracking slightly before she regained her composure. “I wondered if I might have a private word with you and Celia before we join the others for croquet?”
Stenfax was already standing and gave her a look of surprise. But before he could answer her request, Fitzgilbert jolted to his feet. His glare at Rosalinde could have frozen the lake at the bottom of the hill, it was so cold. Cold and cruel, like the man who wore it. Gray saw hate in that stare. Somehow Fitzgilbert could only see the disappointment Rosalinde had brought to him. He was incapable of more.
“What are you about, girl? You’ve nothing to say to anyone,” he growled.
The response to her was so violent, so cruel, that the room grew silent in response. It felt like every eye in the room slowly turned to Rosalinde. She must have felt it, too, for her cheeks filled with high color. But she kept her back straight and her gaze even on Stenfax. She did not yield.
Of course she didn’t.
Stenfax shot Fitzgilbert a harsh look at his nasty response and then smiled at Rosalinde. “Certainly, Mrs. Wilde. Why don’t we go to my private office? The rest of you begin without us. Mama, you and Felicity can host, yes?”
Lady Stenfax nodded, though her expression was worried. “Of course. Come, everyone. And don’t forget to bundle up. It’s chilly out, but that will only add to the stakes of game.”
“Whoever wins gets to go inside by the fire first,” Marina said with a laugh that lightened the mood considerably. Gray could have kissed her for that, and smiled at Folly before the couple started out the door as if nothing in the breakfast room was amiss.
There were some who hesitated before they followed, as if they were more interested in the strange interaction between the bridal families, but eventually Lady Stenfax got them moving. “Come, my dear,” she said to Felicity.
Felicity moved to follow her, but grasped Gray’s arm before she did. “Go with them,” she whispered.
Gray, of course, had every intention of doing just that, but he was surprised his sister would believe as much. “You think I have a place there?”
Her gaze narrowed. “Please, I am not blind. I seeexactlywhere your place is. And I fear what Rosalinde’s grandfather may do. Now go.”
Gray caught his breath. Felicity’s implication was clear. Had he been so obvious in his attentions to Rosalinde or did his sister simply know him so well?
Felicity squeezed his arm, then followed their mother out into the hall. All this time, the others had been unmoving, almost in a standoff. Fitzgilbert glared at Rosalinde, and finally she turned her attention on him.
“You needn’t join us,” she said softly.
Fitzgilbert’s face was turning redder with each passing second. “You don’t tell me a damned thing, girl. I’ll come right along.”
Rosalinde let out a long sigh, and it was Stenfax who broke the tension. “Come, let me escort you, Mrs. Wilde.”
“A good idea,” Celia responded as she gave a nervous glance at her grandfather.
Celia took his arm—reluctantly, it seemed—and followed Stenfax as he escorted Rosalinde out of the room and down the hall. Gray followed quietly, watching as Celia whispered into her grandfather’s ear. Clearly she was trying to mitigate the anger Rosalinde’s request had inspired. And it didn’t seem to be working.
