Emma sighed as she returned her attention to the green expanse before her. She was just beginning to get comfortable when she heard the veranda door shut behind her. When she turned, it wasn’t Meg who was reentering the terrace.
It was Abernathe.
James came to a short stop as he looked across the veranda and found Emma Liston at the wall a few feet away. She was staring at him, those entrancing eyes wide. She darted out her tongue to wet her lips before she whispered, “Your Grace” in a husky tone that hit him straight in the gut.
He shook his head slightly. Damn Meg. She’d sent him out to the garden without telling him that Emma was still here.
“Miss Liston,” he managed as he strode toward her. “I didn’t realize you had stayed.”
There was a beat where she seemed to be trying to find words and then she said, “Your sister asked me to remain. She wanted to take a turn around the garden together.”
She smiled slightly and James wrinkled his brow. It was the first time he’d seen her smile and though it was not broad, it was a pretty smile. It changed the shape of her face and drew his eyes to her full lips.
“And then she abandoned you,” James said. “Bad form, Meg.”
Emma took a long step toward him, hand outstretched. “Oh no!” she gasped. “Not at all.”
Her true upset at the idea that she would get Meg in trouble warmed him, and he smiled as he ducked his head a little closer. “I was only teasing.”
“Oh,” she said, her hand dropping back to her side. He found he was a little disappointed in that. He wished she’d touched him. He forced that desire away as she said, “Of course.”
“Certainly your brothers must do the same,” he said. “It is our prerogative, you know.”
She shook her head slowly. “I have no brothers, Your Grace.”
“Ah, I see,” he said with a grin. “Sisters, then. Poor girl.”
She laughed and the small smile became a larger one. James could hardly breathe at the sight of it. Good Lord, that wide expression transformed her into something entirely lovely.
“It is just me, I’m afraid.”
He moved another step closer. “Would you like to walk with me?”
The moment he asked the question, he drew back a fraction. Why had he done that?
Emma hesitated and her gaze slid to the doors to the house. James wondered at that beat of reluctance. Most women would have none. He knew a match with him was considered valuable. Especially for a woman in Emma’s position.
“You—you needn’t trouble yourself,” she said at last.
He tilted his head. “It is no trouble, Miss Liston. It would be a pleasure.” He held out his arm. “Please.”
“And what about your sister? She’ll be back any moment and she expects me to be here.”
He smiled. “Meg won’t fly into a rage, I assure you. And she’ll be able to see us from the terrace. I’m certain she’ll simply catch up to us and the two of you can carry on with your walk.”
She hesitated again, and he was fascinated by the fact that her reluctance made him want her acceptance all the more. Finally she nodded, and it was like he’d won a prize as she took his arm and allowed him to guide her to the stairs that led down to the garden.
She was quiet as they moved toward the pathway through the garden and he said, “It is rare for a family to be so small. No brothers or sisters.”
He thought he saw a brief shadow cross her face, and then she said, “Well, my parents were not blessed with more than one child. Your family is little better, though, isn’t it? With all your talk of brothers and sisters, it is only you and Meg.”
He nodded. “Yes, I suppose that is true. I sometimes forget.”
She laughed as she glanced up at him. “You forget you have no other siblings? That is a fairly large thing to forget, my lord.”
He smiled at her teasing. Once again, he was struck by how unlikely it was that another lady of his acquaintance would do the same. They were so often grasping to make an impression, to make a match.
Emma was different. And he found that inspired candor in him that he might not have had with another person.
