Charlotte stared at him a moment and then turned. “Ewan, didn’t you and Mama want to talk about improvements to the garden back in Donburrow? You even brought a diagram, I think.”
Ewan had been standing back, but now he arched a brow at his wife. Then he nodded and held out an elbow to the Duchess of Sheffield. She took it with a warm smile for her much-beloved son-in-law and said, “Oh, excellent, I’ve been so looking forward to the time I’ll spend with you later this summer. If we have all our plans made before then, it will make the visit all the more pleasant. Will you and Charlotte join us, Baldwin?”
“No, for I think I’d like to take a walk with Baldwin,” Charlotte answered for him. Her dark green eyes continued to hold his, even and unwilling to accept refusal.
Baldwin knew when he was beaten and held out an elbow. “To the garden, then,” he said.
Ewan and the duchess entered the house together, and Baldwin took his sister down the steps and around a pretty path that took them into his garden. Once they were out of earshot, he said, “And does Ewan really wish to talk to Mama about azaleas?”
Charlotte laughed softly. “Yes, he truly did. He really does plan to redesign the garden and Mama has such a talent in that arena. But he also knows when I want an excuse to be alone with my brother.”
“And he always gives you what you want,” Baldwin mused.
She glanced up at him, and her smile was soft and filled with pleasure. “He does,” she said. “The past five months of our marriage have been the happiest of my life. I love him, Baldwin. It makes all the difference in the world.”
Baldwin nodded slowly. “I’m very happy for you, then, Charlotte. I was hard on him during your…well, I suppose we’ll call it a courtship, despite how close we’ve always been. But it’s only because I wanted to keep you from grief.”
“Is that the same reason you lie to me now?” she asked, releasing his arm as they at last entered the garden. “To keep me from grief?”
He hesitated. Charlotte had been pressing him to reveal his troubles for a long time. Years, probably. He always dodged it. Now he felt even more of a drive to do so. If she told Ewan then everyone in their group of friends would know.
Humiliations galore would follow, even if intentions were the best.
“Lie to you?” he said, keeping his tone light. “You wound me.”
He paced away but felt her watching him. Her concern was palpable.
“I’m no fool,” she said softly. “Is it so very bad that you can’t trust me?”
He pivoted. “You assume there is some heavy secret on my shoulders. Can you not just believe that I am merely a more serious person than my friends and leave it at that?”
She tilted her head. “Dearest brother, I have been a keen observer of your behavior for twenty-five years. You’ve changed in the last five of them. Since Father died.”
He flinched. “Well, how could I not be changed? I became a duke, did I not? There are responsibilities—”
“It’s more than that,” she interrupted, coming to take his hands. He allowed it, even as he fought to keep his expression neutral. She stared into his face for a moment, then sighed. “Very well, I can see I’m making things worse with my prying rather than better. You know that I love you and that I am here for you if you change your mind.”
He nodded before he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “I do know both those things. I appreciate them, I assure you.”
Her concern had not left her face, but she smiled regardless. “Let me change the subject then.”
“Do!” he encouraged with a laugh as he motioned for her to walk with him.
“Mama seems determined to parade a cadre of ladies before you this Season. So many ‘prospects’ today that it made my head spin. Have any of them caught your eye?”
Baldwin swallowed as he pictured the one and only lady in attendance who did capture his interest: Helena. When she’d intruded upon him in his office, he had wanted such things. Things his normally very proper brain didn’t let him think about. He was a gentleman, raised by a gentleman. One did not think about grabbing ladies and kissing them. Nor of shutting the office door and…well, doing more than merely kiss.
That those impulses reared up in him around Helena was shocking, frankly. It set him on his heels.
“I shall turn the question on you,” he said. “You met all my prospects today. Are there any that you could call sister without pulling a face?”
Her expression softened. “I would accept anyone you married, assuming she made you happy.”
Baldwin bent his head. Happiness was not in the equation at present. “That doesn’t count as a response. You always have an opinion.”
“I’ve known most of your prospects for years,” she said slowly. “They’re all decent enough people. None have the...the spark that I thought you’d seek. The only stranger in our midst was that American girl, Charity Shephard.”
Baldwin swallowed. Here was Charlotte, dancing ever closer to the truth. “She’s interesting, I’d say.”
