Sarah blushed as the group as a whole called out their greetings. Only one person did not acknowledge her entry with a friendly hello or wave. That was Kit. The duke was standing in the corner of the room with a few of the other men, and he speared her with a gaze she couldn’t read.
He was going to let her go. She knew it. He was only barely tolerating her before and now she had broken protocol entirely. She rolled her shoulders forward as she slipped to one side of the room away from the other guests. How she wished she could just curl into a tiny ball and roll away.
Especially when the man stepped away from his friends and began to cross toward her.
“Miss Carlton,” he said as he reached her.
She shook her head, clenching her hands at her sides. “The Duchess of Crestwood insisted I come down. She asked me, I did not encourage her.”
He brought his lips together with a shake of his head and actually looked confused by her statement. Then his eyebrows lifted and he glanced up and down her body. Appraising. Cool.
How many times had he looked at her just like that? Judging her.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “Meg said that, of course. I wasn’t coming over here to interrogate you on your sudden appearance in the room.”
“Oh,” she whispered, ducking her head as heat suffused her cheeks.
He was silent for a beat, and then he said, “How is my sister?”
She lifted her gaze and found him watching her intently. That was one thing she could grant him. He took the subject of his sister very seriously and clearly loved the little girl deeply. It was a very attractive facet to his complicated personality.
“A little rambunctious,” she admitted.
He gave a small smile and her heart fluttered. This man had very seldom allowed that expression around her. It made him even more handsome, which hardly seemed fair.
“Well, my sister has always been a bit wild,” he said with a shake of his head. “Not that I’m complaining. Her spirit kept this house filled with light, even as my father grew sicker.”
Sarah swallowed hard. Once again, she was moved by this man’s acceptance of his half-sister. Many men, especially ones as concerned with propriety, would be speaking to a governess about how to tame Phoebe’s wild heart. And one day, of course, the girl would need to temper herself. But he seemed in no hurry to rush that transformation.
“Her spirit is wonderful,” Sarah agreed, “for it is filled with sweetness, and that is lovely. However, right now I see something else beyond your sister’s normal playful impishness.”
He frowned. “You think it part of her grief.”
Sarah nodded. “Yes. She misses her father desperately.”
“I know how she feels,” Kit said with a sigh that revealed far more to Sarah than she thought he meant to. Then he tilted his head and examined her face. “I suppose you do, too. Your mother passed not that long ago.”
She caught her breath. “Nine months,” she admitted softly, and the pain shot through her like it was yesterday.
He shook his head. “I admit I hadn’t thought much about that until you reminded me of that fact after my father’s funeral. Under normal circumstances, you would still be in mourning.”
Sarah felt her cheeks brighten further. “Well, we do not get to choose our circumstances sometimes,” she whispered.
“I suppose not,” he said. “But you seem to make the best of it. You take very good care of Phoebe. I hope you know I recognize that fact.”
Sarah’s lips parted in surprise as she stared up into his face. For the first time in years he was not holding himself away from her, letting her know he hadn’t forgotten her bad behavior. In that moment he felt all the more…human. Their loss had connected them in ways she never would have expected, nor hoped for.
“I’m very glad to be here for her,” she said. “She has become so dear to me.”
His expression softened further. “I see that when you’re with her. And how dear you are to her. Even in the past few days, only you can coax a smile from her. Make her seem like a little girl again, not just a lamb lost in sorrow.”
“Time will…well, I won’t say heal. I hate that saying,” Sarah admitted. “But it will soften her heartbreak.”
He ducked his head. “I hope that is true. For her and for me. Do you—”
He broke off his question and she tilted her head. “Do I?”
He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I was going to ask you a forward question. One that has an answer I’m certain I am not owed.”
