His expression was surprised, but then his gaze flowed over her from head to toe and his face lit up. It lit up just as the other dukes' faces had done when they saw their wives.
He left behind whoever it was he was talking to before she came into the room and then he was gliding toward her, that gaze never leaving her face. Her heart was throbbing and she fought the urge to fidget as he reached her at last and caught her hand.
“You came,” he murmured.
She nodded. “You asked.”
He arched a brow playfully. “And you refused. But I am glad you changed your mind. You look…stunning, Sarah. Absolutely beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, unable to raise her voice any further when he was looking at her like that. Like she was his. Like he didn’t give a damn if anyone knew it. “Meg and the other duchesses were a great help after they convinced me to take your invitation. Katherine’s gown, Isabel’s jewelry, and Meg’s maid did magic of some kind on my hair.”
He shook his head. “And none of that is why you outshine every other person in this room.”
Her lips parted. “Kit,” she whispered.
He stepped in, and for a moment his expression said he wanted to kiss her. And God, how she wanted that, too, despite standing in the middle of the ballroom. Despite the fact that the world was watching.
He blinked and looked around, as if he had remembered himself. Then he stepped back again. “I will not be dancing tonight, for obvious reasons,” he said. “But I am glad you’re here. I must see to my guests now, though. I think I may have utterly abandoned Lord Middleton and his wife mid-sentence.”
“Of course. Perhaps we’ll have a moment later.”
He squeezed her hand and finally released it. “I can guarantee I will find a moment with you, Sarah.”
He turned and left her, and she watched him go. But when she was alone, she let out a sigh. When Kit was with her, nothing else mattered. But now, standing in the middle of the room, all those eyes flitting over her, she felt a little lost.
Because her place in the world was no longer clear. And she had no idea how to find it.
Chapter Fifteen
Kit forced yet another smile as one of his guests told a story about the late duke. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the tales of his father’s kindness or strength or friendship—he very much did. He also knew they were kindly meant. And yet each word about the man he’d lost felt like a dagger to his heart. But he was not allowed to demonstrate his grief. Men were expected to stiffen their lips and never let it show. He would have to hold it in until he was alone…or with Sarah.
She never judged him for letting that grief flow.
He’d been thinking a great deal about Sarah tonight. It was impossible not to watch her, a goddess in blue, as she glided across the floor, chatted with his friends or sipped her drink along the wall.
As his companion droned on, he found her in the crowd again, but this time his heart sank a fraction. She was standing with Lord Geoffrey, heir to the Earl of Edencross. The man was young, handsome, and he seemed enamored with Sarah at present, if the way he leaned forward to attend to her conversation was any indication.
He frowned just as his companion, Mr. Jonas Kline, said, “Wouldn’t you say, Your Grace?”
He blinked and forced himself to attend. “I’m sorry?”
“I was just saying that you must be thrilled to finally take on the title of Duke of Kingsacre,” he said, his expression one of annoyance. “You’ve been waiting many a year. It must have been difficult as your father dragged out his end.”
Kit’s eyes went wide at the hideous, vulgar implication. But his expression didn’t slow his companion’s awful words. “And now you have all that was his,” he continued with a tipsy chuckle. “Money, lands, even that comely governess. What’s his is now yours, in every sense, eh?”
Kit might have been able to simply dismiss this man in disgust on a normal night. Mark him off as a person he would never interact with again and leave it at that. He’d never been one to have a loud, public altercation, not like some of his friends.
But tonight was not a normal night. It was too close to his father’s death, too close to the near tragedy at the lake days before, too close to the fact that Sarah was smiling at Lord Geoffrey, and it made Kit want to scream. He reached out and caught Mr. Kline by the lapels, yanking him forward.
“What the hell did you just say to me?” he growled right in the bastard’s face.
“I—just—I meant—” Kline stammered.
Before he could finish, before Kit could go too far, Ewan, Hugh and Lucas were suddenly at his side. As Ewan gently put a hand on his, meeting his gaze and telling him everything he needed to hear without words, the other two pulled Kline away.
“Enough, Kit,” Hugh said gently as he glared at Kline.
Kit shook his head and looked around the room. Everyone was staring now. Even the orchestra had stopped playing. Sarah was watching, too, her lips slightly parted as she stepped forward, away from her companion, and just…watched him.
