“She is five,” Kit growled. “So whisper all you like and I will make sure that there will be consequences long before your words will matter to her. Now get out of my house. If you come back, I will not see you. If you ever approach my sister, I will make sure you regret it. Get out.”
Hannah let out a long sigh as she headed past them toward the door. “Well, I tried to do this the easy way. You won’t like the harder way. Good day, Christopher. And Miss Carlton…” Hannah smiled back at her over her narrow shoulder. “Good luck, my dear. Spread your legs enough and you might land him yet.”
Sarah could feel Kit’s rage all but pulsing from him, but he somehow managed to hold his tongue as the horrid Hannah Beckett walked away. She called impertinently for Barrymore to get her rig brought around, and Sarah’s stomach turned. She stumbled to the door and swung it shut as hard as she could to block out Hannah’s voice.
Then she came toward Kit, wishing her eyes were not brimming with tears. “Great God,thatis Phoebe’s mother?”
Kit nodded, his expression tight and sour. “Yes. Unfortunately.”
“You said she could be charming, I saw no evidence of that,” she said, marching to the window to watch Hannah’s departure from the drive and be sure she’d gone.
Kit shook his head. “She was when she met my father. She was a chameleon, and I suppose she became what he desired. I didn’t even oppose the affair when he told me he’d taken a mistress. He had been alone so long and she seemed to be good for him. He was happy with her for a time. She required a great deal of…upkeep. Not general upkeep, not something reasonable that a man might give to support a lover. Outrageous upkeep.”
“Money?” Sarah said. “More than money?”
“Yes. And time. I spoke to him about it and saw he was as troubled as I was by her growing demands. He was going to break it off when she declared herself with child. And then it spiraled into the mess it is now. I suppose she no longer feels it necessary to keep up the mask. She’s desperate, though.” He scowled at the door she’d left through. “I sensed that and I don’t like it. Desperation is dangerous in a person like that.”
Sarah frowned, for she heard the same desperation in Kit’s voice. Anger, desperation and fear. The fear pulsed beneath his surface, like a heartbeat. She moved toward him. “Oh, Kit.”
He clenched his fists at his sides. “How dare she? How dare she come into my home and threaten me? Threaten…” His voice broke. “Threatenher?”
Sarah couldn’t help herself. She cupped his cheeks, smoothing her fingers over them as if she could soothe away this hurt that went so deep. How she wanted to.
“I’ve lost too much, Sarah,” he gasped out, his voice trembling with the depth of his emotion.
“You will not lose your sister,” she promised. “Everything I said and you said to that horrible woman was true. She has no power in this situation. And we will protect Phoebe…together.”
He nodded against her hands and she felt some of the terror leave his body. Like saying it out loud and having her hear it had helped somehow. She hoped it had.
He caught one of her hands as she lowered them from his face, and lifted it to his lips. He brushed a kiss over her knuckles absently and then he stared off toward the window.
“I need to see Phoebe,” he whispered. “I just need to see her now.”
Sarah glanced at the clock. “They should be back momentarily,” she said, “if Barrymore was correct that they intended to return just after their picnic.”
Kit tensed a fraction. “Yes.”
As if on cue, there was a knock on the parlor door, and it opened to reveal Diana, Lucas and Phoebe together. They were all smiling and Lucas was laughing at something—it made his serious face all the lighter and younger.
Kit transformed in that moment. All his dark emotion was pushed aside and he dropped to his knees, his arms open as he cried out, “There she is!”
Phoebe let out a little giggle and then rushed across the room to him and into his arms. He hugged her for a moment, then stood up with her feet dangling around his hips as she squealed and laughed with glee.
Sarah glanced at Lucas and Diana and found them exchanging a look. From the sudden change in their expressions, it was obvious they sensed something was wrong, even if Kit showed very little of it. Sarah had heard whispers from the other duchesses that Lucas had once been a spy, so she supposed if anyone would be good at reading people, it would be him.
They both glanced at her. Not in question, but in concern. Sarah forced a smile and gave a tiny nod, even though she didn’t understand why they thought she would be involved in Kit’s upset.
“Did you have the best day, my love?” Kit asked as he swung Phoebe around to balance her on his hip.
She nodded with gusto. “Oh yes. Diana showed me all the plants that can heal a person. And a few that I am never to taste ever, ever.”
“Goodness,” Kit said with a wink for Diana. “Is she going to make you a healer yet?”
Phoebe grinned. “I want to be a healer, Kit. So I can save people like Lucas saved Sarah at the lake.”
A little color left Kit’s cheeks and he shot a side glance at Sarah. Then he smiled at his sister. “I think it’s a fine idea. But healers, I’ve heard told, need lots of rest. So I am going to take you upstairs and tell you a very soothing story and help tuck you in for a little sleep.”
Phoebe shook her head. “You are? Not Sarah?”
