When Mrs. Randall came by with Dom’s breakfast plated up, Tristan declined to order any for himself.
“I’ll go and let Tess know the plan and then begin gathering the men,” he told Dom. “We’ll get a few feet down before sunset, I wager.”
“I’ll join you at the site within the hour.”
Tristan gave him a mock salute and made as if to stand.
“How is Miss Hawthorne?” Dom couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Ah,” the lady’s brother said knowingly.
Dom didn’t know what to make of the man’s inscrutable expression. “Is she unwell?”
“Tess is always well,” he told him. “Or at least she pretends to be. She keeps a great deal to herself.” Tristan took another sip of his coffee and set the mug down, then flicked his gaze up to look at Dom straight on.
“I considered inviting her today but...” Dom stumbled out, but he loathed volunteering anything to Tristan if Tess hadn’t told him about the night at the Walcotts’.
“Look,” her brother began, “Tess would have my bollocks for prying, but what sort of a brother would I be if I didn’t?”
“I take it you plan to pry.”
Tristan looked off into the distance a moment. “I may play the fool, Dominic, but I’m not blind or unobservant.”
“I never thought you were. I wouldn’t hand a full bag of coin to a fool.”
Tristan dipped his head in acknowledgment. “I suspect something happened at the Walcotts’.”
Dom opened his mouth to speak, and Tristan stopped him with his palm out.
“I require no details. My sister is a grown woman and needs no approval or permission from me for her actions.”
“I agree,” Dom told him.
“You fancy her.” Tristan didn’t ask or even sound accusing. It was a mere fact. Dom had no doubt that anyone within ten feet of him when he was near Tess could sense his reaction to her.
But what could he admit to her twin?
“Any man would.” The quip was too blithe, too flippant. “Yes,” he rushed to add. “Though we are barely acquainted.”
Tristan frowned. “Time doesn’t factor into such things, does it?”
“No,” Dom admitted.
Tristan took a deep breath, gripped the back of his neck, and then finally blurted, “Tread lightly with Tess.”
“Lightly?”
He stared up at the inn’s ceiling. “I know the Almighty is chuckling right now that I must be the one to explain this. I, who have caused more heartache than I have a right to.”
“I would never—”
“No,” Tristan cut in. “I never intend to either, but it happens all the same. Matters of the heart are never without risk. Not truly. Even when it seems like nothing more than scratching a carnal itch.”
Dom swallowed hard. There had been a few ladies who’d sought more from him than he’d been able to offer in return. But, with his reputation, most understood that any liaison would be fleeting.
“Are you warning me to steer clear of your sister? At least in that regard?” Dom asked the young man. “State it clearly if you are.”
Eve had attracted undesirable suitors, and Dom had considered stepping in more than once, though she’d proven quite adept at putting them off herself.
