Debnam emerged from the library as she passed. “Good to see you downstairs, Laura.”
Could he really be pleased to see her when she hardly looked her best? She couldn’t help but smile, thinking of what he’d initially planned for the two of them, and what he’d gotten instead.
Amused, gray eyes met hers. “Why the smile?”
“My brother is rallying,” she said to put him off.
“Mm. Not in the best of tempers, is he?”
“No. I’m sorry. But if he continues to improve, we shall be able to leave within a few days.”
“I am not eager for that to happen, Laura,” he said. She found herself pleased that he felt that way. “Will you join me for luncheon?”
“Thank you. I will. Now that Robert improves, I find so has my appetite,” she admitted.
At one end of the long dining table, everything necessary for a light meal had been laid out. A joint of cold lamb, sliced ham, cheese, bread rolls, butter, salad, and plum pie and cream.
After serving them, the footmen left the room. She wondered if Debnam had banished them.
“Wine?” he asked.
“No, thank you. If I drink wine, I shall fall asleep at the table.”
“You are tired.”
Not quite the glamorous mistress he envisaged, she thought with regret. A failure all around.
His eyebrows rose. “Did you go to bed at all last night?”
“Now that Robert is gaining in strength, I shall sleep well tonight.”
He nodded and attacked the leg of lamb with a carving knife, cutting neat slices.
“Lamb?”
“Yes, please.” She put a little mustard on her plate and buttered a roll. Adding a slice of lamb, she took a large bite. “Mm. Heavenly,” she said, chewing, a hand to her mouth.
He laughed. “My chef, Arnaud, will be pleased. After we eat, will you come for a walk? We can visit the rose garden.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “You first ordered me there some days ago.” She wanted to tease him. To make him laugh again. His laugh was infectious and made her grin. And he so rarely laughed.
“I ordered you?”
“You are inclined to order me about. How do you know I didn’t go to see the roses?”
He narrowed his eyes, then smiled. “And have you?”
“No,” she admitted with a grin.
“I know this much about you, Laura. You would never leave your brother if he needed you. Not for such a frivolous reason. Or am I wrong?”
“I suppose you are right,” she admitted. While a little flattered, she disliked how easily he saw through her when he himself remained a mystery. And he obviously intended to keep it that way. She had hoped they might talk about what troubled him, but he clammed up when she gently prodded. Accepting it, Laura felt happy just being here with him.
“I always know when you’re unsure, or in doubt,” he said softly. “You catch your bottom lip in your teeth.”
It sounded so intimate, which was absurd, but she ducked her head and continued to cut her meat. He could read her like a book. It didn’t seem fair. “I shall be careful not to do so in the future,” she said. She looked up and saw he watched her, his gray eyes troubled. The light-hearted moment they had shared vanished, as fragile as a bubble that floated away and burst too soon.
“Well, as I clearly haven’t seen the rose garden, will you escort me there?” she said, a lift in her voice, wanting to regain their earlier lighthearted banter.
