The room erupted with more laughter, the ladies and gentlemen braying like donkeys. Gentlemen nudged each other, ladies sent mocking glances one to the other, and Katherine raised her chin as the sound enveloped her. It rang off the walls, filling her ears before settling into her heart.
They all thought it such fun. So amusing. Just the height of ridiculousness. Forcing Mr. Archer to kiss the Leigh spinster.
Katherine swallowed, but her throat clamped tight, and she forced herself to keep her gaze upon the crowd. She would not be cowed. Not by them.
She gripped the sides of her skirts, her fingers digging into the cloth as she stared them down, her eyes narrowing. And Benjamin had the gall to stand at Miss Breadmore’s side with a little smirk on his lips. But then, this was naught but a bit of fun for him. A laugh at his sister’s expense.
Her brother.
Turning on her heel, Katherine escaped.
Chapter 31
Teeth grinding together, David forced himself not to shout at the hyenas as they guffawed, but his gaze bored into Benjamin’s. With narrowed eyes, he promised retribution before turning to follow Miss Leigh. Leaden Court was bursting at the seams, and though she was only a few steps ahead of him, the lady was quickly swallowed by the crowd.
Thankfully, she was no petite miss, and David spied her simple bun popping up here and there as she wove through the revelers. Following those little signs, he quickly found himself dumped out of a side door and into the night air.
“Miss Leigh,” he called, but she delved deeper into the gardens. David might’ve believed that she hadn’t heard him, but her shoulders stiffened at the sound of his voice, making it clear she had.
Being situated in town, the gardens behind the building were meager, so Miss Leigh did not have far to go, but she did not slow as she moved further away from the candlelight shining through the windows. And David did not surrender, continuing to follow her until she reached the far wall that divided the Breadmores’ property from the adjacent one.
Upon reaching the impediment, Miss Leigh didn’t pause as she turned to follow the line of masonry.
“Miss Leigh, please,” he said.
“What do you want, Mr. Archer?” she snapped, not slowing one bit as she marched beside the wall. “To assure me they meant no harm? That it was all in good fun?”
David forced his feet to match her pace, coming up beside her as he wove between the shrubs. “I—”
“I am not a fool, Mr. Archer. A kiss is a common enough forfeit, and they would never have laughed quite so hard had it been some pretty young miss they wished for you to kiss,” she said, clutching the sides of her skirts until they were hopelessly wrinkled.
Miss Leigh continued to storm about, and when she stopped to draw breath, David hurried to speak.
“You are correct.”
Stopping in place, Miss Leigh turned to face him, her chest heaving from the force of her breaths. Through the fire in her gaze, David spied the spark of sorrow that drove her, and his heart burned at the sight of it.
“They were mocking you, and it was wrong of them.” His hand itched to draw her into his arms, though the impulse left him blinking. Comfort was freely given between them, but not in that fashion. However, David couldn’t deny that the feeling had struck him—and lingered.
Miss Leigh dropped onto a bench nestled into the corner of the garden. “It feels as though the only time anyone pays me any mind is when there is a chance for mischief, and I do not understand why.”
David opened his mouth, though he didn’t have any words to offer up in explanation.
Though the shadows leeched the color from the world, the moon hung high above them, illuminating her face as Miss Leigh turned her gaze upward to meet his. “I know I am blunt and lack my sisters’ way with people, and my humor is far too dry for many—”
“You are delightful,” said David, though the lady seemed not to hear him.
“—and that I am not pretty or attractive in any fashion, but what is it about me that invites people to deride me? My own family…” Her voice quivered, and she dropped her head, rubbing at her forehead.
“I do not understand it at all, Miss Leigh.” David dropped onto the bench beside her, and following the impulse, he took her free hand in his.
“Why did Benjamin do it?” she whispered. “What have I ever done to earn his displeasure? I do not understand it at all. I suppose it is little wonder when the entire family treats me as though I have the plague, but never did I think he would embarrass me in such a fashion—”
“I do not believe he was trying to do so,” said David, scratching at the back of his head with his free hand.
“Then why?”
But David had no answer for that. Or rather, he had one, but it was not to be shared with her. For all that Benjamin likely had thought his actions subtle, clearly, the fool was trying his hand at playing matchmaker. And though anger flared through him at Benjamin’s heavy-handedness, another thought niggled its way into his mind.
