Amelia clapped her hands together. “Oh, it’s mine, too! It took me ever so long to get it right, especially her eyes, because they’re so dark, but not at all flat like some dark eyes are. What’s her first name again?”
Cam cleared his throat. “Eleanor.”
“Lady Eleanor Sutherland.” Amelia tried the name out. “It’s a pretty name.”
“For a pretty lady,” Julian put in. “Do you think her pretty, Amelia?”
“Oh, yes. Pretty, and so kind. Funny, too. She made a joke about the cakes. Do you think she’s pretty, Denny?”
Cam looked at Julian, then back down at the picture of Ellie he held in his hand. “Yes.”
Just then Miss Norwood appeared at the door. “It’s time for your mathematics lesson, Amelia.”
Cam gathered the drawings in one hand and lifted Amelia off his lap. “Off you go, minx. Thank you for sharing these with me.” He held out the sheaf of drawings to her.
“Why not leave the one of Lady Eleanor for your brother, Amelia?” Julian asked. “I can tell he admires it.”
“All right.” Amelia took the other four drawings. “I was going to color them all, but I think Lady Eleanor is perfect just as she is.”
“I hate to sound prophetic,” Julian drawled as Amelia left, her hand in Miss Norwood’s. “But the phrase ‘out of the mouths of babes’ comes to mind.”
Cam took another long look at the drawing, then placed it in the middle of his desk, rose, and turned to stare out the window. “Perfect? Hardly. Lady Eleanor is stubborn, argumentative, and in her worst moments, ice wouldn’t melt on her tongue.”
“Heavy faults, indeed.” Julian stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Why the foolish woman can’t simply succumb to your threats and blackmail, I can’t imagine.”
Cam ignored this. “She’s not . . . she’s not what I expected. I’ll grant you that much.”
“No?” Cam didn’t turn around, but he heard a faint shuffle of papers, as if Julian had dragged the drawing back toward him across the desk. “Whatdid you expect?”
For reasons he didn’t care to probe, Cam had to restrain himself from snatching the drawing away from his cousin. “The usual insipid society belle. Dull. Frivolous. Selfish. Whatever else she may be, Eleanor Sutherland isn’t that.”
He turned back around in time to see Julian shrug. “You’ve only known her a few days. Maybe she is all of those things, and you just don’t know it yet.”
Cam shook his head. “No. She was kind to Amelia at Lady Abernathy’s party yesterday. She didn’t have to be.”
Julian snorted. “That’s hardly an accurate measure of her character. Who could be anything but kind to Amelia?”
Cam raised an eyebrow. “Playing devil’s advocate again, are you, cousin? I thought you’d be delighted to hear I’m reconsidering my approach to this problem.”
Julian straightened from his slouch. “Thereisno problem, except the one you’ve created, Cam. As I said the other day, it’s not too late to change your mind, but at some point soon it will be. Best to end this now, while you still can.”
“End it? Christ, Julian. It’s your voice that echoes in my head whenever my conscience berates me.”
Julian smiled. “I consider that a compliment.”
“I’m sure you do. Nevertheless, I have no intention of ending it, especially now I’ve seen how kind Eleanor Sutherland can be. You heard Amelia just now. She likes the lady.”
Julian’s smile faded. “Someone should warn Lady Eleanor her kindness isn’t about to be rewarded. You sound as if you’re saying, Cam, that her goodness somehow justifies your cruelty to her.”
Cam gaped at him.Cruelty?Surely it wasn’t as bad as that?
Clever or foolish, warm or cold, rich or poor. None if it matters.I don’t matter.
Her face had shut down when she’d said it, as if someone had yanked closed a curtain in a room filled with light. She’d insisted she wasn’t anyone special, and he’d let her believe he thought so, too. He’d let her think the only thing that mattered about her was the name Sutherland.
Wasn’t it true, though? Wasn’t it the only thing that mattered to him?
God, he didn’t know anymore. He knew only that everything about those moments with her had felt wrong.He’dfelt wrong, as if he wore someone else’s skin. Someone he thought he recognized, but didn’t.
