Or, maybe Peter was the only person he had confided in because it was embarrassing.
She just wished he would tell her because if one was trying so hard to keep something a secret then it was very important.
“Do you always rise so early?”
Deborah jumped at Percy’s question and whipped around. Except, he wasn’t standing in the doorway as she had expected but sitting up on the sofa. His hair was mussed and clothing wrinkled and a blanket was over the rest of his body.
“Did you sleep here last night?” She had not even noticed him when she had entered the room. Of course, she had gone straight to the window and assumed nobody else was about.
“It had not been my intention but when faced with the stairs, I made my way in here where I knew the sofa would be long enough for my frame.”
“I will leave you.” Deborah started to cross the room. This was an intimacy that she had not anticipated. The house was silent except for the two of them, and he was rising from slumber.
“No. Do not go,” he insisted.
Deborah was torn. She wanted to remain with Percy but it also put her heart in danger.
“What were you thinking about when you were standing at the window?” he asked.
If she told him that it was about his nose, would he tell her?
Did she even want him to know that she thought about him so much?
No. At least not yet.
Deborah turned and walked back to where she’d been standing. “This day does not feel much different from any other day,” she finally said. “While it does not happen as much as I prefer, there is a better chance of snow being on the ground at Danby Castle than there ever will be in Oxfordshire,” Deborah said. “It is odd, but this is the first time that I have associated snow and Christmas and find that I rather miss it.”
“Or could it be the cold?”
“I suppose that is a possibility,” she chuckled. “Or maybe it is not being in a castle. This is the first Christmas that I can remember not being at Danby Castle surrounded by dozens of relatives.”
“You miss it and them and now wish you would have gone to the castle.”
“I may miss some of my cousins, but I am much happier here,” she assured Percy. “No doubt I have likely earned the ire of Danby and will be avoiding him as much as possible in the future.”
Percy laughed, then winced as he stood.
Deborah rushed forward to grab the cane that had fallen and handed it to him. “Does your knee pain you terribly?”
“Not as much as last night, but it is stiffer. I likely only need to walk.”
Once he was steady, Deborah returned to the window, even though she should leave. It was not right that they were alone so early in the morning.
Except, she couldn’t make herself do so and soon, Percy was standing beside her.
“I wish to apologize,” he said quietly.
Deborah’s heart seized. She wanted to know why he left without a goodbye and decided last night that she was going to ask, but now she was afraid of the answer, which made her a coward. “You already have and I will assure you that I will never ask you to dance with me again.”
“That is not what I meant.”
She knew that as well. “You never said goodbye.” There, she had said it—the one thing that had hurt the most.
“I wanted to but was prevented from doing so.” That was a lie because she couldn’t imagine who would keep him from doing such a thing.
“You had not even given me any indication that you intended to leave so soon, just that your father had asked you to return home.”
“Because it came about suddenly.”
