Page 80 of The Wedding-Crashing Duchess

Augusta immediately regretted the confession. “You heard me.”

“I did, but I want to hear it again.”

“Temperance.”

Charity’s eyes had widened, but unlike Temperance, she seemed more delighted than scandalized. “When?”

“Last night.”

“After dinner?”

“Yes.”

Alethea sat down beside Charity. “And when you say almost…”

“I mean almost. He did not actually kiss me.”

Temperance looked offended on Augusta’s behalf. “Why not?”

“How should I know?”

“You were there.”

“That does not mean I had access to his thoughts.” Augusta’s cheeks warmed again. “I am beginning to regret telling you any of this.”

Charity reached for her hand. “Ignore Temperance. Tell us what happened.”

Augusta looked at her sister, then at Alethea. Both were waiting without impatience now.

She drew a breath. “It began the evening before, I suppose. Ronan, Sarah, and I spent some time together. We were reading stories, and Sarah eventually fell asleep. Ronan and I were sitting close to one another, and our legs touched. It was nothing. Truly. It should have been nothing. But suddenly I became so aware of him that I could hardly think. My palms were warm, my face felt hot, and when he noticed and asked whether I was ill, he touched my forehead.”

Temperance’s lips twitched but Alethea intervened. “Continue.”

Augusta sighed. “I panicked and told him it was late. He thought I was sick. Apparently he continued thinking that, because last night after Gregory left he asked whether I was feeling better.”

They were listening to every word that Augusta was saying now, and she felt herself blush deeply.

“He kept asking what had been wrong with me, and I kept insisting that I had never actually been ill. Eventually we stood to leave. We reached the door together and ended up rather close.”

“How close?” Temperance asked.

Augusta refused to answer.

“Very close, then.”

“Would you stop interrupting?”

Temperance pressed her lips together. “I am only trying to extract all the details I can out of her.”

Augusta continued. “I stepped away from him. He noticed and asked whether he had done something wrong. I told him no, but apparently I moved away again, and then he became convinced I was angry with him.”

Alethea smiled faintly. “That sounds rather sweet.”

“It did not feel sweet while he was interrogating me.”

Charity laughed. “What happened then?”

“He asked whether I was afraid of him.”