Page 19 of The Lyon Deception

Not that he was going to tell Cat that.

He decided to change the subject. “Tell me about your family.”

If she noticed his sleight of hand, she didn’t say so, but smiled and proceeded to tell him about her parents and her three brothers, their wives and her niece and nephew. She spoke for some time, her voice lilting and warm, showing how much she loved them all. But of course she did, he reminded himself, if for their sake she was willing to come down to London and confront him and ask for his help. It would be nice if someone loved him that much, so much that they would be willing to sacrifice anything for him.

Not that he expected Cat to sacrifice herself! He just wanted her to see him as the sort of man she wanted to spend her life with.

“I am going on. I’m sorry,” she said with a laugh. “Tell me about your family, Mr. Sutherland.”

No, not going to happen. Luckily the dance ended, so he didn’t have to lie again. Sinclair was leading her back to a clear spot by the wall, when a woman intercepted them.

“Cat, there you are! I thought I had lost you. Not a good admission for a chaperone.”

She resembled Cat enough that he knew at once this was the aunt. Unlike Cat’s auburn locks, this woman’s hair was fair turning to gray, and her eyes also gray. At the moment, they were turned suspiciously on Sinclair.

“Aunt Jennie,” Cat greeted her warmly. “Here is my aunt,” she declared, with a smile that suggested everyone should rejoice. “Aunt Jennie, this is Mr. Sutherland. The Snowden sisters and I met him the other day. Did I mention the carriage?”

Aunt Jennie looked a little bewildered, so obviously she hadn’t heard about that, but she still held out her hand to Sinclair. “How do you do? My niece makes friends wherever she goes. I have trouble keeping track of them.”

That put him in his place. He bowed over her hand and said how do you do in return. When he straightened, she was still regarding him with a slightly unfriendly air.

“Mr. Sutherland?” she said. “I have not heard the name. I have been in London long enough to know most of the people who move in the social circles.”

“I have not heard of you either, Countess,” Sinclair said, and then fervently wished he hadn’t when the countess’s eyes narrowed.

Cat gave an anxious laugh. “I have no partners for the next dance. Shall we?”

Aunt Jennie clicked her tongue at her niece’s forwardness, but Sinclair was glad of it. It gave him a chance to escape before matters got worse.

“My aunt is worried something I do will upset my father the duke,” Cat said quietly, as soon as they were out on the dance floor. “After what happened with my brothers, he thinks I’ll do something just as scandalous. And Aunt Jennie is certain he will blame her.”

“Like marry the Master of Armytage,” he spoke before he had thought better of it.

Cat’s smile faded, and her expression turned serious. “Dinna joke. I am beginning to wonder if it might come to that.”

Sinclair sought for something to say. He hit on, “Maybe he isn’t as bad as you think?”

She stared up at him in surprise. “Do you know him?”

“Not—not really,” he managed. God, what was wrong with him? Couldn’t he just enjoy this moment with her? Why was he making it strange when this chance may never come again?

“Well, I have heard he is the sort of man who doesn’t have a care in the world apart from himself. He spends money like water and drinks himself into a stupor every night, and then sleeps most of the day. His grandfather seems happy to let him do so, as long as he is thought of as a gentleman. Evidently that is how a ‘gentleman’ behaves.”

Her voice was scathing, and he was shocked by her words. Was what she was saying true? Was the man she was describing really Sinclair? Had he become such a despicable creature? He hadn’t thought so, and he didn’t now. Well, not entirely anyway. It was true he had done some of those things and wasted the past couple of years of his life, yes, but surely he wasn’t completely beyond redemption. He knew that with Cat at his side that redemption was possible. He could be Sinclair Robertson again, the boy who had seen his place in the world so clearly and been so happy. If she believed in him, then anything was possible.

“Not everything is completely dark, because there is always some light,” he said carefully and with frightening honesty. “Maybe the Master just needs someone to bring out his better qualities.”

She was still staring at him, and then she gave an uneasy laugh. “Anyone would think you wanted me to marry him,” she said, sounding hurt.

“No,” he said quickly. “I don’t want that.”

“Are you sure?” she retorted.

“Oh, I am very sure,” he said.

She was searching his face, trying to read his thoughts, and he let her. He wanted her to see how he felt. Color rose to her cheeks and she gave a shaky laugh. “I wish—” she began.

But the moment couldn’t last. A voice called out from the crowd to the side of them, loud enough to be heard through the music and the chatter. “Master!”