by Heather Boyd
She looked at her brother in honest surprise. “Gracious, no. Felicity is a little rough around the edges, and that is understandable. I would say she learned a great deal from her mother, and from Mrs. Roper, too, I suspect. There might be a few things she has forgotten, but that is nothing that cannot be resolved. She is a lovely girl.”
Percy’s smile was quick to appear. “Every day, Felicity reminds me of her mother. My Marianne was exceptional. Even the duke remarked upon it.”
“I was not aware that Exeter knew your wife.”
“Oh, yes. Did I not tell you we saw him often in the first years of our marriage? He sent us our marriage bed as a wedding gift from the ducal estate itself. Baroque mahogany wood tester. Took six men to carry it in and set it to rights. Ugly but sturdy piece. My wife adored it.”
She hid her astonishment over Sinclair’s extravagant and odd choice of gift. “I am sure you slept very well in it together.”
“Who slept?” Percy chipped in, and then laughed, too. “God, how I miss her still.”
Kitty nodded. “She was a good woman who loved you.”
Percy glanced over her shoulder to the far door. “She loved our girl. She wanted so much for her that I cannot give. I don’t even know where to start,” he finished, a look of helplessness coming over his features.
She leaned forward and set her hand on Percy’s sleeve. “Then let me help, brother. Let me prepare her to make a good match.”
“Can you really help her?” He sat back, scowling.
“I meant what I said earlier. I can be of assistance to Felicity in so many ways. Etiquette, new gowns, and I have determined to set a small sum of funds aside for her future.”
“She has a dowry,” Percy admitted. “I can give her that at least.”
“A larger one will make her quite the catch for the right man when the time comes.”
“You will make her love you, and then break her heart when you leave us again.”
Kitty sat back. Yes, her leaving was an obstacle to making any long term plans, but there was nothing particular to draw her back to Ireland immediately. What could it hurt to stay longer for the girl’s benefit? But if Kitty told Percy she was considering it, he would hold her to it. He could be inflexible.
If she broke her word to him, he might not speak to her again. They had been estranged for a long enough portion of her life that Kitty would prefer not to risk it again. She hated to think of living through that hell of silence once more. “I can promise I am not going anywhere in the foreseeable future.”
Percy narrowed his eyes. “His grace has invited my daughter and me to his birthday celebrations at Grafton Park this Christmas. Will you stay that long?”
Again, she was surprised. She was not aware that her brother and the duke were still close enough for that, but glad of it for Felicity’s sake. The ducal estate had been lovely at any time of year. “Has he?”
“Indeed. Exeter made a passing remark that you could join us, too, if you had an interest in returning home. I remember you liked that sort of thing when you were young. The parties and dancing all night.”
“Yes, I did like it very much.” She had liked being anywhere Sinclair would be, too.
Percy worried his lip. “You spent the last summer before marriage staying at the manor.”
“Yes. I met my husband there, and we both had a delightful stay.”
“I will accept to give Felicity this chance, but only if you attend, too,” Percy decided, nodding slowly. “No sense me suffering alone.”
The thought of being under the same roof as Sinclair again made her heart race, but she was an old woman now, and those days of indiscretion were far behind her. The last time had nearly ended in her disgrace. She had skirted ruin because of Sinclair and their unacceptable liaison.
Making a quick decision, she nodded. If the invitation had come from anyone else, she would have already jumped at the opportunity to attend. She could put her feelings about the past and Exeter behind her. “I would be happy to go as long as you give some thought to improving your wardrobe before then.”
“I knew that would be the next order from your lips,” Percy complained, and then he stood and grasped her arm firmly. He lifted her roughly to her feet and started dragging her to the hall door.
“Percy whatever are you doing?”
“Shutting you up before I change my mind,” he warned. “You haven’t changed a bit. I know how your mind works. Now that Christmas is decided, there’s nothing more to say to each other today. Get back where you belong before you start complaining about the state of my home, too.”
“It could use a woman’s touch. Percy!” she protested as he hoisted her off her feet then, and carried her to the door. The doorway loomed, and she stretched out her arms until her fingers scraped the walls in a bid to slow his progress. But he was much stronger than she was and she made little impact.
As had happened when younger, she was altogether unable to influence him to behave like a gentleman when they were alone. He got the front door thrown open easily enough. “This is really so unnecessary and childish that you will throw me out for suggesting a visit to your tailor is overdue. We’re much too old for such behavior.”
His arms tightened about her briefly and then eased into a warm, brotherly embrace. Although it lasted but a moment, she was touched at his gesture.
“You might think it’s childish, but I prefer to think of it as self-defense.” Percy suddenly dropped her on the pavement outside his front door. “You’re still the same managing wench you always were. Enough for one day, Kitty, before I change my mind about the whole thing. We will call on you tomorrow.”
She was not really worried that he would change his mind—he rarely did. Just to be sure, she threw her weight against the weathered door when he tried to shut it in her face. “Do you promise?” she pestered him through the small gap that remained. “At eleven.”
He held the door firm against her pushing and she saw him roll his eyes. “I will bring her to you at Lady Darrow’s home tomorrow, I swear.”
Kitty let him snap the door shut, and turned away smiling. She’d won today but tomorrow would be another battle.
Chapter 7
“You seem anxious tonight, cousin,” Teddy murmured, bringing Sinclair back to his surroundings with an unpleasant thump. They were on their way to Lord and Lady Dencourt’s home for an evening entertainment he could not avoid again, but he was not anxious about it. Sinclair had been thinking about Kitty again, and how hard it seemed to be to clear his schedule enough to make that important call to her. To his frustration, he had not found a way to see her during normal calling hours.
Seeing Kitty, demanding an explanation for why she’d left him, was essential, but it was a delicate conversation that could not be rushed. He could not just blurt out his question and expect a satisfactory answer delivered promptly, and then leave immediately once he had one.
His stomach was tied up so much in knots that confronting her was starting to feel akin to dread. “I am quite well.”
Teddy raised one brow, but he made no further comment.
Sinclair made an effort to flatten his hands on his thighs. The event was still another block away, and as much as he’d now rather not be going out at all tonight, he tried to remember he had a motive.
He studied Teddy in the poorly lit carriage, trying to see him as a woman might. Objectively. If not for the livery he was wearing yet again, he might just be handsome enough to have women swoon over, if they possessed that sort of fainting disposition and a taste for theatrics.
Teddy caught his eye. “I have meant to ask, who was that woman you spoke to the other night?”
“Who?”
“The one you chased through the pleasure gardens. Kitty, I think you called out to her. Is she someone I should know about?”
Sinclair looked away from his heir. He would not pretend he was not acquainted with Kitty to anyone, though he would hide the fact they’d be
en lovers. “The lady I spoke to was Mr. Hunter’s sister. Her name is Lady Catherine Forbes, but we called her Kitty before her marriage.”
“You never mentioned Mr. Hunter had a sister.”
“Did I not?” After the first two decades without her, Sinclair had not imagined he’d see her again. He’d been surprised, shocked in fact. Too taken off guard to remember the proprieties and use her title. He shook his head. “I am sure a decade will not be enough time to have told you half of what I know, so do not hold it against me for forgetting one lady. According to her brother, Kitty has only just returned to London. Should our paths cross again, I would introduce you to her if our agreement allowed it.”
“No, that will not be necessary.” Teddy shifted in his seat, a sign of his discomfort. “You seemed very keen to keep talking to her, even if she ran away. Did you believe she can help control her brother?”
“I have no notion if she could. I had not thought of her in a very long time, but suddenly she was there in front of me, and I wanted to keep talking to her. I knew her very well once, but as I said, it was a long time ago.” Teddy looked to be waiting for him to continue. “She was my sister’s childhood companion. Percy Hunter was mine.”
That statement fell far short of what Kitty had meant to him, but he could not speak the truth to Teddy without risking damage to her reputation.
Teddy smiled sympathetically. “But Percy Hunter isn’t really your friend now, even if you still call him that.”
“He is probably the only real friend I have ever had. He tends to forget I possess a title when we talk together.” He brushed imaginary lint from his coat sleeve. “But of course, I have no need for Hunter’s companionship with you around now.”
“There’s always room for one more good friend in your life, Sinclair. Someone more true and good than you usually associate with would be only to your benefit. You could see more of him if you cleared your busy schedule,” Teddy suggested. “She was quite striking, for an older woman.”
“Yes,” he agreed. Kitty had been a beauty in her youth, and once he’d belonged to her, body and soul. He distinctly remembered how he’d loved to see her pale hair unbound, floating about her shoulders…or on his pillow at night.
Sinclair slammed the door on that memory and threw away the key. Now was not the time to delve into his past amours. Not when he was uncertain how important those days were to anyone but him. Besides, he had a party to go to and pretend to enjoy.
“We’re here,” he murmured, glad to escape the confines of the carriage. Teddy questioned him less when others were around, but his ears were always open, gobbling up information to ask about later. If there was any talk about Kitty tonight, he would have to hide his interest in it.
He swept up the stairs, Teddy following three paces behind as usual.
They were late, and their hosts had already finished greeting guests in the entrance hall, thankfully. Sinclair had timed his arrival well to miss the gushing welcomes of excitement, and he was pleased with himself.
A waiting footman directed them toward the music and a room full of brightly dressed people.
Sinclair paused just inside the doorway, sweeping the room with his eyes for people he wanted to speak to, and those he would want to avoid tonight. He was in luck that there were more friends than toadies in the room, not that he had any great enemies to cause him trouble.
His hosts for the night noticed him at last and rushed to welcome him, offering him enthusiastic thanks for attending their little party.
Sinclair’s whole life had been filled with such meaningless gatherings, and he went through the motions of being delighted to be here so no one would suspect otherwise.
A servant bearing a tray filled with glassware approached, but he waved the man away because he had spotted Lord Wade and his new bride across the room. Sinclair owed the viscount a debt he wanted to repay promptly. He moved in that direction, deciding that he would speak to them first tonight out of all others here.
As he crossed the room, he became aware that a number of ladies in attendance were snapping out their fans, fluttering them before their faces. He thought of Kitty, and sighed inwardly that she’d used hers in an entirely different fashion. Women could be so foolish when he appeared at small gatherings like this, but not Kitty. He hoped no one swooned on his account tonight. It was all so embarrassing and pointless.
He had never been drawn to women who employed theatrics to attract attention.
The new Lady Wade dipped into a deep curtsy as soon as he caught her eye. “Your grace,” she said politely as he stopped in front of her. A number of women behind her began to mutter behind those open fans, but their eyes were hard on Lady Wade’s dipped figure.
He drew her up. “Lady Wade, what a pleasure to see you again,” he said, hoping to convey warmth and familiarity and approval. “I must say, marriage agrees with you. You look lovely tonight.”
The bride shot a startled glance at her husband. “Thank you. Lord Wade has made me a very happy bride, indeed.”
“I think you made a very wise decision in choosing Lord Wade for a husband, and I’m so pleased to learn you will both be joining me this Christmas, too.” Another round of twitters followed his remark, and Sinclair pressed his lips together as he enjoyed their shock.
Lady Wade might have been considered a bit of a scandal for ending her engagement to a duke and accepting a viscount a few days later, but Sinclair did not believe she’d made the wrong choice. She had married for the right reason, and her husband obviously adored her. It was a good match, the best sort possible, and he was pleased to know the Wade family fortunes had been fully restored.
At her side, Lord Wade shifted uncomfortably, and Sinclair shook his outstretched hand. “How goes the restoration, Wade?”
“Fine. Fine. New discoveries made every day.”
He nodded slowly. “Very good.”
This was not a party where there would be dancing. Some music and singing were all Sinclair could expect. He could not ask Lady Wade to dance tonight, but he decided he might ask her on another occasion if he noticed the pair continued to be subject to whispers.
He knew full well how hurtful they could be.
He bid the newlyweds a fond goodbye and continued through the room, moving restlessly from face to face.
He still felt uneasy tonight, though. Was it just because he could already tell that Kitty had not been invited to this tedious little gathering, too?
He moved to stand at the side when the performers took their place on a little dais at the end of the room. “Would you care for wine, your grace,” Teddy asked.
“What? Oh no,” Sinclair told him, but then he grinned slowly. “You may go if you like. I know you care not for this sort of thing.”
“I will withdraw a little if you do not need me,” he suggested, and then moved to the back of the room where the noise would be more bearable, and other servants were gathered together. Sinclair envied him the distance. Sometimes even hostesses with the best of intentions made mistakes in their choice of performer and tortured their guests without realizing it.
Kitty had possessed a sweet singing voice in her youth. He suddenly wished to hear it again tonight instead of a stranger’s.
He shook his head and focused his attention on the performance underway. He occasionally nodded, mostly to keep himself alert. It was not too badly performed, and he clapped along with everyone else when the wailing ceased.
An intermission was announced soon after, with refreshments, a supper, offered in the next room. Sinclair took a plate of sandwiches from a footman and found a place to sit on his own.
Unfortunately, peace was not to last long when Lady Finch just happened to stumble in front of him. Thankfully, Teddy had quick reflexes and righted the woman before she could engineer to fall into Sinclair’s lap.
She brushed back a lock of her gray hair and plopped her round figure on the nearest vacant seat at Sinclair’s table, instead. “Oh, how dr
eadfully embarrassing,” she cried as she beat air at her pink face with a fan. “I cannot account for it. Thank you.”
“Do not thank me.” He gestured to Teddy, and then took another sandwich. “I am glad my man could be of service.”
The lady did not acknowledge Teddy, a servant she would consider beneath her. It amused Sinclair to imagine what Lady Finch might do if she knew the truth. She’d fall all over Teddy in her haste to ingratiate herself.
She smiled and shuffled her chair closer to the table. A servant asked if she’d care for a refreshment, and she nodded quickly. “Do you think Lady Dencourt made an odd choice for entertainment at her party?”
Sinclair shifted back in his chair, annoyed by her presumption to join him at the table. “No.”
“Well, surely there were other voices we could have heard tonight.”
“I thought the performance quite good,” he replied, already bored with the subject. Subtly, he moved his chair back from her again, and then looked for someone who might rescue him.
“I imagine you will think differently when you hear my niece sing a prettier tune,” she suggested with a keen smile for the young woman approaching their table.
“You have always possessed a great imagination,” he muttered darkly.
The lady blushed but held her place at his side. “I remember your sister had a sweet voice, too. Do you remember her as fondly as I do?”
“As if I could forget my own flesh and blood.” Lady Finch had not changed much since her youth, as far as Sinclair could tell. She had been a close friend of his sister’s, though why the pair had got along so well, Sinclair could never quite fathom. The countess had a high sense of her own worth and a penchant for openly disapproving of nearly everyone. She often assumed Sinclair would agree with her, even when he most definitely did not. He knew full well how her unfortunate husband bore being married to her. They were never in residence at the same time.
He had never given any lady the cut direct, but Lady Finch had surely tempted him to do so on several occasions over the years. Sinclair had never been able to successfully escape a conversation with her. She seemed immune to any sarcasm he employed, and she never failed to mention her love of his late sister whenever he did.