“Of course.”
“Let us stroll, my dear.” She rose. “I’m sure we shall not be long.” She linked arms with Dotty and once out of Lady Bellamny’s hearing, asked, “Did Grace tell you?”
“Yes. What I do not understand is the reason.” Dotty shook her head slightly. “Everything was going well, then I said something about his father, and he became upset.”
Lady Merton maintained a smile as she nodded to other guests. “Act as if we are talking about nothing in particular.”
Dotty assumed the polite expression expected as she waited for her ladyship to continue.
“I have been overhearing things that concern me greatly. It appears my brother did not honor my husband as he should have. I always wondered why Dominic was so different from David. For a very long time, I attributed it to grief. Unfortunately, I was seldom around him. I was quite ill for a long time after my husband died, and stayed in Bath for much too great a time. After that, when I was at Merton, Dom always seemed so . . . so capable, even when he was young. I longed to take him in my arms, but he never appeared to want me to.” She took a shuddering breath. “Later, whenever I arrived, Alasdair always had him going this place or that.” She glanced at Dotty. “It wasn’t until this past year that I sensed something was wrong, and when I received his list of potential wives, I knew I had to become involved.”
Dotty started to chew on her lip and stopped. If only they were not at a ball. “What do you think Lord Alasdair did?”
“I believe he tried to make my son—David’s son—into the image of himself.”
They had made a half circle of the ballroom and were near the open French doors. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“Shall we go out onto the terrace? I find I am in need of some air.” They strolled outside and away from the steps to the garden. “Alasdair and David were very close, but I’m not sure Alasdair ever approved of my husband. In having Dom to raise, perhaps my brother thought he could correct all the problems he perceived in David.” She rubbed her forehead. “You see, my dear, I am almost as much in the dark as you. I’ve only recently begun to realize that my brother purposely kept Dominic away from me.”
The emptiness in her voice tugged at Dotty’s heart. How and why the uncle would have done such a thing, she didn’t know. Yet, a great injustice had been done to both Dom and his mother. She wanted to hug her future mother-in-law and comfort her. If they’d been alone she would have. “But I know he loves you.”
“I hope so. Still, there are times I wonder if attending to me is more of a duty that Alasdair instilled in Dominic than a desire on his part.”
She pulled her lip between her teeth. Dom did mention duty quite a bit, yet he seemed sincerely attached to his mother. What would Lord Alasdair have stood to gain by taking Dom away from his mother?
“At least I know he loves you, Dorothea.”
The statement startled her. “Does he? I sometimes think it, such as when he apologized today, but he has never told me.”
Yet neither had she told him.
“It is in his eyes when he looks at you. The same as the way David looked at me, and Worthington gazes at Grace.”
Dotty’s heart swelled with joy, and, if she was honest, relief. “Thank you.”
Lady Merton took her arm again and turned back toward the doors. “Come see me tomorrow and we shall talk some more.”
They had almost reached the doors when a murmur rose inside the ballroom. Nothing loud, simply a general noticing of some occurrence. The circle of guests parted as they began to enter the ballroom. Dotty glanced up. Dom stood at the head of the stairs, searching, and though he was in evening dress and his cravat was beautifully tied, the rest of him was slightly rumpled. As if he’d slept in his clothes.
“Heavens,” Lady Merton said. “I have never seen him look like that before.”
He grinned and waved, then went down the stairs. When he reached the floor, Dotty could only see the top of his burnished hair as he made his way straight through the crowd toward her, just as he had done earlier today.
Lady Merton made a choking sound. “He is so like his father.”
Dotty’s heart skipped a beat. He had never appeared so devilish, or dangerous.
“After what you told me,” Dotty said, “I will not repeat that to him.”
She glanced at Lady Merton; her eyes were misty, and she had a small smile.
When he finally reached them, he took Dotty’s hand and bowed over it. “Thea, I must apologize for arriving late.”
The faint smell of brandy hung around him, and his eyes were overbright. He really had been in his cups and might still be affected. Well, this, as her grandmother would say, is the time to show what she was made of.
“My lord.” Dotty curtseyed. “I had no expectation you would rise from your sick bed to attend me.”
“I could not stay away.” His well-molded lips tilted up. “Am I in time for a waltz?”
