“I don’t suppose we’ll ever discover who attacked Keswick,” Tristan said.
“Unless he returned to the ballroom bloody. I did manage to land a blow.”
“I can’t imagine that it was a lord who attacked you,” Aunt Sophie said. “Lords do not attack other lords. It was no doubt some ruffian. Although what he was doing there is beyond me. Perhaps he meant to rob you.”
“Perhaps.”
But Mary heard the doubt in his voice. He suspected his uncle of foul play. Not that she blamed him, because she did as well.
“We’re much relieved to see you were not too terribly hurt,” her aunt said, setting her teacup aside and rising. “We should be leaving now.”
“I would like a moment with Mary,” Sebastian said.
Her aunt sat. “Of course.”
“Alone.”
“Hardly appropriate.”
“I’m in no condition to take advantage.”
“Still—”
“Aunt, my reputation is no doubt in tatters by now anyway. What harm can come of letting us have a few moments of privacy? The door may remain open. You can stand in the entryway and peer in.”
“If Fitzwilliam were to discover—”
“I’m not going to tell him.” Besides, once he heard about the kiss, it would all be over anyway.
“Very well.” She rose again. “Alicia, with me.”
Both ladies began to walk out. Tristan shoved himself out of the chair.
“I’ll keep the ladies out of mischief.”
Mary smiled at that. She suspected it had been a good many years since her aunt had caused any mischief and Alicia was too mindful of her reputation to do anything untoward. Pity Mary could not claim the same. After everyone disappeared through the doorway, she said, “You’ve grown paler.”
“I’m not quite up to receiving guests.”
“I’m sorry for the imposition, but when I heard that someone tried to kill you ... I just needed to see for myself how badly you were injured.”
“You saw a good deal more than that.”
“Yes, I’m sorry about that as well.” Only she wasn’t, not really. Now that she knew the true extent of his injuries they would haunt her. She should have insisted that he seek out her father for his aid that long-ago night. Sebastian had been a boy and the path he’d chosen for himself and his brothers had not been easy. “I appreciate your chastising me in privacy.”
Groaning, he rubbed his jaw. “It was not my intent to chastise you at all. I merely ... how did your aunt hear about the kiss and why is all of London going to know about it as well?”
She’d rather be chastised about her behavior in the bedchamber than reveal what a silly nitwit she’d been. She plucked at a thread on her skirt, realized that the way her luck was going, she would no doubt unravel all the threads with a mere tug and her dress would fall off. It simply appeared to be a day where if something could go wrong it would.
“Mary?” he prodded gently.
She took comfort in that gentleness, in that hint of the boy he’d been, the friendship they’d shared. “When Lady Hermione came into the dressmaker’s with the news that everyone was talking about what happened in the garden, I was vain enough to believe they were talking about me.”
“You’re hardly vain.”
“You’re kind. But I blurted that it was only a kiss between us and it meant nothing. So now they know we kissed and they are not ones to hold such juicy gossip.”
“And mere rumors of a kiss without a single witness are enough to ruin your reputation?”
