Merely an extension of Hudson’s property.
She stepped back, making herself invisible, letting the ladies’ conversation close around Hudson like water filling a gap.
She should have felt nothing but relief. The last thing she needed was a lady of the ton peering too closely at the Duke’s governess. And shedidfeel relief.
But Miss Williston—the youngest, in pale blue—had drifted closer to Hudson. Her gloved fingers rested on his forearm as she laughed, light and deliberate, curling against his sleeve.
“… the most incredible garden party of the year, Your Grace,” Lady Falstone was saying. “You simply must come!”
“Indeed,” Miss Williston intoned. “Do tell me, Your Grace, will you be attending Lady Wilcox’s annual ball?”
Augusta watched Miss Williston’s fingers on his arm and felt something twist beneath her ribs, sharp and hot and entirely unwelcome.
She had no right. She knew she had no right. She turned toward the nearest balloon and studied its construction with fierce concentration.
“Miss Norton!”
The Marquess of Ridgewell strolled toward them with his hands in his pockets and a grin that suggested the world had been arranged for his amusement.
“Lord Ridgewell.” She blinked. “I didn’t know you were?—”
“Neither did I, until an hour ago. I was at my club, losing at billiards, when someone mentioned Oakhart had brought his sister to see the balloons.” His grin widened. “Either the world has ended, or the girl’s finally cracked him. Either way, I had to witness it.”
“Perhaps both,” she teased.
Lord Ridgewell laughed, then his face turned serious. “It is good,” he said softly, “to see him appreciate the beauty of life again.”
“You care for him a great deal,” Augusta observed.
Lord Ridgewell nodded. “He is like a brother to me. From the moment we met.”
“Oh?”
The single word asked far more than a thousand would have.
Lord Ridgewell nodded again. “I was a rather scrawny lad,” he explained. “Hudson… had always been strong in more ways than one. He found me cornered by a group of insistent rapscallions when I was but a boy. I had ventured far off a path a future marquess should not have taken alone, but he was there regardless, and he burst into the group as though the dukedom belonged to him already. Even at twelve, the boys were afraid of him.”
He laughed, as though the memory brought up some warmth.
“My body eventually caught up with my stellar personality, but as an adolescent, I must admit that I started depending on Hudson. And he was ever so gracious to befriend meandmy entire family. When my father fell into debt years later… He saved my estate. Never asked for anything in return.”
He surveyed the scene: Hudson hemmed in, Cassie tugging his sleeve, the ladies showing no sign of retreat.
“Ah,” he said, suddenly less serious. “The hunting party. Allow me.” He strode forward and inserted himself into the group. “Lady Falstone! What a vision. I was just telling Oakhart that if he doesn’t attend your garden party, I shall go in his place. And we both know what happened last time I was left near your punch bowl.”
Within thirty seconds, he’d redirected every pair of eyes toward him.
Hudson took the exit without hesitation.
“Come along,” he said, his hand finding Cassie’s shoulder. “The lecture begins soon.”
They moved through the crowd, and Lord Ridgewell, having extracted himself from the ladies with a bow that was half homage, half satire, appeared at Augusta’s elbow.
“You looked ready to bore a hole into that balloon with your eyes,” he remarked. “I thought an intervention was warranted.”
“I was studying the construction. For Cassie’s benefit.”
“Of course. And I’m sure Miss Williston attempting to climb Hudson like an attractive tree had nothing to do with it.”
