Captain Whitby’s voice dropped. “Not here.”
“I’m aware of where I stand,” Major Ellis replied, his voice just as low.
“Then speak as though you are,” Captain Whitby said.
A short silence followed. Anna turned as if to leave, but Mrs. Pembroke entered from the hall with two more guests andclaimed the attention of half the room. The movement allowed Anna to step behind a chair and adjust the tray.
Mr. Sloane spoke again. “If Bell talks, the matter will have to be moved.”
Nathaniel’s expression didn’t change, but Anna saw his head turn a tad in their direction.
Bell. That was a name she’d not heard before.
Rothborne muttered to Captain Whitby. “He won’t talk.”
“Everyone talks eventually,” Major Ellis said. The words out of his mouth were mild. Almost bored.
Anna’s mouth went dry as Captain Whitby looked around the room. She moved, a little too quickly, and realized her mistake the moment Lieutenant Rothborne’s gaze landed on her. “You there.”
Anna stopped. Several heads turned in her direction. She quickly curtsied. “Sir?”
“How long have you been hovering by the hearth?”
The parlor quieted around her, though the music continued. Heat climbed up her neck. Anna held the tray steady with both hands and willed them not to tremble. “I was serving wine, sir.”
“I didn’t ask what you were doing. I asked how long you were there.”
“Only a moment, sir.”
Rothborne stepped toward her. “A moment can be quite long, depending on what was heard during it.”
Anna lowered her gaze. “I heard nothing, sir.”
“Nothing?” he drawled.
Nathaniel moved as if to take a glass from her tray. “She heard Mrs. Wexford complain about the sugar,” he said mildly, “which, to be fair, we all heard.”
A few people laughed.
The woman in blue, presumably Mrs. Wexford, stiffened. “I did no such thing.”
Nathaniel looked at her with polite confusion. “Forgive me. Perhaps it was your sister.”
More laughter followed. The woman gasped in outrage, and the attention shifted blessedly away from Anna.
Captain Whitby chuckled. “Careful, Reed. You’ll have every lady in the room at war with you before supper.”
“I have always found surrender to be the wiser course when facing ladies, Captain,” Nathaniel said smoothly.
Mrs. Pembroke, who’d come close enough to hear, arched an eyebrow. “At last, a sensible military strategy.”
That earned another laugh from the guests. Anna remained still, her heart hammering so hard she feared the tray would shake. Nathaniel took one glass of wine from it and met her gaze for a single heartbeat.
Go.
The word wasn’t spoken. It didn’t need to be.
Anna curtsied and moved away. She didn’t breathe again until she reached the side hall. There, she stopped behind the closed door to the morning room and pressed one hand against the wall.
