She didn’t now, of course. She looked… lovely. Her attire this evening more like that of any young lady about town than the uniform of a sensible chaperone. The pale pink walking ensemble suited her so much better than the sensible gray or brown serge outfits that he had only thus far seen her in and, for some reason, she had several ink stains on her elegant fingers.
His question instantly made her expression wary. “Do you have any cause to believe it did not go well?”
“Not at all.” Bloody hell but she was crotchety! “I just wanted to check that it had been as uneventful as my exasperating sisters have claimed.”
She forced the wariness away, but he could tell it was an effort. “It was indeed uneventful.”
“Aside from you coming home soaked, I assume.” And just like that her guard came up again.
“That was all my fault, your grace. I was so busy watching out for your sisters that I forgot to look where I was going and got splashed by a carriage as a result.”
“Ah,” he said, not sure quite what to say to that. “So long as it was an accident.”
“It was.”
“Splendid.” Leo’s toes began to curl awkwardly inside his boots and he found himself rocking on his heels like an admiral inspecting the fleet. “Splendid.”
Oblivious of the peculiar atmosphere, which Leo was convinced he could actually cut with a knife if he had one to hand, Snifferson decided to sniff. First Miss Kendall’s shoes, then her skirts, and then finally, not caring that he was being impertinent, the cumbersome mastiff wandered to her chair to thoroughly smell her satchel. She snatched it up so fast that Leo felt compelled to apologize.
“Snifferson is called Snifferson because he has always been nosy. There is no reason to what he finds interesting but as you are new here, you are a new smell to him.” That sounded wrong. “Not that I am suggesting that you smell in the literal sense, Miss Kendall. In fact, your perfume is rather lovely. What is not to like about the scent of orange blossoms in full bloom?” And now he was just vomiting words. Nervous words because something about her always seemed to unsettle him. “My labored point is that dogs tend to explore and understand the world via their noses. Snifferson especially because I suspect his eyesight is shocking and he doesn’t possess any respect for boundaries.”
To prove that, his ill-mannered dog pushed his impertinent black nose into Miss Kendall’s right thigh and sniffed all the way down it to her knee. But rather than take offense at it, she smiled at the dog. Not one of her forced smiles of sufferance that she only ever bestowed upon Leo, but a real one that fair took his breath away. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Snifferson.” She tickled the mastiff’s floppy ears and, like the shameless tart that he was, Snifferson rolled onto his back and lapped up all the attention she gave to his exposed belly.
Jealous, the spaniel decided to butt in to receive the worship that he felt was his due and Miss Kendall happily obliged. Crouching down to his level, she dropped her satchel on the floor so that she could use her other hand to pet him. It was clearly her writing hand if the ink stains on her fingers were any gauge. “And who might you be, you handsome devil?”
“That is Captain Barkington.”
“Named literally, no doubt, because he barks?” She asked still smiling.
“Only commands. Hence, he isCaptainBarkington. Because he is in charge. At least of me and Snifferson.” Because his cat had now deigned to join them, he gestured to her as she regarded the dogs with her usual feline disgust. “M’Lady Whiskers—my imperious Persian cat—is an ill-tempered law unto herself.”
Miss Kendall shot a smile his way and, for once, it wasn’t forced. “The name suits her. She is a beautiful cat.”
“She is—but alas it is only skin deep. If I dropped dead on this floor this very instant, while my faithful hounds howled their devastation at my passing, M’Lady would immediately feed on my carcass.”
Miss Kendall laughed as she stood. Somehow, the shift in her position also shifted the atmosphere between them. It became a little awkward again—not hostile thankfully—but it was strange. Or, more to the point, strained.
“I… um…” She reached for a stack of invitations piled neatly on her desk. “Sorted through everything.” The stack was divided into two piles tied with string. One considerably bigger than the other. She handed him the thickest bunch first. “These are all evening invitations. If you let me know which you want to attend, I shall reply to the senders accordingly.” Her ink-stained fingers briefly brushed his as he took them and something very peculiar happened to the nerves beneath his skin. “And these are the dubious bunch which I should like your opinion on.” Was it his imagination or did she take extra care not to accidentally touch him again as she passed over the second pile? “I included one from Colonel Radcliffe inviting you and your sisters to the regimental ball next month, even though I doubt you’ll want to attend seeing as it is going to be filled with soldiers.”
“I think that can safely be thrown on the fire, Miss Kendall.”
She smiled again. Shyly this time as she struggled to meet his gaze. “I shall be sure to send your polite regrets before I do that, your grace.”
“Thank you—but don’t go to any trouble.”
“It is no trouble, your grace, I can assure you. I love nothing more than to write.” She held up her hand and wiggled the fingers with the stains as proof. “Even if it is only polite regrets.” Before he could ask what sort of things she loved to write, she smiled as she bobbed a curtsy. “Good night, your grace.”
As he had clearly run out of excuses to linger, he smiled back.“Good night, Miss Kendall.” He turned then and would have walked away but some devil inside him made him look back. “How is your mother?”
Her eyelids fluttered in confusion for a moment before she glanced down at her hands. “Well… thank you for asking.”
“Does she live in Bath?” It was none of his business, but he wanted to know.
“Just outside of it. In Newton St. Loe.”
An answer that made the roots of his hair twitch and his throat tight. “That is a good hour’s walk away.”
“But it is a pleasant walk.”
