Page 42 of A Mother for the Blind Duke’s Orphans

He disliked how the truth sounded, but Jasper said nothing.

Hector shifted his grip on the cane. “I have no idea how one speaks to children.”

“Did you try speaking without your usual expression?”

“Everyone has been twitting me over my expression of late.” He frowned, then quickly released his brow as he remembered Her Grace’s words and her soft fingertips on his rough skin.

“And rightly so. Have you seen yourself, old friend?” Jasper raised a glass in Hector’s direction.

Hector exhaled through his nose. “The older one, Aurora, wants nothing to do with me.”

Jasper sat heavily into an armchair opposite Hector. The drink in his hand swirled dangerously but did not spill. “How old is she?”

“She is four years old.”

“Ah. A formidable age.”

Hector leaned back in his chair and let go of the cane as he began to relax in familiar company.

“She hides whenever I enter a room.”

Jasper chuckled. “And adults do the same. You have not taken it personally before.”

“Yes, but it is affecting her. When she is nervous, she stutters.”

Jasper’s glass stopped halfway to his lips.

“Is it that bad?” he asked concernedly.

“No. Not always. It worsens when she is pressed.” Hector hesitated. He had no wish to discuss the child as though she were a case to be managed, yet silence did her no service. “She fights it. That is what I noticed. She tries to force the word through because she believes failure will bring consequences.”

Jasper’s voice was quiet. “And will it?”

“Not in this house.”

The simple agreement did more than sympathy would have. Hector looked down at the blurred dark line of his cane. “Poppy thinks I do not understand.”

“Poppy?” Hector realized too late what he had called her, and he could see the grin on his friend’s face.

Jasper did not miss it. “Forgive me. Are we speaking of the new Duchess of Sterling, or have you acquired a flower with opinions?”

“My wife,” Hector corrected, and regretted that as well.

Jasper’s amusement grew, bright and merciless. “I assume she has a nickname for you too?”

Hector turned fully toward his friend, who was laughing carelessly. “Do you have a purpose in coming here?”

“I had several. Being excluded from a wedding has left me in deep distress that can only be mended by gossip.” Jasper leaned back. “Tell me about the baby.”

Hector preferred the shift less than he should have. “She is very small.”

“Most babies are,” Jasper said drily, but Hector ignored him.

“She has no name.”

“What do they call her?” Jasper did not tease this time.

Hector was unsure whether he should tell his friend, as he was not in the mood to be teased, or worse, for the girls to be the center of a jest. He could hardly get over the sister he had not known.