Page 92 of A Mother for the Blind Duke’s Orphans

Poppy sat back, unsettled by her own list.

Love for the children. Control. Stubbornness. Concealment. Duty. Loyalty. Fear of disorder.

She had believed Hector to be the opposite of her, but now she wondered whether she had misunderstood him all along.

“Perhaps,” she said, “we are not so incompatible after all.”

Julia’s face brightened with such triumph that Poppy groaned.

“No. Do not beam. It is insufferable.”

“Can I not be relieved that my sister may be falling in⁠—”

“Do not dare say that word.” Poppy pointed a warning finger.

Julia and Poppy stared at each other before they burst into laughter; the sound came freely just as Hector returned. Poppy immediately reacted to his presence and felt his attention on her.

“I came here expecting to help plan your escape,” Julia said through her laughter.

“I do not need an escape,” she said, smiling and enjoying the heat of Hector’s gaze.

“Good.”

“I mean, if I did, I would expect better planning than whatever you and Leander planned to do in an entire week.” Poppy shook her head disapprovingly, and Julia beamed proudly.

“Leander is very capable; we were just curious about the Duke of Sterling’s magnificent house.”

They laughed again, and when the laughter faded, Julia looked at her carefully. “You are where you want to be, right, Poppy?”

Poppy’s smile remained, and she felt the concern radiate from her sister. She knew that Julia would always be there for her, no matter what, and she did not need to worry about anything. Poppy turned and looked at Hector too, who was now accompanied by Leander. They spoke in serious tones with somber looks. Poppy drank in the sight of him, remembering all his kindness and this grand surprise he had planned for her.

“Yes, Julia, I am exactly where I want to be.”

Chapter Twenty

“Poppy! You absolutely must attend Viscount Harriet’s ball.” Poppy’s sister suddenly turned her attention to him. “Your Grace? Please convince her.”

Hector felt his pulse quicken as he stood near the edge of the drawing room and listened to his house become unfamiliar with all the noise of the children and adults who lounged around. Utter chaos surrounded him in his sight, but not in his heart or mind. Every time he heard Poppy’s laughter, he knew that he had made the right choice.

He took a deep breath in. “If my duchess wants to attend a ball, then we shall.”

He felt his palm shake where he clutched the cane.

How would I dance with her?

Aurora’s voice traveled in quick bursts from one side to the other; the Pridewell boy answered with equal seriousness, and Princess produced small sounds of effort as she crawled in pursuit of a toy, and then Poppy’s garment.

Hector knew that all eyes were on him; he looked toward Poppy and could see the outline of her smile.

“I do not wish to go,” she said softly, and he heard the depth of her understanding.

He was grateful for her words. Although the room was filled with blurred shapes and movements, Poppy remained at the center of it all. The ladies started chatting again while Leander wrote at a desk, silently solving some unexpected issues that came up.

Hector could not help but admire Poppy from afar as she laughed with her sister.

He distrusted how often his attention found Poppy and the ease with which she had become necessary to his breathing. He distrusted the warmth that moved through him when she laughed, and most of all, the memory of her standing before him three days earlier, telling him she was smiling at him and that he ought to smile back.

Hector had done as she asked, and the act still troubled him. Poppy had issued that absurd order in her bright, unguarded way, and he had obeyed before pride could intervene.