Page 154 of A Duchess for his Family

After dinner, everyone returned to the drawing room. Marjorie announced that a game would be played. No one had agreed to this. That appeared irrelevant.

“You must all participate,” she declared.

“What game?” Andrew asked cautiously.

“Charades.”

Nathaniel brightened. “Excellent.”

Benedict did not. “No.”

Marjorie turned toward him. “Uncle Benedict.”

“No.”

“It is a family game.”

“I am aware.”

“You are family.”

“So I have been informed.”

Sophia laughed softly. Benedict looked toward her. She was standing near the doorway, one hand resting briefly against her middle.

Only Benedict noticed. He had begun noticing that gesture several weeks ago. The knowledge attached to it still felt astonishing… private and precious. Sophia met his eyes. Something passed between them. Then she slipped quietly into the corridor.

Benedict waited perhaps twenty seconds. Nathaniel noticed.

“Go,” he murmured.

Benedict gave him a look. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Of course not.”

Benedict left anyway. The corridor beyond the drawing room was quiet. The sounds of their families softened through the closed doors behind him: laughter, Marjorie arguing about rules she had apparently made up herself, Nathaniel offering advice no sensible person should accept.

Sophia stood beside the long window overlooking the gardens. Moonlight silvered the glass.

Benedict approached. “Escaping?”

She looked over her shoulder. “Only briefly.”

“You are becoming very good at it.”

“I learned from you.”

“That is slander.”

Sophia smiled. Benedict stopped beside her. For several moments, they simply stood there. The house sounded different when one listened from outside a crowded room.

He remembered Rivermere after the funerals. He remembered the terrible silence and the rooms that seemed to hold their breath. He remembered believing his duty was to protect what remained. He had not understood then that protection alone could not preserve life without restoring it. Sophia taught him the difference.

Benedict reached for her hand. She gave it without hesitation. His thumb moved across her wedding ring.

“Do you hear that?”

Sophia tilted her head.