Page 27 of A Baby to Seal the Duke’s Fate

It was, and they both knew observations could become dangerous things.

He thought about asking how she had come to that answer, but Cecily wriggled hard enough to distract them both. Miss Redmond knelt and set her on her feet. The baby reached for Leopold’s trouser leg with one hand, squatting precariously but not completely losing her balance.

He watched her as she closed her fingers around the fabric just below his knee. Cecily tugged once, then braced both hands and pulled herself fully upright.

Miss Redmond let out a quick, startled breath. “Oh.”

Leopold remained still. She stood gripping his trouser leg with both hands, grave and determined.

“That is certainly new,” he said, marveling at the child.

Miss Redmond’s hand paused on Cecily’s shoulder, and the answer did not come as quickly as it should have. “Yes.” Her face froze, as though she had said something wrong. “I mean, in the time I have been here, she has never even tried to do that.”

Cecily bobbed again, steadying her legs beneath her with an expression of intense concentration. Then, she stood, looking down at her feet and then up at him, grinning as though she understood she had just accomplished a major feat. She remained standing for four seconds before dropping to her seat on the rug with a solid thump.

Miss Redmond reached for her, but Cecily was already offended by gravity. She grunted, her cheeks turning red as she tried without success to stand again.

Leopold crouched at once before he could think better of it. “That seemed ambitious.”

Cecily stared at him with intent wariness, as though she thought he was the reason she fell down.

Miss Redmond laughed under her breath.

He looked up at her. The laugh had changed her face before she could collect herself again. Though only for a second, he saw how truly lovely she was. He noticed it so completely that even once her expression went back to neutral, he could not unsee it.

Leopold straightened again.

“I ought to leave you to it,” he said, though he realized he did not truly want to leave.

Miss Redmond’s hands gripped firmly under Cecily’s arms. “Of course, Your Grace.”

He moved toward the door, then paused. “If she manages to stand again, I should like to be informed.”

Miss Redmond’s mouth twitched. “I will make certain she understands the importance of it.”

“She should be encouraged.”

“She may become vain.”

Leopold glanced back at her. “At her age, that seems unlikely.”

Miss Redmond lowered her eyes with that same smile from before.

“Young ladies with her temperament begin early, Your Grace,” she said, turning her face away before he could see the rest of her smile.

Leopold chuckled and nodded.

“You make an excellent point.”

There was another silence, but it felt far less uncomfortable. Leopold glanced at the child again, who was looking at Miss Redmond as though she expected her fall to be remedied. Leopold took a deep breath and stepped out the door before he could decide to stay after all. That, at least, was sensible.

Less sensible was the fact that Miss Redmond’s smile followed him down the corridor. It had been fleeting enough to dismiss, nothing more than a private little curve of amusement as she turned from him. Yet he remembered it with an accuracy that annoyed him. He remembered, too, the brightness it brought to her face before she gathered herself back into caution.

He had begun by studying her because something about her did not quite fit.

Now he was thinking about her because he could not seem to stop.

Leopold reached the stairs and paused, one hand resting on the banister.