Page 57 of The Language of Love

He cut her a narrow-eyed look. “How do you know his lordship’s age?”

“My cousins were talking about it.”

“Oh.”

Annis weighed her next words carefully. It was dangerous to poke the bear, but she couldn’t resist. “You certainly have a lot in common with his lordship, don’t you?”

“I suppose there are superficial similarities,” he said dismissively.

Annis bit her lip to hide her smile. How often had instances like this come up before and she had not noticed?

“Will you tell me about your time teaching?” he asked, clearly eager to move the subject away from himself.

“It’s not very interesting.”

“Perhaps not to you, but I am very interested.”

“Very well. I taught at the Stefani Academy for Young Ladies.”

“Is that the same Stefani as Ivo?”

“They named the school after him, but he left not long after it opened and his wife, Portia Stefani, operated the academy until it closed.”

“Avington said she married Eustace Harrington, the Earl of Broughton?”

“Oh, have you seen Miles lately?”

“Not for some weeks. Why?”

“No reason.” It warmed Annis to think of Henry and Miles talking together and becoming friends. She wished she’d thought to ask Freddie if Miles was going to confront Henry about his identity. Would the men still be friends after the truth came out?

“You like Miles, don’t you?” she asked.

“He seems a good sort.”

“He’s the best sort,” Annis corrected. “As handsome as he is, he’s even lovelier on the inside.” She felt him looking at her, but stared straight ahead, her cheeks burning.

After a moment, he asked, “You two grew close when you worked together?”

“Oh yes, all of us grew quite close. Poor Portia—” Annis chewed her lip.

“Poor Portia?” he prodded.

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter if I share what happened now that she is very happily remarried. Ivo left her with debts and she had to close the school and find work elsewhere.”

“The rest of you had to find new jobs?”

“Well, most of us. Honoria Keyes, who taught painting—you haven’t met her—did not have to find a job as her father left her an income and the house that Lady Sedgwick now lives in. Serena Lombard, who taught art history and botany, used to live with Freddie and Honey but she married one of her clients not too long ago.”

“So those are all the teachers you worked with?”

“And Lorelei Fontenot, who was the literature teacher.”

“Has she married, too?”

Annis laughed. “Lorie will never marry—she doesn’t believe in marriage.”

Henry turned to her. “She doesn’t believe in it?”