Page 41 of The Earl’s Marriage of Convenience

To Eliza.

The glance was quick, but it unsettled him. There was no reason he should give her any attention at all. And yet he found himself unable to prevent it, as though his eyes operated with a will entirely separate from his own. He gripped the cards tighter.

He forced his attention back to Lady Molly. “And so you will not share your secrets with me?” he asked, leaning forward slightly. “I assure you, I am an excellent keeper of them.”

Lady Molly studied him. Not with the warmth he might have expected—but with hesitation. As though weighing whether he could be trusted.

He stilled.

Had he mis-stepped?

He searched back through his words, trying to determine where the shift had occurred—where her openness had retreated behind something more guarded.

“I suppose,” he continued smoothly, “that it would be ungentlemanly of me to ask you to share your secrets if I am unwilling to offer any of my own.” He glanced at the table for a fraction longer than necessary before meeting her gaze again.

Some of the softness returned.

“Do you keep a great many secrets, Lord Devon?”

He gave an easy laugh. “No, I cannot claim a great number. But the ones I do keep are worth keeping. After all, what is a secret if it is not worth protecting?”

She smiled faintly and adjusted her spectacles. “You are right, Lord Devon.” A pause. “Attention,” she added softly.

He frowned slightly, his brows drawing together as he considered her meaning.

Her gaze lingered on the table before lifting to meet his once more. “I do not wish for competition when it comes to attention.”

Understanding settled over him. “I should think the right gentleman would not require such a thing to be stated, Lady Molly,” he replied. “Which is why it took me a moment to understand you. A lady such as yourself ought to expect that attention remains precisely where it belongs.”

Even as he spoke, even as he looked at her—

Even as he lowered his gaze to his cards—

It required effort not to turn toward the sound of Eliza’s laughter as she and Pere continued their conversation.

No.

He did not need to divide his attention.

Not with Lady Molly watching. Not with his own words having just promised where that attention ought to rest.

Yet as the play continued and Lady Molly was drawn into conversation with another at the table—

His gaze shifted.

To Eliza.

A jolt of awareness struck him when he realized—

She was already looking at him.

There was surprise in her expression. Awareness. As though she had not meant to look—and yet could not quite prevent herself.

That, at least, they shared.

His earlier words echoed faintly in his mind.

Like recognizes like.