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“As though I give a rap for such things.” Kitty frowned.
“But, honestly, Kitty, you can’t go about dressed like an urchin, and you must have a chaperone, if only to honor your guardian’s memory.”
That stopped her in her tracks. Kitty didn’t like the notion of people gossiping about her uncle or criticizing anything he had done. As she frowned over the problem, Harry hurried on.
“Also it is time you were presented,” he said and coughed into his hand.
Kitty looked at him from the top of his thick waves of auburn hair to his clear hazel eyes and then to his mouth spread wide with a grin. “Is that so? And who should present me? Who, Harry?”
“Well, as to that, I haven’t got it all worked out yet, but I will …” He played with his lower lip as he gave this some thought.
She picked at the dirt on her breeches, “Well, you are right about one thing, I am a woman full-grown.”
She looked up and burst out laughing at the expression of horror on his dear face.
She had been infatuated with Harry when they were youngsters, but that soon turned into something else since she had been seven and he nine, and a very clear friendship had ensued instead.
He could have treated her as his inferior—she was younger than he by two years, and he was heir to a healthy estate and a title—but he had never done that to her.
He was certainly opinionated, but she had often found that, in his own way, he made good sense. He was, in fact, quite like family, and she did think of him as a brother as much as a friend.
People, however, did gossip, and the talk, Nanny had told her, was that Kitty Kingsley and Harry Brentley were destined to walk down the aisle together. That had sent her into a fit of mirth. The thought of that now made her smirk, but people were always talking about something.
“Woman grown?” he countered. “Well, I didn’t quite say that.”
She wiggled her shoulders saucily. “Oh … then I am not a woman grown? I can name a few young men who definitely think I am.”
He laughed. “I would bet on that, but … look here, you don’t quite have the knack of wiggling your shoulders. If you wish to entice a man in that manner, you should daintily dip in … and bring up your gaze … like so.”
Watching him sent Kitty into convulsive laughter before she settled down and mimicked him quite successfully.
His brow rose, and he said, “Indeed … that is enough. You have the hang of it now.”
“How did you learn the knack of it?” Kitty bantered playfully.
“Sarah Anne is forever flirting with me, and that particular move is a favorite of hers. She is forever at it …”
“Sarah Anne?” Kitty laughed. “Upon my soul!” Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t fall for that one. She is a bit of a tart with a mean streak.”
He opened his eyes wide and said, “Kitty Kingsley, what an unkind thing to say!”
“I wouldn’t say it to anyone else, but, Harry, it is true.” She shrugged and then glanced at him calculatingly.
“Oh, you look like a cat when you do that with those green gems of yours. Kitty, you have no idea how beautiful your eyes … you are.”
“Never mind,” she said, wagging a finger at him. “I will tell you roundly, I don’t mean to copy Sarah Anne’s style of flirtation because I don’t like her, and you should stay out of her clutches.” She put up her chin. “When I choose to use my shoulder to lure a man, I shall do so boldly as I do everything else.”
He laughed outright. “And even with dirt smudged across your face, your yella hair a complete mop and in boys’ clothing, there is no one I know, not even pretty Sarah Anne Wrigley that can outshine you.” He hesitated. “And, perhaps, Henrietta.”
Kitty blushed at that and giggled. “Absurd fellow, but you are right about Ree. She is stunning in a fashion all her own.” She sucked in her bottom lip and eyed him naughtily. “One minute you are raking me over the coals and the next filling my head, as Uncle Edwin would say, with balderdash.” She then looked down at her lap and said, “I do miss him ever so much.”
Harry patted her shoulder. “I know, Kit … I know.” He got to his feet, put out his hand for her, and said, “Nearly forgot. When I stopped by the house, your nanny asked me to look for you and fetch you home.”
Kitty opened her eyes wide. “Did she? But, why?” .
“I don’t know, but she did seem anxious … well, she is always anxious, who could blame her with you as their charge?” He grinned wickedly at her and puzzled over the problem with a raised brow. “Though I must say, she was more flustered than usual.”
Kitty laughed. “Nanny is always in a fluster.”
