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Royal leaned over and ruffled his brother’s hair. “If you’re not careful, someone will mistake you for one of the twins.”
“Taffy hardlyevermakes seedcakes, so you can’t blame me. And Graeme and Grant aren’t nearly as bad-mannered as they used to be,” Kade said around a mouthful.
“Swallow before talking, please,” Victoria admonished.
“The twins have become marginally civilized thanks to you, Victoria,” Royal said. “We were all barbarians until you came along.”
“Oh, you weren’t that bad,” Victoria said.
“Oh, yes, we were.”
She grinned. “All right, the twins and Angus were quite appalling at first, and you were only slightly less objectionable. I still have nightmares about my first days at Kinglas. Kade, though, was perfect from the outset.”
The boy leaned affectionately against her shoulder, throwing Royal a smug glance that made him laugh. It was grand to see Kade doing so well after years of ill health and suffering.
“What were you talking about when I came in?” Kade asked, reaching for another cake.
Victoria hesitated, eyeing Royal. He shrugged.
“We were discussing whether your brother might like to visit Lady Ainsley,” she said.
Kade fastened an earnest gaze on Royal. “So, why don’t you?”
Royal waggled a hand. “I’m not entirely sure she’d want to see me.”
“She would,” Kade said before biting into his seedcake.
“You’re sure about that, are you?” Royal asked dryly.
After swallowing another enormous bite, his brother nodded. “I think Lady Ainsley likes you. A lot.”
Royal ignored the jolt to his heart. “She certainly liked to scold me.”
Kade shook his head. “She didn’t mean it. It was just her way of dealing with you. Sometimes you can be quite gruff, you know. So she pushes back.”
“Kade’s opinion makes a great deal of sense,” Victoria said.
Royal thought so too. Although only fifteen, Kade had a perception that was beyond his years and probably greater than the rest of the Kendrick males put together.
“Besides,” the boy added, “I like her, because Lady Ainsley always says exactly what she means. Adults usually don’t.”
“She’s honest, I’ll give you that,” Royal said.
“Regardless of your rather fraught past with Lady Ainsley,” Victoria said, “I agree with Kade. She might have trouble admitting it, but I’m sure the girl is very fond of you.”
He’d been sure of that at one point too, and look where it had got him.
“Maybe,” he said in a neutral tone.
“If nothing else, she’s your friend,” Victoria said. “And I have the feeling she could use a friend right now.”
“Even one of us blasted Kendricks?”
“One Kendrick in particular,” she said firmly.
He finally allowed himself to seriously consider the idea. Seeing Ainsley again would be a challenge. They were often like two comets colliding, generating a good deal of heat, noise, and smoke. They also tended to leave a pile of rubble in their wake, which was not pleasant for anyone who happened to be within the blast range.
More to the point, Royal couldn’t figure out what she wanted from him. More than once she’d come to him, as if needing comfort and protection, but then she’d pushed him away and claimed she never wanted to see him again. The confounded girl was as mysterious as the bloody Sphinx.
