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“Leo, something tells me you need this.” Benjamin’s words were coupled by a handkerchief being thrown in his direction to mop up the spilt tea. Leo caught it in a kerfuffle and hoped that Chloe merely thought the mess was caused by his usual clumsiness and nothing more.
“Good day, Chloe.” Leo felt the words escape him breathily.
Chapter 3
Chloe
Chloe felt her breath catch in her throat, making her mouth suddenly dry. Of all the people she had expected to find in this room, Lord Felton was last on the list.
He was smiling at her, in that way she couldn’t help returning. Beside him, Nathan was playing, making whinnying sounds for his wooden horses as they charged across the seat of the settee.
How long have I been silent?
“Ahem.” The Duke cleared his throat.
“Oh, good day, Lord Felton.” Chloe hurried to speak and curtsied, careful to hold the gown close to her chest so that she would not trip on the long skirt.
When did I last see Lord Felton?
“Chloe, is this the new gown?” Maeve was on her feet, taking the gown from Chloe’s hands. Chloe took the opportunity to place down a notebook that had been tucked under her arm as well, full of more of her designs.
“Yes. It is.” Chloe tried to return her attention to Maeve and the gown, but it was difficult. She was too busy looking repeatedly in Lord Felton’s direction as he stood to his feet. He bowed to her in greeting, but he also managed to trip over one of the wooden horses that Nathan had left by his feet.
“Leo!” the Duke called out.
Chloe pushed the gown completely into Maeve’s hands, almost covering her friend’s face with the lace, and stepped the short distance toward Lord Felton. There had been a time when stopping Lord Felton’s falls had been second nature to Chloe, yet that was when she had been staying in his lodgings in London. She was not convinced she could reach him in time now.
She jumped forward and held out her arm, barely managing to catch Lord Felton’s hand before he fell. His other hand had reached out to the arm of the settee. Between her hold on him and the clutch he had on the settee, he managed to stop himself from falling further.
“Oh, my goodness,” Maeve said in a breathy sigh as Lord Felton stood straight once again. “I thought you’d land on the tea table this time.”
“We could have always bought a new tea set, Maeve,” the Duke declared with a laugh.
“I was more worried for my brother’s health!”
Chloe smiled as Lord Felton’s eyes met hers. It took a second for her to realize that they were still holding one another’s hand. She extracted her palm from his quickly, doing her best not to think too much of the warmth of his skin against her own.
“You’ll see not much has changed,” Lord Felton said with a laugh and gestured to himself. “It seems I am still as clumsy as ever.”
“I am pleased to see it.” Chloe smiled at him. “I would feel as if I didn’t know you anymore if you did not fall over at least once today.”
“You think he has only done it once?” the Duke said from his place on the other settee, smiling behind his teacup.
“Thank you for that, Benjamin.” Lord Felton shot a glare the Duke’s way and returned to his seat. “Perhaps I’ll be safer back on this seat.” When he sat down, Nathan yelped.
Chloe held her hands to her lips, watching as Nathan stepped back from the settee with his arms folded. Lord Felton seemed to realize exactly what he had done, for he winced.
“Nathan . . . where are the rest of your wooden horses?” Lord Felton asked through gritted teeth. Nathan used the one horse in his hand to point to exactly where Lord Felton was sat.
Chloe couldn’t help laughing as poor Lord Felton leaned forward to pull one of the wooden horses out from behind him. The horse had snapped in two, and the wood had splintered completely.
“Nathan, I am so sorry.”
As Maeve and the Duke laughed too. Clearly everyone was used to Lord Felton’s ways. Chloe looked at Lord Felton’s face. She had seen him laugh repeatedly at his own clumsiness, but now was not one of those moments. The apologetic look he shot to Nathan showed how uncomfortable he was with what he had done. The thought of Lord Felton being uncomfortable sat uneasy in Chloe.
She hastened to sit down on Lord Felton’s other side and took the horse from him.
“Well, this shouldn’t be too difficult to fix,” she mused, aware that Lord Felton had snapped his gaze to her.
