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“Yes, I saw them there,” his mother said, voice quiet. “You’ve caught me in a lie. I do not wish to speak to them yet, but rather to you. You scowled the entirety of the drive over, quite fiercely. Each time we drew through a ring of lamplight, I took note of the expression. Are you again to tell me that nothing transpires between you and Richard?” She looked up at him, the lines on her face angled downward with concern. “And do not think I don’t realise you’ve been avoiding me, too.”
Samuel briefly covered the hand resting on his arm with his.
“Not you, Mother. Your questions.”
“A fine distinction.”
“An important one.”
She sighed. “I will not be put off, Samuel.”
Samuel kept their easy pace around the edge of the room, though he longed to move far more forcefully.
“Richard and I have quarrelled, in a way.”
“Over?”
He gave that some thought. “Over a woman.”
“Is this because you warned off the youngest Ellsworth girl?”
Samuel cast her a sharp look. “You know about that?”
“My dear boy, while your behaviour certainly did spark whispers, it was obvious to me why you wanted a private word with Her Grace, and what you could have said to make her blush. I am not ignorant of Richard’s failings, or your streak of nobility.”
“Did you, too, issue a warning, then? To be passed on by the Dowager?”
“Certainly not.”
“So, knowing Richard’s failings, you would permit him to court such an innocent young woman?”
His mother cast him a narrow-eyed look.
“For many men, the only cure for such failings as torment your brother is an innocent young woman.”
Not for his father, but Samuel bit back the rejoinder. Mother knew full well the depravity of her deceased spouse. She didn’t need Samuel to remind her.
“So you’re angry with me.”
“I’m disappointed you decided to intercede, but I understand your motives.”
He certainly hoped not, because part of his motivation had been to speak with the beguiling Duchess again. Thinking of her, he struggled not to look about the room.
And failed. His gaze swept over the dancers, along the wall before them, then the next. Sorted through chairs set against the walls, though he doubted he’d see her there. Moved across the open balcony doors, letting in much needed fresh night air and the loamy smells of spring…
…and landed on Richard.
His brother, standing with a ring of finely dressed men and women, all younger than he, threw back his head and laughed. He turned what Samuel recognised as his most charming smile on the young miss beside him. She giggled, going a touch pink.
“Oh, there’s Richard,” Mother exclaimed. “Right in our path. Be polite when we say hello to him. He is your brother.”
“Yes, Mother,” Samuel said, as he had a hundred times before. He lengthened his stride as they made their way around the room, there being no sense in delaying the inevitable.
Richard sighted them as they drew near, and gestured them over.
“Mother, Sammy, let me introduce you to my new friends. A contingent from Scotland, visiting our fine city.” He introduced them to a gentleman and two of the three ladies, then turned to the last, a girl of perhaps seventeen. “And this delightful vision is Miss Aileen Broun,” he said, placing emphasis on her name. Turned slightly away from the group as he was, he offered Samuel a wink.
“Oh, how lovely to meet you all,” their mother replied.
