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Tris gave his sister a dark frown. “I suppose I can make an exception for Ace. This wedding has brought a great deal to our family, and your sister seems like a nice enough lady.” Tris’s gaze flicked to Ken. “I meant no offense, Lord Boxby.”
Ken gave a quick jerk of his chin. “I didn’t take any.” Truth be told, he wasn’t eager to wed himself.
Tris gave an answering bow, holding his arm out to Mirabelle. But she only gave her brother that smile of hers…the one that looked stunning but hinted at something under the surface. “Thank you, Tris, but Lord Boxby will escort me.”
His brows lifted. He would. But why had she asked him? He had to confess that his curiosity was piqued, as he stepped next to her and offered his arm.
As she slipped her hand into his elbow, fingers small and feminine, the one word he’d been hunting for suddenly popped to the forefront of his thoughts.
Mirabelle Smith was a delightful mystery. One a man might wish to solve.
CHAPTERTWO
Mirabelle glancedthrough her lashes at Boxby, a fluttering excitement making her fingers tremble. He walked with slow, measured steps, the sort that made it clear he was used to escorting a woman.
They climbed up the steps and into the church, the morning light filtering through the stained glass and dancing across the pews. She breathed in the incense and candles, her heart giving another unexpected flutter. Perhaps she didn’t want to marry right away, but there was something special about today, about the wedding.
She gave Baron Boxby another quick glance. She had to confess, he was handsome. Being on his arm filled her with some unexpected thrill. He wasn’t dangerous like Upton or storybook beautiful like Somersworth, but Boxby was incredibly attractive nonetheless.
Tall and fit, he had broad shoulders and a square jaw. His brown hair waved back from his face and just brushed his collar, tempting her fingers to brush the strands away.
He had eyes like his sister Emily’s—warm brown and the sort that invited trust. The sort that tempted her to confess her secrets.
The choice to walk with him instead of Tris had been…bold.
Her brothers did not allow her to socialize with men much. At all, actually, and the only reason she was able to walk with Boxby now was because his sister was about to become her sister-in-law. But if she were to guess, her brothers glowered at their backs right this very moment.
She glanced over her shoulder and confirmed her theory. Four sets of eyes glared back, each giving her a look of hostile irritation. She could practically hear their grunts of dissatisfaction.
Yet another reason she’d never become a jewel of thetonwith her brothers about. They’d scare off any man who paid her the smallest attention.
She turned forward, a sigh slipping from her lips.
And that was when she saw them: three local women who were from good families. She knew they socialized with the Boxbys often. One of them, still staring at Mirabelle, lifted her fan and whispered to the other, both of them bursting into giggles.
Mirabelle winced. That very group of women had been at the Boxbys’ for tea a few days prior. Not only had she served the wrong person first, but she’d managed to knock over a tray of cakes. Silly fool. She’d allowed her own nerves to make her forget the lessons she knew, which had drawn even more attention to the things she didn’t.
As they passed, she heard one of them say, her voice dripping with derision, “Lady Mirabelle.”
She dipped her head with a shudder as she didn’t answer.
Boxby looked down at her. “What troubles you, my lady?”
Had he heard that? Drat. She gave him another quick glance, wondering how much she might confess. “You are kind to use the term ‘my lady.’ I know you know the truth.”
“The truth?” he asked, stopping at a pew and handing her in. He knew their father had bought the falsified documents that had made Ace a marquess. The real heir to the title, the new Earl of Easton, had chosen to support his half-brother’s claim, the only reason the House of Lords had allowed her brother to succeed to the title. “Is that your brother is a marquess and about to be my sister’s husband.”
Mirabelle gave a quick nod, taking another quick glance at her brothers, who filed into the pew behind them, Anna between them. Her sister gave Mirabelle a quick wink as Mirabelle turned forward once again. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted the ladies still stared, smirking as they did. “True, my lord.”
Boxby sat next to her, settling near her but not so close that any part of his body touched hers. She focused back on the man who might help her. She needed to learn all the lessons she missed in the years they’d been impoverished.
And she had to control her nerves. She’d never get anywhere if she lost herself every time she grew nervous.
Which was why Ken’s kind nature would make him an excellent asset. But convincing him to help…that would be complicated. Her nose twitched the tiniest bit as she attempted to proceed.
“But…” She let the single word dangle between them for a few moments as he turned to look at her.
His gaze was almost distracting as she found herself lost in the rich brown of it, his full lips pulling at one corner in a half smile.
