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“And a sister.”
“That poor girl.”
“She seems to hold her own.”
“She would have to. Or she would be trampled. What else?”
“He is not a dandy, but he does like his clothes just so.”
“So he has a good valet.”
“Apparently, although he did not have one on the continent. So he is still adjusting to having someone else dress him.”
“He will have to get used to that as a duke.”
“And they did not think he liked women.”
Sarah froze. “I beg your pardon? Are you saying they think he is a molly?”
The pink cheeks flared scarlet. “Um. At first. He stayed so busy and was always with other men. He has not visited a doxy or a mistress since his return. I’m sorry, my lady, I did not mean—”
“Well, it would certainly make my duties as a wife a lot simpler.”
Reid bit her lip, but her shoulders quivered.
Sarah grinned. “And you well know we would not exactly be unique as a couple among the aristocracy.”
Reid’s color returned to normal. “No, my lady. But they are not so certain now. It is just that he... well, he’s a soldier, and—”
“He keeps to himself.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A rap on the door was followed by Harris’s low voice. “Your ladyship?”
Sarah stood. “That’s us, then. Am I presentable?”
Reid looked her over once, front and back, then nodded. “You are.”
Sarah glanced at her veil, which remained on the dressing table. She felt the urge to put it on, but she had promised Matthew she would not wear it in private. She took a deep breath and pressed her hand over her roiling stomach. “Now let us just pray I do not cast my accounts up on the carpet. Kedgeree is quite ugly upon reappearance.”
Sarah headed downstairs, Harris leading the way. She clung to the bannister for support and tried to decide if she should stride in with confidence or stroll in with the dainty steps of a lady of theton.At the bottom of the steps, however, she paused.Why am I so nervous? I did not want this. Wouldn’t the simplest solution be for the duchess to find me so unsuitable as to put an end to the whole charade?
Harris turned back to look at her. “My lady?”
“A moment,” she whispered.
He nodded and waited, his gaze on the wall.
Sarah’s mind flipped to the day before. As people approached them, Matthew had stood closer, his hand closing on her arm. As the comments from others had become more and more biting, his grip had tightened, his face darkening, his scowl deepening. His presence had shifted from companionable to protective. She had offered him a way out, fully expecting a note from him this morning ending the arrangement.
Instead, he was here with his mother—the duchess—in an unplanned visit.
Something had happened on their side of Town, something that prompted this.
This was not the time for a performance, for a practiced façade of an appearance. If he did not withdraw his suit, this woman would be her mother-in-law.
Sarah moved toward Harris and nodded. He resumed his duty, opening the door and announcing her as “Lady Crewood.”
