There was a cackling laughter across the room and Charlotte winced, breaking the connection of their gazes.
“Ah, I can hear yer mother is here,” he said at once, his smile still in place. “Perhaps I should go and greet her?”
“Pray, do not.” She reached for his arm before she realized what she was doing, holding him in place. He looked down at her arm, that mischievous smile never once relenting. Hurriedly, she pulled back her gloved hand.
“Why nae? Is it nae the polite thing to do? Is it nae what I should be doing, lass?”
“Lady –”
“Charlotte, aye, I ken.” He nodded, a little tiredly. “I daenae believe ye should be so embarrassed by yer family, ye ken.”
“I love them. Very much,” she insisted. “Yet I am also sensible as to who we are as a family.”
“What does that mean?” he asked, chuckling a little.
“It means…” She trailed off as her mother’s cackle could be heard again. She stepped a little away, pulling on one of the palm trees in order to peer through the leaves.
Her mother was talking to Lord and Lady St Edmunds, laughing greatly, as poor Susan pulled on her arm, desperately trying to quieten her loud laugh.
“I know when we embarrass ourselves,” she confessed, practically breathing out the words.
“Or someone has told ye this.” The duke’s voice was rather closer than she had anticipated it to be. She flinched, looking to her side to see he had moved to stand behind her and peer over her head at the crowds. “Someone has told ye this, and ye have held onto the thought ever since.”
She chewed her lip, choosing not to answer him. There was a sudden memory in her mind, the memory of the day when Susan had taken her aside, telling her how mortifyingly embarrassing it had been at her latest dinner to have both Margaret and David there, with their sometimes inadept skills at polite conversation.
“If I may, I’d like to give ye a lesson in return,” he whispered hurriedly in her ear. She chose not to reprimand him for the whisper this time. She was too busy thinking about how close he was standing to her.
“What lesson?”
“Daenae think ill of yer family,” he said with a husky tone. “Ye are luckier than ye ken to have a family who love each other, who are together, and would put their own happiness above everything else in this world.” He spoke so seriously that she released the palm tree and turned to look at him, her eyes fixed upon him.
He looked away from her, taking a rather large gulp of claret. In fact, he nearly finished the glass with one swallow.
“You are not teasing me this time,” she whispered. “You are in complete sincerity.”
He finished what was left in the glass and stepped away. She turned to follow him, hastening down a small path in the hothouse that curved behind tall banana plants, and one particular large and leafy pineapple.
“What of your family?” she asked, unable to help her curiosity. He suddenly stopped walking, and she halted behind him, nearly walking straight into him. She felt strangely short in comparison as he turned to face her, looking down at her. She chewed her lip, in danger of breaking the skin.
“Ah, I would have thought ye would be the last person to ask such a personal question.”
“You are deflecting.”
“Aye, indeed, I am.” He looked at his glass, clearly dismayed to find it empty. “I will abide by yer earlier lessons to me and choose nae to answer a question I think is too close to me heart.” He put upon a sudden smile. “Is it nae unseasonably warm in here?” he said, turning to walk away again.
She hastened to follow him, hurrying behind him as they ended up back at the drinks table. He returned his empty glass and took hers, too, though she was barely aware of it, thinking more of the way his fingers had brushed against her own.
What is wrong with me? Why does the touch of a man such as him distract me so?
“We do not always have to talk of the weather,” she pointed out.
“Ye said one should.”
“It was an example! Not an insistence.”
“The clouds were very grey today.” He smiled at her mischievously, topping up her champagne glass for her.
“You are unbearable sometimes.” She huffed then broke off when he returned her glass to her. “Oh, thank you.”
