“Exaggerate?” Dare scoffed. “An infant could tell he doesn’t like me.”
Well, it was true that Logan Heart, heir to the title of Marquess of Heartly, had a way of sniffing out whenever she engaged in a bit of flirtation with Dare and promptly whisked her away. It was though he possessed a sixth sense where Dare was concerned. But then, Heart was so very much older than she was, so he had accumulated more worldly experience, she supposed.
And yet, for all his overprotectiveness, their relationship wasn’t as simple as it seemed. For he was her brother who wasnother brother. It wasn’t that they weren’t blood. They were. Just not in the way everyone believed.
She bit down on her lip, her thoughts flashing back to Calstone’s off-hand remark about her resemblance to the Duchess of Crane. Could the duchess be the other half of her secret? A secret Leonora had stumbled upon on her fourteenth birthday. A secret that she instinctively understood contained within it many more.
Of course, neither Heart nor her parents had any idea she knew, and she’d always wanted to keep it that way, even as her own feelings about it settled and unsettled. Most people wouldcall it a dark, shocking secret, and perhaps it was. But not for Leonora, at least not entirely. Her family had provided her with so much love and care that bitterness or resentment had never found a place in her heart. Instead, there was only a quiet, calm understanding about their actions. She had even vowed to take the secret to her grave, for her family had acted out of a desire to protect. However, a growing curiosity had started to bloom within her recently. Who was the woman who had given birth to her? What was she like? Did she think about Leonora every so often? And could Leonora truly keep the vow she had made as a child to keep the secret?
She glanced over at Dare. She wondered what secrets lay buried beneath the surface of his family. Given the man’s reputation, it was probably best not to wonder. In any event, secrets were part of the fabric of their society.
“See?” Dare broke through her thoughts. “You are not saying anything, which means I am right. Your brother despises me.”
“Not true,” Leonora tried to appease. “He merely doesn’t approve of you.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
Leonora chuckled. “Don’t sound so sour. Most men don’t approve of you.” Her gaze skipped over his face. “For obvious reasons.”
He assumed a thoughtful stance, studying her. “Youseem to always ignore these obvious reasons.”
“And because I ignore them so regularly, our peers,”except for Heart, “don’t bat an eye anymore when you and I converse at the table oftreats.”
“Damnation, woman, do not say ‘treats’ in that tone.”
“Why?” She smiled sweetly. “Don’t you liketreats?” She laughed at his flat look, and teased, “I’m not even sure why I enjoy conversing with you so much.”
He leaned in close. “Because I’m charming.”
Amusement bubbled. “I want to deny it, but I cannot.”
A commotion broke out on the margins of the dance floor, drawing both their gazes. Not a big one, though—it seemed to be a small tiff between a lady and her gentleman.
“What do you suppose that is about?” Dare asked curiously.
Leonora craned her neck to get a better look. “Why ask me? You should know it better, should you not?”
“Me?”
She grinned at him. “With all the wisdom and experience of that eleven years of age you have on me.”
“Saucy wench.”
“Old rogue.”
He clucked disapprovingly, but his voice still held cheerfulness. “Perhaps he commented on the color of her dress? Green is such an unflattering color.”
Leonora glanced down at her own gown and back at him, raising a brow.
His gaze flicked to her bosom—of all places!—and back to her face. His face transformed into a smoldering rogue look complete with the playful arch of his brow. “I meantthatshade of green onthatwoman is very unflattering.”
Leonora laughed. “That face won’t work on me, and I doubt a comment on the shade of her dress was enough to spark the anger plainly displayed on the lady’s face.” A righteous storm gathered there, and the small tiff seemed to be growing. “Seems the night is about to turn interesting.”
His gaze returned to the couple. “I suspect you are right.”
“Perhaps she discovered a wager.”
“Perhaps,” Dare drawled. “We should move along from this spot. It seems they are heading in our direction.”
