“That still doesn’t explain why you are here.” Dare sent him an annoyed look. “Drake sent me a message, didn’t he? Why else would you bother coming if not to hunt me down?”
Knox chuckled. “Quite right.”
“You could have led with that instead of spouting nonsense.”
“But that would be no fun.”
Dare scoffed. “Couldn’t he have sent a note?”
Knox shrugged. “He said to tell you the duchess warned him not to bring in the Hearts into family matters.”
“Warnedhim? Why would she do just a foolish thing?” She must have caught sight of him with Leonora at the boxing match. And seeing as he hadn’t heeded her warning when she’d visited, she’d turned to his cousin.
What a damn joke. The Heartswerefamily, were they not? And didn’t she think he and Drake would find her words suspicious? Just who was dragging in whom? It was like waving a flag at a bull to point him in the direction he should go.
“Can’t say why the duchess does what the duchess does,” Knox said with a shrug. “Only that she does.”
“If she has anything to say to me, she can say it to my face. Drake, too, for that damn matter.”
“You know he won’t venture into our parts of town.”
Dare didn’t answer. He spotted Lady Leeds and her husband stepping off the dance floor and made his way toward them, leaving Knox behind. Drake didn’t venture into their parts oftown, yet they all had no qualms stepping into his territory. Could there be anything more ridiculous than that?
Damn it.
He wanted to help his aunt get something back from the disaster her life had become, but the situation had become more complicated than it had first appeared, more tangled.
“Leeds,” he greeted as he approached the couple. “Lady Leeds.”
Leeds gave a curt nod. “Lord Dare. How are you this evening?”
Adrift. “As well as ever. Can you point me in the direction of Lady Leonora? I have something I wish to discuss with her.”
“Lady Leonora? Oh, you don’t know?” Dare’s back went stiff as Lady Leeds addressed him. “She is ill and won’t be attending tonight.”
Ill?
The ballroom and everyone in it vanished, swallowed by that one, terrifying word. It echoed in a loud wail, bouncing back and forth between all corners of his mind.Ill...It could mean so many things. In some cases, people who fellillnever recovered. The very word was like a disease itself, injecting a chill into his blood and pumping with each beat through his veins.
“Harriet,” Leeds suddenly spoke up. “Perhaps you should clarify.”
Her gaze darted between Dare and her husband, her eyes suddenly widening. “Oh! It’s nothing serious. She picked up a bit of a sniffle, I believe,” she explained. “Or so her missive to me claimed.”
Dare stared at Lady Leeds, processing the information she’d imparted. Leonora. Ill. A sniffle. How? Why? What exactly was the matter with her? How serious was this sniffle? And why did his chest feel so tight?
Lost.
Knox had been right. He felt the loss of Leonora’s presence. He could even admit there was a small ache. He felt out of place without Leonora here. As though he no longer belonged. When had this started? Since when had he become a lost little boy whenever she was not around?
This was a problem.
This was no ordinary “like.” This was something else entirely. A madness of sorts. An internal bell that signaled he’d ventured into a dangerous place.
Ill . . .
“I see,” Dare murmured and nodded his thanks.
“Are you all right?” Lady Leeds asked.
