He was almost relieved when it was difficult to find the sisters. No crowds gathered somewhere to stare, no fuss being made. But the first time he’d escorted Audrey there, he’d seen the looks, heard the whispers, and worried that it would be far worse when he wasn’t there to deflect it.
He found the women at the millinery, where Miss Collins was trying on hats, looking in a mirror and discussing a purchase with the fawning owner, an older woman corseted into too tight a gown.
As Robert closed the door behind him, he saw Audrey seated on a stool, her face lifted to the sunlight streaming between parting clouds through the plate-glass windows. Her fingers touched a selection of ribbons.
She cocked her head toward the door, and as he walked toward her, her expression brightened. “Lord Knightsbridge.”
It wasn’t a question.
He grinned and lifted her gloved hand to kiss the back. “Mrs. Blake.”
She blushed prettily and drew her hand back as if their affection should be private. “I am surprised you joined our ladies’ shopping expedition.”
He glanced at her sister, who gave him a polite smile, then returned to the adoration of her mirror. To Audrey, he said, “I was concerned Miss Collins might fall back on old habits in thevillage and forget all about you. Is she helping you to select a bonnet, too?”
“She asked, and I said she could go first.”
He released the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Very well, then.” It seemed positively unmanly to be concerned that a woman might not be able to shop.
Audrey smiled at him, then, a secret smile that said she understood him. He felt revealed to her in a way he’d never expected with a woman—especially a blind woman. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.
“I admit,” Audrey continued in a lower voice, “that I have been using this day to see if my sister really means to change her treatment of me.”
“And so far?”
“So far, so good. We do have firm disagreements on how a lady should spend her day. I delayed our departure this morn so I could consult with Mrs. Sanford, leading my sister to say I am too concerned with details rather than enjoyments.”
“You spent your life concerned with the details she ignored,” he said stiffly.
Audrey sighed. “Managing our household gave me some measure of control in the little world I had been permitted. Now I have the freedoms of a larger world, and I find I still fall back on my old, managing ways. But I am coping. You are not to worry about me,” she admonished in a mock stern voice.
He had made it his duty to see her happy and contented, and he was concerned that the arrival of her sister would make things worse.
As Audrey took her turn trying on bonnets and hats, Robert watched her force happiness on Miss Collins, who still seemed reserved and tenuous, as if she expected people to shun them because of Audrey’s debility.
Late morning, he escorted them through a stiff wind to a coffee house that faced the village green. While their hands curled around steaming cups of coffee, warming them from the inside out, Audrey smiled at her sister.
“Thank you for helping me to choose a bonnet. I do believe a new one makes me feel prettier.”
“You’re very welcome,” Miss Collins said, her gaze contemplating her coffee.
Audrey took another sip and let out a sigh. “That tastes good. I like the fact that I can come into the village and enjoy such things. Blythe, since you think my concern for charity is too obvious, can you think of other ways I could better involve myself with the village and its people?”
Miss Collins set down her cup and it rattled the saucer. She glanced at Robert a bit wide-eyed, obviously surprised and flustered.
“I imagine,” she said slowly, “that you should entertain. And then they will reciprocate.”
“Very true,” Audrey mused. “Once they get to know me, my opinion will have more merit. I would really like to discuss housing. From speaking with my tenants, I do see a need for more building of humble, yet sound, housing.”
“Audrey, we are women,” Miss Collins said, her expression bewildered. “Why would you think the men would care about our opinions on anything other than dinner parties and children and the running of households?”
Robert could tell Audrey hesitated to say the truth, that she’d spent too many years powerless in her home, and wouldn’t live that way any longer.
“Blythe, I am a landowner now, and my concerns are for many more people than myself. I know this world is slanted toward men, but if I have good ideas, why should they not listen?”
“Speaking as the only man at this table,” Robert said dryly, “I find myself understanding Miss Collins’s concerns. Many men do not want a woman’s opinion.”
“And are you one of them, my lord?” Miss Collins demanded.
