Audrey smiled up at Robert, and it was probably a good thing she couldn’t see that he didn’t return her smile.
“Why are you here?” he asked quietly.
Her smile faded. “You sound concerned, when it’s unnecessary. I am simply helping where I’m needed.” She lowered her voice. “I have a duty to this baby, almost as if he were my ward.”
Robert felt her words like a twist to his gut. “Blake’s estate provides for him. You owe him nothing else.”
“I understand your words, but I can’t quite feel that way.”
It was because of the babe she lost, he knew, the babe that would have been Arthur’s age. He couldn’t even imagine the heartache she had felt, the memories this little boy stirred up. But he couldn’t talk to her about it without betraying Blythe’s confidences, just as the sisters were becoming closer.
“Arthur,” Louisa said, walking across the kitchen toward them, “come to me and leave his lordship be.”
Audrey patted Arthur briefly on the head and seemed to have no qualms about returning him to the care of his mother. But it couldn’t be good for her to see the boy day in and day out, to dwell on all she had lost. Somehow, he had to make her see that with him, she could have her own babies, that they could have a good life together—that he could make her happy.
But how to show her she could trust him? All he could do was continue to spend as much time as possible with her.
Robert followed Audrey back into the entrance hall, listening as she laughed at the puppy, who jumped repeatedly at her skirts.
“A puppy!” Molly rushed down the stairs, Francis behind her. “Francis told me, but I couldn’t quite believe that Miss Blythe—” She broke off, blushing.
Audrey smiled. “It’s hard to believe how different my relationship with my sister has become, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps it was for the best I took ill when I did,” Molly said. “It gave you two the chance to be together.”
“I will never think it good that you took ill,” Audrey scolded. “But doesn’t the puppy just feel wonderfully soft? We must come up with a name.”
Molly dropped to her knees, then smiled up into Francis’s indulgent, besotted expression. Robert saw where this infatuation was headed and knew that in his father’s household, such fraternization would never have been tolerated. But Audrey was unconventional—everything about her. That was one of the reasons he was drawn to her.
“I’ll take charge of the puppy, miss,” Molly said. “It will do me good to have a little exercise.”
“If you’re certain …” Audrey began.
“She’s certain,” Robert interrupted. “Audrey, might I speak with you in the drawing room?”
She seemed almost nervous preceding him in, and she started talking before he could.
“I’m not just hosting a tenant feast, Robert. Eventually I’m going to have my own dinner party. You’ll be able to reacquaint yourself with the young ladies of the village.”
“Are you matchmaking to rid yourself of me?”
She blinked a moment, and he hoped she was considering how lonely they’d be without each other.
“I simply want you to see all the young women who’ll be awaiting a heroic former officer.”
“Heroic?” he echoed, the word distasteful in his mouth. “I’m no hero, Audrey. I’ve told you this before.”
“Why do you sound so strained, Robert?” she asked. “You speak so little of your military life—frankly, you’ve said almost nothing at all.”
He could tell she focused every one of her senses on him, and he didn’t like what he’d revealed.
“Because it is not fit conversation for a lady,” he answered.
There was a long, meaningful silence between them, and he realized her struggle not to question him more. For just this moment, he was relieved she was trying to keep her distance.
But he was about to give her ample opportunity to discover more about him.
“I came here for another reason,” he said. “I received word that my friend, Viscount Sergeant Blackthorne, is bringing his wife to visit me at Knightsbridge Hall tomorrow.”
