“I was not… terrible.”
“You were not,” he said. “You were brave.”
“Blue makes me brave,” she said, and he only nodded as if she had reminded them both of a rule that actually belonged to her.
She looked toward the screen. “Your man…”
“Will cough once if there is danger,” he said. “Twice if Nicholas is in his shirtsleeves.”
She swallowed a laugh and then surprised herself with honesty.
“Thank you. For… not being angry. For this.”
“It is my week’s work.”
“And after your week?”
“After my week,” he said evenly, “you will not look at your feet unless you are admiring your shoes.”
She hesitated. Impulse brought her hand half-up, toward his sleeve, toward a touch that made no sense.
She stopped it.
“Good night, Your Grace,” she said.
“Good night, Miss Havenford.” He stepped aside and then remembered something and stepped back into her line. “Tomorrow, dancing again. In daylight. With other people. If you find a man who will not stop talking about himself, you will say, ‘Mr. So-and-so, you are very reassuringly certain. Will you save some of that certainty for later and dance?”
She covered her smile with the back of her hand. “ I shall keep that in mind.”
“You are learning,” he said gently.
From behind the screen came the faintest cough, once. He lifted his brows:time.
Maria gathered her skirts, felt for her courage, and found it where he had placed it. She moved toward the door.
“Miss Havenford.”
She turned.
He looked at her as if memorizing a thing that he would never admit out loud.
“You are not a chair in anyone’s house,” he said. “Remember that tomorrow when men are talking.”
She swallowed.
“I will.”
On the other side of the panel, Maria paused, her fingers on the wood.
Somehow, a week did not feel long enough.
CHAPTER 8
The next morning, Maria had meant to stay on the terrace with Prudence and a dish of strawberries. Instead, as often happened of late, she found herself looking for Stephen against her will.
Not to speak, only to know where he was, the way one likes to know where the door is. She told herself it was practical.
She told herself many things, of course. But this was one of them.