Page 7 of An Inconvenient Duke

“It did, a great deal.” Part of her had missed him a great deal as well.

He chuckled at that, as if it were a private joke. “Very little, I’m sure.”

Yet his amusement did nothing to calm her unease, which wasn’t helped at all by the hand he touched briefly to hers as it rested on his sleeve. The small gesture sent her heart somersaulting. But then, hadn’t he always made her nervous?

Yet he fascinated her, too. Something about him stirred her curiosity… Of course, she’d found his life as a soldier intriguing and had loved to hear Elise talk of his adventures. His sister had been so proud of him that she couldn’t stop bragging, and Dani had soaked up all the stories, especially those few she’d been fortunate enough to hear him tell himself during rare visits home before the fighting grew so fierce on the Peninsula that he’d not been able to leave Spain.

“But you’re right. I did miss my family, and I’m very happy to be back with them.” Another brief rest of his hand on hers, this time with a reassuring squeeze. “Although I suspect that they’re ready to tossmeback over the Channel.”

She shook her head. “Not at all.”

He lowered his mouth to her ear so he wouldn’t be overheard by the other guests. “Then why else would Claudia torture me with a party like this?”

“She’s not torturing you.”

“Oh?” As if offering irrefutable proof, he muttered, “A plaster model of Vesuvius is set to erupt at midnight.”

She laughed, her gloved hand going to her lips to stifle it. Amusement mixed with surprise. Being with him was quite enjoyable, when he didn’t remind her of how much she missed Elise.

“And you, Miss Williams? Areyouready to toss me back?”

Her laughter died against her fingertips at the way he asked that. Not an innocent question. Not at all a tease. A hardness lurked behind it that she couldn’t fathom.

“Of course not.” She smiled uneasily as he led her through the French doors and into the house toward the ballroom that had been created by opening the connecting doors between the salon, dining, and drawing rooms. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Most likely for the same reason you’ve been avoiding me.”

Guilt pierced her so sharply that she winced.Thiswas what she’d feared during the past few months, why she hadn’t come to Charlton Place—coming face-to-face with his grief over his sister and her guilt over avoiding him. She wanted no part of this conversation!

She tried to slip away, but his hand closed over hers again, this time pinning her fingers to his sleeve and refusing to let her go. Aware of every pair of eyes in the room watching them and not wanting to create a scene, she walked on beside him until he finally stopped on the far side of the ballroom near the musicians.

She pounced on this chance to flee. It was time for her headache to arrive. “If you please, General—” Remembering herself, she corrected, “That is, Your Grace—”

“Has your absence been because of Elise’s death?”

She flinched beneath his bluntness. There would be no avoiding this exchange. This was the reason he’d refused to let her decline the dance.

“No,” she whispered, unable to speak any louder past the knot in her throat. “It’s been because of you.”

Three

Dani’s pulse stuttered when his eyes flared in genuine surprise, then iced over. He demanded in a low voice, “What do you mean because ofme?”

“I was the one who sent news of her death to you.” She looked away across the dance floor as half of the couples moved off and more joined those who remained. “Why would you want to see me when I would only remind you of your loss?”

“You think me as weak as that?”

Never.Not him. “I think you…” Howdidshe think of him, when he’d always paid her no more mind than a teacup? As his sister’s friend and ten years younger, she’d expected no less, even as she’d admired him from afar. But now, seeing the man he’d become, she simply had no idea what to make of him. “I think you loved Elise a great deal. Even now, just speaking to me like this—it’s making you grieve all over again.”

His shoulders sagged almost imperceptibly. But she noticed. Given the hours she’d spent staring at him as a girl, of course she had.

“How could I bring that pain back into your home?” Or Claudia’s? Or open herself again to fresh grieving? And sweet heavens, Pippa…did she deserve to be reminded that she’d lost her mother before she barely knew her, the same child who had already lost her father? “You’ve returned a hero, with a shining new future before you, and you’ve come back into your family’s embrace. I didn’t want to ruin that by reminding you of what you’ve lost. That is why I stayed away.”

Tentatively, she placed her hand on his arm. She couldn’t resist giving him this small gesture of reassurance. He deserved so much more from her, but this was all she could offer.

“I hope you understand.” Her hand fell away to her side, yet her fingertips continued to tingle from the feel of the hard muscle beneath his jacket sleeve.

Not replying, he signaled to the master of ceremonies, who nodded and stepped onto the dais to speak to the lead musician. The violinist gestured toward the other musicians, setting them into a flurry of shuffling through their sheet music. Then they played the opening fanfare for the next dance—a waltz. Surprised murmurs went up through the crowd that the order of the dances had changed.