Page 64 of The Secret Sister

‘Why don’t you go and talk to them and leave me here,’ Robert said.

‘No, come with me. It’s the least you can do for wounding my heart.’

Robert groaned and followed his brother. ‘Wounding your heart? Really?’

‘Really. Now come on and be useful.’

Robert grumbled under his breath and followed his older brother in much the way that he had always done. Ed always had some sort of scheme he was involved in, even as a child. He could never understand why Robert preferred order and predictability rather than the chaos that surrounded him. Which was why he entered into a career in the military rather than going into the family business.

They moved to join the Earl Grey and his wife, and Ed made excellent small talk whilst he stood and watched. He spotted Lady Hannah heading their way with Miss Eliza and felt compelled to watch for any sign of incipient affection from Lady Hannah.

They all conversed for around ten minutes, and during that time, Robert decided that Lady Hannah did look at Ed with some interest and affection.

‘I think she likes you,’ he said once they were alone.

‘What makes you think that?’

Robert sighed. ‘She looks at you with… affection.’

‘Affection?’ Ed said, appalled.

‘What’s wrong with affection?’

‘Dear lord. Rob, how would you feel if the woman you had lost your heart to looked at you with affection?’

Robert pressed his fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes momentarily. He really was getting a headache.

‘I would be pleased?’

‘No, you would not. You would be horrified because you want her to look at you with adoration, with love… with passion and need. Not… affection.’ He gesticulated wildly. ‘How did Juliana look at you when she agreed to marry you? I’ll wager it was more than affection.’

Robert cast his mind back, and it made his head hurt even more. ‘Polite. She accepted my proposal politely.’

‘Polite?’ Ed said faintly, then put a hand on his arm. ‘Rob. It’s perhaps for the best that you didn’t marry her.’

‘Why is that?’

‘Because she was shallow and grasping. I didn’t say so at the time because you would have planted me a facer, but she was awful. She didn’t even pretend to love you from what you say.’

‘That’s enough,’ he snapped at his brother.

‘Well, she didn’t,’ Ed grumbled, looking away.

‘I know that, thank you. She made it very plain when she jilted me, and if you think I am ever going to give a woman that much power over me again, you are sadly mistaken.’

Ed was staring at him, mouth open. ‘Rob…’

‘I said enough, and I mean it. Lady Hannah probably likes you well enough. Take that as a good sign and if you want to hand over your heart, then good luck. I have no doubt you will need it.’

He stalked away, leaving his brother staring with something that looked suspiciously like pity and that infuriated him even more.

Of course, he stalked right into Miss Eliza, who gasped as he almost bumped into her.

‘Lieutenant Colonel, is something wrong?’ she said with what sounded like real concern.

He wanted to scream that nothing was wrong. Instead, he took a deep breath.

‘A small disagreement with my brother,’ he said.