Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove #4)(63)

Delacre resisted. “Oh, come along, Halford. Let us get through one dance. We’re having a conversation.”

Griff gripped his friend’s lapel, pulled him away from Pauline and lowered his voice to a growl. “I said, she’s mine.”

Delacre raised his hands. “Very well. She’s yours.”

With a little bow—and a wary look in Pauline’s direction—Delacre disappeared.

As Griff took her in his arms and resumed the dance, Pauline stared at him, amazed. “Why did you cut in? I was on the cusp of brilliant disaster.”

He shrugged. “I decided I didn’t care to watch you dive in the punch bowl. Someone worked too hard on that gown you’re wearing. And on the punch. Not to mention, there’s a breeze this evening. You might catch cold.”

Might catch cold?

“You do realize,” she whispered, “that for our bargain to work, sooner or later you will have to let me stumble.”

“Well, it won’t be tonight. Tonight, I’m here for you. And I will not let you fall.” He leaned close and whispered in her ear. “I could see you were upset, Pauline.”

Her heart twisted. The fact that he’d been able to tell from all that distance—and wasted no time coming to her side—it warmed her deep inside. She didn’t care what anyone said about his past or reputation. This was a good man.

She clutched his shoulder tight.

“It’s all right.” He firmed his hand against her back. “Just follow my lead.”

He danced her to the side of the pavilion—the one opposite his friends’ booth. Instead of rejoining the party, he steered her away from the orchestra and onto a dimly lit path. Once they left the crowds behind, he turned her to face him.

“What happened?” he asked, bracing his hands on her shoulders and searching her face. “Was it something Del said? I can easily kill him for you.”

Pauline smiled weakly. “Please don’t.” Even though Delacre had insulted her, she knew he was trying—in his own, warped way—to be a good friend to Griff. She didn’t want to be caught in the middle.

“Did someone else insult you? Are you ill?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“You’re homesick, then.”

“I am homesick.” It wasn’t a lie. “This place has me awestruck. Everywhere I turn, I think, ‘Daniela would love to see this.’ And from there . . .”

He drew her close. “Another landslide.”

She nodded.

“It will pass. A walk will help.”

He offered his arm, and she took it. Together they ambled away from the orchestra and into a darkened grove. Once again she found herself wondering how he understood her feelings so completely. Almost as if they were his own.

“May I ask you something?” she said.

“Only if it’s nothing to do with cataclysmic smelting.”

She smiled. “It’s about my sister. You were perfect with her. Just perfect. Do you have someone like Daniela in your family?”

“No,” he answered. “I have no siblings at all. Not anymore.”

So he had lost someone. She squeezed his arm. “Griff. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s not like you’re thinking. I mean, it is, but it isn’t. My mother bore four children, but I’m the only one who lived longer than a week. I have no clear memories of my brothers and sister.” He moved a low-hanging branch out of Pauline’s way, and she ducked under it. “I found Daniela charming. You’re lucky to have her.”

“I am. I didn’t always know it. But I am.”

Pauline wasn’t a saint, and neither was Daniela. Like any sisters, they had their episodes of bickering and resentment. And there’d been that shameful day in their girlhood when they traveled to market with Father. Pauline, perhaps eight years old, had run off to make new friends, steal a bit of joy from someone else’s life. And when Daniela caught up with their merry group, Pauline had been embarrassed.

“Is that dummy your sister?” a boy had sneered.

“Lud, no,” she’d replied. “Never saw her before in my life. Make her go away.”

Even now she could still see her sister’s horror-stricken face. The guilt had crushed her like a millstone. She’d known, in that moment, she’d denied the only person who loved her most in the world. And for what? To impress a few children at market? She had dashed after Daniela, begging forgiveness. They’d clasped each other tight and cried and cried. It was a painful memory, but one she didn’t dare forget.

She would never let anyone make her feel ashamed. And she would never betray her sister again.

“I am lucky to have her,” she repeated. “And no one else understands that. No one.”

“Perhaps they have siblings to spare. We aren’t all so fortunate.”

With that, he fell quiet.

Pauline stared at him, tracing his handsome features in the lamp-lit darkness. He was a complex man, with a rich family legacy and responsibilities she couldn’t begin to fathom. Who was she—a serving girl, from Sussex—to tell him anything?

But she had to try. There was no one else who could.

She turned to him, placing a hand on his sleeve. “Griff . . .”