Page 80 of The Best-Kept Secrets
She subtly motioned him over, and he immediately joined her a bit apart from all the others. She took a quick breath to solidify her determination and to brace herself should this not go well.
“I know I’m not meant to bother you with my worries and spill my thoughts in your ear”—she spoke quickly in the hope of getting past the barriers she anticipated—“and I really am working to sort my own difficulties. I truly am. I simply don’t know something that I need to know and that I think youdoknow, and I can’t find it out if I don’t ask you.”
Duke set a hand gently on her arm. “Eve, I didn’t—”
Daria walked past them in that exact moment, blankets in her arms, and said to Eve, “Colm had these brought for Nia with instructions to tell you when they arrived.”
The interruption was ever so brief, but it was enough to set Duke back a step, his expression and posture more reserved once more.
“What is it you need to know?” he asked.
Eve kept her courage up and pressed forward. “I have an idea for addressing my family’s situation, and my likelihood of success will increase if I have your aunt’s thoughts on a critical aspect of it.”
Duke looked tempted to ask for details, but he didn’t.
“I don’t know her well enough to be certain if she would be willing to help me. And I’m not certain if I can trust her enough to tell her anything about my circumstances.”
“My aunt Penelope will help you in every way she can. And she will keep confidential anything that you ask her to.”
A bit of hope returned to her heavy heart. “Truly?”
“You have my word, Eve.”
“Would you—” For a moment, she’d forgotten the situation. “Never mind.”
“Would Iwhat?”
She shook her head. “I’ve already overstepped myself. I’ll not ask more of you.”
“Please do.” There was something mournful in the request, and she ached to hear it.
“I was going to ask if you would be willing to be with me when I ask for your aunt’s help. You needn’t stay while I talk with her, but being there when I ask might be helpful.”
“Of course. Of course.” His posture straightened, and his gaze focused. “You need only tell me when you’d like to talk with her, and I will join you.”
It was a glimpse of the Duke she missed so acutely. He’d been entirely out of reach. She’d felt rejected and tossed aside. But she had a bit of him back, at least for a time. And she meant to cherish that while she had it.
Chapter Thirty
Eve stood outside the ground-floorsitting room that afternoon fighting her growing nerves. She had not previously been prone to trepidation, but these past couple of weeks had seemed to change that. Carrying secrets, being brushed aside after confiding in someone she had trusted, and having her entire future snatched away without warning had left wounds. She didn’t yet know how many of those wounds would become scars.
Her heart floated and calmed when she spotted Duke walking toward her. His rejection at the beginning of the house party still ached, but she’d seen regret in his eyes since then. She couldn’t entirely believe that he disliked her or was indifferent or truly wanted nothing to do with her.
She didn’t know all the answers, but she still trusted him enough to tiptoe toward them.
His smile was tentative. She could feel that hers was as well.
“Your aunt is in the sitting room,” she said. “But so is Mater and Mme Fortier. They’ve been together all afternoon, and I suspect that’s unlikely to change.”
He nodded. “You don’t want to interrupt.”
“I don’t—I don’t want to keep annoying people with my problems.”
The regret she’d so often seen in those deep-blue eyes returned once more. “I was never annoyed, Eve.”
She wanted to feel relieved, but she didn’t. “But that’s not really better, is it? I’m not irritating; I’m just not worth talking to.”
His brow angled low. “That isn’t true at all.”
