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Sarah blinked eyes that suddenly stung with tears of pride.

She missed her family with an acute ache of her heart.

It is for them that I am doing all this.

The reminder was timely. She really didn’t have the luxury of considering her own preferences in this; there were larger considerations at play.

She needed to remember not to be selfish.

After all, the duke is sacrificing himself for his family. Can I do less for mine?

She turned her face away to hide the tears and fumbled in her reticule for a handkerchief.

“What have I said to upset you?” His voice had that stiff edge to it again.

“Nothing!” she said quickly. “I simply have something in my eye, an eyelash I think,” she said, sniffing.

“Here, let me look,” he said, lifting her chin.

She blinked. “I think you must have dislodged it.” He kept hold of her chin a moment longer, looking into her eyes.

“If I said something to upset you, I’m sorry.

I don’t seem to be able to open my mouth where you’re concerned and not put my foot in it. ”

“I am not upset.”

“You’re a very bad liar, you know,” he said gently and with a smile to soften the mild rebuke.

Her heart turned over and a shiver raced through her.

For a moment she felt that frisson of intimacy from Vauxhall all over again.

For a mad second she thought he was going to kiss her.

His eyes darkened, his gaze dropped momentarily to her lips, then as if recalled to the reality of their surroundings, he let her chin go and sat back, his cheeks lightly stained.

Making a desperate recover, she said primly, “Lying is a sin,” while restoring her handkerchief to her reticule.

“Then we shall not speak of this any further tonight. Tell me, have you read Sense and Sensibility ? I believe you would like it.”

“Yes, I have, and several others by the same author. My favorite is Emma .”

“Not Pride and Prejudice ?”

“Darcy is a prig!” she said tartly, and he laughed.

“Rather like me?” he asked in a teasing way that made her flush with another emotion than embarrassment altogether.

“I never said you were a prig, Your Grace.”

“You came mighty close to it the other day,” he said.

“It is not kind of you to remind me of my rudeness,” she said with dignity.

“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry,” he said gravely.

“Now you are being ridiculously agreeable!” she said with a quiver of laughter in her voice.

“Well, I was being very disagreeable there for a bit, I thought I’d best turn over a new leaf.”

“You’re still teasing me.”

“A little. I find it an—agreeable past time,” he admitted.

“We really should watch some of this wretched play, don’t you think?” she said desperately.

“If you insist,” he said, taking her hand.

They were both wearing gloves, yet she could feel the tingling heat of his touch even through the twin layers of fabric.

Completely bereft of anything sensible to say, she turned her gaze to the stage and watched the rest of the play in glassy-eyed silence.

All the while, she was horribly conscious of her hand still clasped in his, resting on his knee.

It felt like the most intimate of acts, almost more intimate than the kiss they had shared at Vauxhall, and it completely overset her normally well-balanced state of mind.

*

After escorting Lady Holbrook and Miss Watson home, Robert returned to the ducal abode in Berkeley Square and found his brothers in the library, where he had bid them wait for him. Mama and Ava had already retired for the evening.

Kenrick was sprawled full length on the leather couch with a glass in his hand and Hereward in one of the large matching leather chairs, likewise with a glass, and Em curled up on his lap.

A third glass stood mute, waiting for him on the table.

He shut the door and joined them at the fireplace, taking the second chair and picking up his glass.

The amber liquid sparkled in the firelight.

“She’s delightful,” said Kenrick, grinning at him, his lean, mobile features lighting up.

“I’m glad you think so,” Robert leaned back in his chair and sighed. He glanced at Hereward who was the most taciturn of the Layne men.

“Aye,” he said slowly. “She’ll suit you well enough I’m thinking.” He stroked Em absently and raised his soft brown eyes to his brothers with a frown. “Do you love her, Rob?”

Robert scrubbed his face with his hands. “I think I could, yes.”

Kenrick threw Hereward a glance which Robert tried and failed to interpret.

“So, it’s really about the money?” he asked.

Robert closed his eyes. “No, yes, I don’t know! You know we need the money.”

“Don’t do it if it doesn’t feel right, Rob. We’ll manage somehow.”

“We would manage better if you didn’t insist on losing five hundred pounds on a racehorse!” snapped Robert.

Kenrick raised his head from the couch arm. “Sorry about that, but I was sure it would win! I tell you what, I’ll marry the heiress, it doesn’t have to be you who sacrifices yourself!”

“No!” Robert slammed his glass so hard on the table the whisky sloshed out of it and dripped onto the carpet. His sudden flare of temper took him by surprise, and he bit down on the possessive words that hovered on his tongue.

His brothers were both looking at him, startled. Then Kenrick grinned. “I think you like her more than you let on!”

“Yes,” he admitted reluctantly. “But I’m not at all sure she even likes me at all. I keep putting my foot in it with her.”

“Oh!” Kenrick chortled. “I never thought I’d see the day! Our perfect brother reduced to a fumbling, addlepated fool by a woman.”

Robert flushed and threw a cushion at him. Kenrick caught it one handed and tucked it behind his head, grinning.

“What I feel is almost irrelevant at this juncture.” He took a breath to steady himself and said more mildly, “I’m the eldest, it’s my duty to provide for the rest of you, and I will. Mama and Ava liked her, too, so there really is no impediment beyond the lady’s possible refusal of my suit.”

“She won’t refuse you, Rob. You’re a bloody duke, for God’s sake.” Hereward echoed Pendrell’s comment.

Robert’s jaw tightened and he said shortly, “I’m aware.

” No, she would be unlikely to refuse him, her statement the other week notwithstanding.

How many vicar’s daughters got to marry a duke?

In proper form he should apply to her father for permission, but she was of age, so legally it wasn’t a requirement.

She could make her own decision. Once he had secured her consent, he would seek out her father and make all tidy.

He was unlikely to meet with opposition from her family, after all.

I will call upon her tomorrow and settle the thing.