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“I had an encounter with the mother of my new fiancé. Supposedly.” She probably shouldn’t have told him that, but for some reason she couldn’t keep it in.

It could have been the fact that he was interested, when so many others had only thought to offer congratulations, or the fact that something about his presence seemed to settle her spirit even as he sent her nerves haywire.

Or perhaps it was that she needed him to know why she couldn’t give into whatever mysterious force had compelled him to stop and talk to her instead of nodding his head at her and walking on.

“An encounter that required solitude after,” he filled in.

“Yes.” Should she ask him to sit? It would be the polite thing to do, but if she was seen sitting with a gentleman without a chaperone… she would never be allowed to leave the house again.

“I heard from Mr. Thornfield that you were engaged. Normally I would congratulate you, but I’m not sure that is appropriate now.”

Neither was she. “Indeed.”

“Are you…” he paused for a moment and pressed his lips together. “Are you being forced?”

What would he do if she said yes? Part of her was curious whether he would whisk her away, if he would confront her parents on her behalf.

Would he take issue enough to do something about it?

She’d never been a damsel before, had never wanted to be one.

But the idea of someone coming to her defense, especially if that someone was Leo Kingston was appealing if nothing else.

She wasn’t curious enough to lie, however. The truth was as desolate as her future. When she answered her smile felt as fragile as her composure. “Not exactly. The contract was made without my consent, but I am not exactly opposed.”

“Contract?” He frowned in confusion or perhaps distaste.

“Yes. It is not a typical engagement. It is enforced with a contract set up with the title not any one person, and it has been solidified by an exchange of funds, so it isn’t easily broken.”

“The contract is with the title?”

“Yes. Until the owner of the title marries me the contract is not fulfilled. And if he reneges on the contract, he will owe my father quite a bit of money.”

Mr. Kingston blinked rapidly and raised his eyebrows. “That was very cleverly done on his part.”

“Yes, a bit too clever. It was meant to prevent them from wasting my time and subjecting me to disgrace if they changed their minds. Instead, it has left me trapped.”

“Is that why you dislike romances?”

The clarity of his insight was startling.

Her hands fisted in her lap. “I can’t allow myself to think about things like that.

” Although her mind and heart had been dangerously close one too many times of late.

Like now. What right did he have to appear like a prince in disguise full of chivalry and concern?

The sight of him made her sick with longing.

“That is very practical.”

She smiled and nodded. Practical. She didn’t think a first-born daughter had any choice but to be practical. Did choosing duty matter when it was already inescapable?

“I imagine there are considerable advantages at stake for you to acquiesce so resolutely to something you are dreading.” Anyone else would have left by now, but he stayed standing there beside her horse stroking its neck with gentle surety.

When her eyes began lingering on his hand, when she found herself growing envious of a four-legged animal, she turned her gaze to the gravel on the ground beneath her leather boots.

“My father is a good and honorable man who married outside of his race. He loves my mother dearly but while he is rich, he has no title and no connections to the nobility. Nothing to truly shield her from the ton.”

His head tilted and she could almost see the cogs turning in his mind. “Until you.”

“Yes. With one act I can give her the protection he cannot. Her and my sister.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“Well, you wouldn’t. She’s very young.”

He stared at her for a long, somber moment. She wondered what he was thinking. Was he judging her? Judging her parents? “You must love her very much.” His voice was the softest she had ever heard it. The notes of it fell on her ears like a caress. Like an embrace.

“She is the light of my life.” That was one truth she could admit without any difficulty at all.

When the compassion in his eyes made hers sting, she turned her gaze to the grass, the people walking past, the sky.

Anything but him. Whenever she thought of her sweet little sister, of that impish light leaving her black-brown eyes due to the racist impertinence of some blonde, blue-eyed brat, she wanted to wage war.

There was no way she would allow that to happen.

No matter what, her sister would be secure in herself.

She would keep her name, her culture. She would never have to hide the truth of herself from the world.

“Were you christened Regina, or were you called something else?”

Her head snapped up in surprise a gasp catching in her throat.

Where on earth had that come from? The question was impertinent to be sure especially for the level of acquaintance they shared, but that wasn’t the reason her body felt like she’d fallen into a frozen pond.

It was the question itself. There wasn’t a person in her acquaintance who had ever doubted her name.

Not even Elodia or Ada. “What made you ask that?”

His head tilted again in consideration before he continued, neatly picking apart one of the best kept secrets of her life.

“Mr. Thornfield has a name only his sister uses and vice versa a name only their mother called them. It is one of the many ways they stay connected to her and that part of their heritage.”

Had she known that? She’d never heard Ada refer to her brother as anything other than Richard. Unless he was referring to…“You mean when she calls him ‘gēgē’? Is that his name?”

“No that is an honorific I believe. It means ‘older brother’. When he calls her mèimei that is also an honorific. It is essentially, ‘little sister’.”

“Oh,” How on earth did he know that?

“Outside of that, if you were to visit their home there would be little to show their continued connection to their mother’s heritage.

But in your case your mother still speaks her native tongue, and I know you understand it.

The embellishments on your dress last night and that bonnet you wore the first time we met, I’ve only seen once before when I was stationed in Jaipur.

Not to mention your jewelry,” he gestured to her jhumkas and she nearly reached up to touch them.

“And that black beaded marriage necklace your mother wears. Forgive me but ‘Regina’ doesn’t seem to match the rest of you. ”

He even knew the significance of her mother’s mangal sutra?

Any other day she would likely have found his observations thrilling, but today, it filled her with a terrifying longing that left her aching with loneliness.

She had made a mistake encouraging this.

She needed to get as far away from him as possible before this feeling grew even sharper, and made her desire even harder to deny.

“You have been making quite the study of me, Mr. Kingston.”

His head jerked backwards as he caught the change in her tone. “I apologize if I have over stepped.”

He hadn’t, not really, but the power of her anguish was frightening. She needed the protection of formality if she was going to stay the course as she absolutely had to. “Not at all. But I suppose it is to be expected from someone like you.”

“Like me?” He blinked at her in bewilderment, but there was the beginning of umbrage in his eyes. Good. She needed him to be polite and distant before she did something unforgivable.

“Someone who likes to observe others from a distance,” she clarified with a polite smile.

He shifted his stance and dropped Kali’s reins, gathering his irritation no doubt until he could understand why she was picking a fight. “You’ve been making a study of me yourself.”

“I’m a woman. I survive by studies,” she replied.

“And what exactly have you noticed.”

She fixed her gaze on him, her hands folded tightly in her lap.

It was a gamble, but she would bet anything he wouldn’t enjoy her attention at all.

“You don’t like to be noticed, or rather you dislike too much attention.

Perhaps you associate it with danger because of your profession.

Or disappointment from your personal life. ”

He swallowed and she knew she had pinned him neatly. “Disappointment?” he repeated.

“I find it strange indeed that a man of your capabilities with your loyalty and cleverness managed to go unnoticed in the military.”

“Perhaps you aren’t well enough acquainted with the world, Miss Mason,” he replied evenly, but there was a new defensiveness in his tone he couldn’t fully hide.

Good.

“Or perhaps you were far too outstanding and attracted the jealousy of others as a result. Which is why you left both the army and Scotland Yard and decided to be your own master, so to speak.”

He stared at her for a long moment then his eyes flicked up to the horizon. “There is only one thing I dislike more than attention, Miss Mason.”

“Being wrong?”

“Being late. Your servant has arrived to escort you, and I cannot miss my appointment.” He gave her a curt smile and a bow. “Good day to you.”

“Good day.” She watched him walk away, striding past Thomas, one of their stable hands who was nearly jogging up the path to meet her. That was a little too easy. She was almost disappointed. “Coward,” she murmured, but she couldn’t say who it was more for, herself or him.

*

Leo would deny to his grave that he had run away from Regina Mason because he’d lost his nerve.

He had an appointment, it just happened to be with his mother.

And he wasn’t running.

He’d walked briskly for about two miles without looking back over his shoulder.

Because he was late.