Bridgerton: Romancing Mr Bridgerton (Bridgerton Family Book 4)
Romancing Mr Bridgerton: Chapter 9

Every week there seems to be one invitation that is coveted above all others, and this week’s prize must surely go
to the Countess of Macclesfield, who is hosting a grand ball on Monday night. Lady Macclesfield is not a frequent hostess here in London, but she is very popular, as is her husband, and it is expected that a great many bachelors plan to attend, including Mr. Colin Bridgerton (assuming he does not collapse from exhaustion after four days
with the ten Bridgerton grandchildren), Viscount Burwick, and Mr. Michael Anstruther-Wetherby.

This Author anticipates that a great many young and unmarried ladies will choose to attend as well, following
the publication of this column.

His life as he knew it was over.

‘What?’ he asked, aware that he was blinking rapidly.

Her face turned a deeper shade of crimson than he’d thought humanly possible, and she turned away. ‘Never mind,’ she mumbled. ‘Forget I said anything.’

Colin thought that a very good idea.

But then, just when he’d thought that his world might resume its normal course (or at least that he’d be able to pretend it had), she whirled back around, her eyes alight with a passionate fire that astonished him.

‘No, I’m not going to forget it,’ she cried out. ‘I’ve spent my life forgetting things, not saying them, never telling anyone what I really want.’

Colin tried to say something, but it was clear to him that his throat had begun to close. Any minute now he’d be dead. He was sure of it.

‘It won’t mean a thing,’ she said. ‘I promise you, it won’t mean anything, and I’d never expect anything from you because of it, but I could die tomorrow, and—’

‘What?’

Her eyes looked huge, and meltingly dark, and pleading, and…

He could feel his resolve melting away.

‘I’m eight-and-twenty,’ she said, her voice soft and sad. ‘I’m an old maid, and I’ve never been kissed.’

‘Gah … gah… gah …’ He knew he knew how to speak; he was fairly certain he’d been perfectly articulate just minutes earlier. But now he didn’t seem able to form a word.

And Penelope kept talking, her cheeks delightfully pink, and her lips moving so quickly that he couldn’t help but wonder what they’d feel like on his skin. On his neck, on his shoulder, on his … other places.

‘I’m going to be an old maid at nine-and-twenty,’ she said, ‘and I’ll be an old maid at thirty. I could die tomorrow, and—’

‘You’re not going to die tomorrow!’ he somehow managed to get out.

‘But I could! I could, and it would kill me, because—’

‘You’d already be dead,’ he said, thinking his voice sounded rather strange and disembodied.

‘I don’t want to die without ever having been kissed,’ she finally finished.

Colin could think of a hundred reasons why kissing Pen elope Featherington was a very bad idea, the number one being that
he actually wanted to kiss her.

He opened his mouth, hoping that a sound would emerge and that it might actually be intelligible speech, but there was
nothing, just the sound of breath on his lips.

And then Penelope did the one thing that could break his resolve in an instant. She looked up at him, deeply into his eyes,
and uttered one, simple word.

‘Please.’

He was lost. There was something heartbreaking in the way she was gazing at him, as if she might die if he didn’t kiss her. Not from heartbreak, not from embarrassment—it was almost as if she needed him for nourishment, to feed her soul, to fill her heart.

And Colin couldn’t remember anyone else ever needing him with such fervor.

It humbled him.

It made him want her with an intensity that nearly buckled his knees. He looked at her, and somehow he didn’t see the woman he’d seen so many times before. She was different. She glowed. She was a siren, a goddess, and he wondered how on earth no one had ever noticed this before.

‘Colin?’ she whispered.

He took a step forward—barely a half a foot, but it was close enough so that when he touched her chin and tipped her face up, her lips were mere inches from his.

Their breath mingled, and the air grew hot and heavy. Penelope was trembling—he could feel that under his fingers— but he wasn’t so sure that he wasn’t trembling, too.

He assumed he’d say something flip and droll, like the devil-may-care fellow he was reputed to be. Anything for you, perhaps, or maybe, Every woman deserves at least one kiss. But as he closed the bare distance between them, he realized that there were no words that could capture the intensity of the moment

No words for the passion. No words for the need.

No words for the sheer epiphany of the moment.

And so, on an otherwise unremarkable Friday afternoon, in the heart of Mayfair, in a quiet drawing room on Mount Street, Colin Bridgerton kissed Penelope Featherington.

And it was glorious.

His lips touched hers softly at first, not because he was trying to be gentle, although if he’d had the presence of mind to think about such things, it probably would have occurred to him that this was her first kiss, and it ought to be reverent and beautiful and all the things a girl dreams about as she’s lying in bed at night.

But in all truth, none of that was on Colin’s mind. In fact, he was thinking of quite little. His kiss was soft and gentle because he was still so surprised that he was kissing her. He’d known her for years, had never even thought about touching his lips to hers. And now he couldn’t have let her go if the fires of hell were licking his toes. He could barely believe what he was doing—or that he wanted to do it so damned much.

It wasn’t the sort of a kiss one initiates because one is overcome with passion or emotion or anger or desire. It was a slower thing, a learning experience—for Colin just as much as for Penelope.

And he was learning that everything he thought he’d known about kissing was rubbish.

Everything else had been mere lips and tongue and softly murmured but meaningless words.

This was a kiss.

There was something in the friction, the way he could hear and feel her breath at the same time. Something in the way she held perfectly still, and yet he could feel her heart pounding through her skin.

There was something in the fact that he knew it was her.

Colin moved his lips slightly to the left, until he was nipping the corner of her mouth, softly tickling the very spot where her lips joined. His tongue dipped and traced, learning the contours of her mouth, tasting the sweet-salty essence of her.

This was more than a kiss.

His hands, which had been lightly splayed against her back, grew rigid, more tense as they pressed into the fabric of her dress. He could feel the heat of her under his fingertips, seeping up through the muslin, swirling in the delicate muscles of her back.

He drew her to him, pulling her closer, closer, until their bodies were pressed together. He could feel her, the entire length of her, and it set him on fire. He was growing hard, and he wanted her—dear God, how he wanted her.

His mouth grew more insistent, and his tongue darted forward, nudging her until her lips parted. He swallowed her soft moan of acquiescence, then pushed forward to taste her. She was sweet and a little tart from the lemonade, and she was clearly as intoxicating as fine brandy, because Colin was starting to doubt his ability to remain on his feet.

He moved his hands along the length of her—slowly, so as not to frighten her. She was soft, curvy, and lush, just as he’d always thought a woman should be. Her hips flared, and her bottom was perfect, and her breasts… good God, her breasts felt good pressing against his chest. His palms itched to cup them, but he forced his hands to remain where they were (rather enjoyably on her derriere, so it really wasn’t that much of a sacrifice.) Beside the fact that he really shouldn’t be groping a gently bred lady’s breasts in the middle of her drawing room, he had a rather painful suspicion that if he touched her in that way, he would lose himself completely.

‘Penelope, Penelope,’ he murmured, wondering why her name tasted so good on his lips. He was ravenous for her, heady and drugged by passion, and he wanted desperately for her to feel the same way. She felt perfect in his arms, but thus far, she had made no reaction. Oh, she had swayed in his arms and opened her mouth to welcome his sweet invasion, but other than that, she had done nothing.

And yet, from the pant of her breath and the beat of her heart, he knew that she was aroused.

He pulled back, just a few inches so that he could touch her chin and tilt her face up toward his. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes that were dazed with passion, perfectly matching her lips, which were lightly parted, completely soft, and thoroughly swollen from his kisses.

She was beautiful. Utterly, completely, soul-stirringly beautiful. He didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed it all these years.

Was the world populated with blind men, or merely stupid ones?

‘You can kiss me, too,’ he whispered, leaning his forehead lightly against hers.

She did nothing but blink.

‘A kiss,’ he murmured, lowering his lips to hers again, although just for a fleeting moment, ‘is for two people.’

Her hand stirred at his back. ‘What do I do?’ she whispered.

‘Whatever you want to do.’

Slowly, tentatively, she lifted one of her hands to his face. Her fingers trailed lightly over his cheek, skimming along the line of his jaw until they fell away.

‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

Thank you?

He went still.

It was exactly the wrong thing to say. He didn’t want to be thanked for his kiss.

It made him feel guilty.

And shallow.

As if it had been something done out of pity. And the worst part was he knew that if all this had come to pass only a few months earlier, it would have been out of pity.

What the hell did that say about him?

‘Don’t thank me,’ he said gruffly, shoving himself backward until they were no longer touching.

‘But—’

‘I said don’t,’ he repeated harshly, turning away as if he couldn’t bear the sight of her, when the truth was that he couldn’t quite bear himself.

And the damnedest thing was—he wasn’t sure why. This desperate, gnawing feeling—was it guilt? Because he shouldn’t have kissed her? Because he shouldn’t have liked it?

‘Colin,’ she said, ‘don’t be angry with yourself.’

‘I’m not,’ he snapped.

‘I asked you to kiss me. I practically forced you—’

Now, there was a surefire way to make a man feel manly. ‘You didn’t force me,’ he bit off.

‘No, but—’

‘For the love of God, Penelope, enoughl‘

She drew back, her eyes wide. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.

He looked down at her hands. They were shaking. He closed his eyes in agony. Why why why was he being such an ass?

‘Penelope …’ he began.

‘No, it’s all right,’ she said, her words rushed. ‘You don’t have to say anything.’

‘No, I should.’

‘I really wish you wouldn’t.’

And now she looked so quietly dignified. Which made him feel even worse. She was standing there, her hands clasped demurely in front of her, her eyes downward—not quite on the floor, but not on his face.

She thought he’d kissed her out of pity.

And he was a knave because a small part of him wanted her to think that. Because if she thought it, then maybe he could convince himself that it was true, that it was just pity, that it couldn’t possibly be more.

‘I should go,’ he said, the words quiet, and yet still too loud in the silent room.

She didn’t try to stop him.

He motioned to the door. ‘I should go,’ he said again, even as his feet refused to move.

She nodded.

‘I didn’t—’ he started to say, and then, horrified by the words that had nearly come out of his mouth, he actually did head toward the door.

But Penelope called out—of course she called out—’You didn’t what?’

And he didn’t know what to say, because what he’d started to say was, I didn’t kiss you out of pity. If he wanted her to
know that, if he wanted to convince himself of that, then that could only mean that he craved her good opinion, which could only mean—

‘I have to go,’ he blurted out, desperate now, as if leaving the room might be the only way to keep his thoughts from traveling down such a dangerous road. He crossed the remaining distance to the door, waiting for her to say something, to call out his name.

But she didn’t.

And he left.

And he’d never hated himself more.

Colin was in an exceedingly bad mood before the footman showed up at his front door with a summons from his mother. Afterward, he was beyond repair.

Bloody hell. She was going to start in on him again about getting married. Her summonses were always about getting married. And he really wasn’t in the mood for it right now.

But she was his mother. And he loved her. And that meant he couldn’t very well ignore her. So with considerable grumbling
and a fair bit of cursing while he was at it, he yanked on his boots and coat, and headed out the door.

He was living in Bloomsbury, not the most fashionable section of town for a member of the aristocracy, although Bedford Square, where he had taken out a lease on a small but elegant terrace house, was certainly an upscale and respectable address.

Colin rather liked living in Bloomsbury, where his neighbors were doctors and lawyers and scholars and people who actually did things other than attend party after party. He wasn’t ready to trade in his heritage for a life in trade—it was rather good to be a Bridgerton, after all—but there was something stimulating about watching professional men going about their daily business, the lawyers heading east to the Inns of the Court, the doctors northwest to Portland Place.

It would have been easy enough to drive his curricle across town; it had only been brought back to the mews an hour ago
upon his return from the Featheringtons’. But Colin was feeling a bit in need of some fresh air, not to mention perverse enough to take the slowest means possible to Number Five.

If his mother intended to deliver another lecture on the virtues of marriage, followed by a lengthy dissertation on the attributes
of each and every eligible miss in London, she could bloody well wait for him.

Colin closed his eyes and groaned. His mood must be worse than even he had thought if he was cursing in relation to his mother, whom he (and all the Bridgertons, really) held in the highest esteem and affection.

It was Penelope’s fault.

No, it was Eloise’s fault, he thought, grinding his teeth. Better to blame a sibling.

No—he slumped back into his desk chair, groaning—it was his fault. If he was in a bad mood, if he was ready to yank someone’s head off with his bare hands, it was his fault and his fault alone.

He shouldn’t have kissed Penelope. It didn’t matter that he’d wanted to kiss her, even though he hadn’t even realized that he wanted to until right before she’d mentioned it. He still shouldn’t have kissed her.

Although, when he really thought about it, he wasn’t quite sure why he shouldn’t have kissed her.

He stood, then trudged to the window and let his forehead rest against the pane. Bedford Square was quiet, with only a few men walking along the pavement. Laborers, they looked to be, probably working on the new museum being built just to the east. (It was why Colin had taken a house on the west side of the square; the construction could get very noisy.)

His gaze traveled north, to the statue of Charles James Fox. Now, there was a man with a purpose. Led the Whigs for years. He hadn’t always been very well liked, if some of the older members of the ton were to be believed, but Colin was coming to think that perhaps being well liked was overrated. Heaven knew that no one was better liked than he was, and look at him now, frustrated and malcontent, grumpy and ready to lash out at anyone who crossed his path.

He sighed, planting one hand on the window frame and pushing himself back to an upright position. He’d better get going, especially if he was planning to walk all the way to Mayfair. Although, in truth, it really wasn’t that far. Probably not more than thirty minutes if he kept his pace brisk (and he always did), less if the pavements weren’t littered with slow people. It was longer than most members of the ton cared to be outside in London unless they were shopping or fashionably strolling in the park, but Colin felt the need to clear his head. And if the air in London wasn’t particularly fresh, well, it would still have to do.

His luck that day being what it was, however, by the time he reached the intersection of Oxford and Regent Streets, the first splats of raindrops began to dance against his face. By the time he was turning off Hanover Square onto St. George Street, it was pouring in earnest. And he was just close enough to Bruton Street that it would have been really ridiculous to have tried
to hail a hackney to take him the rest of the way.

So he walked on.

After the first minute or so of annoyance, however, the rain began to feel oddly good. It was warm enough out that it didn’t chill him to the bone, and the fat, wet sting of it almost felt like a penance.

And he felt like maybe that was what he deserved.

The door to his mother’s house opened before Colin’s foot had even found the top step; Wickham must have been waiting for him.

‘Might I suggest a towel?’ the butler intoned, handing him a large white cloth.

Colin took it, wondering how on earth Wickham had had time to get a towel. He couldn’t have known that Colin would be fool enough to walk in the rain.

Not for the first time it occurred to Colin that butlers must be possessed of strange, mystical powers. Perhaps it was a job requirement.

Colin used the towel to dry his hair, causing great consternation to Wickham, who was terribly proper and surely expected Colin to retire to a private room for at least a half an hour to mend his appearance.

‘Where’s my mother?’ Colin asked.

Wickham’s lips tightened, and he looked pointedly down at Colin’s feet, which were now creating small puddles. ‘She is in
her office,’ he replied, ‘but she is speaking with your sister.’

‘Which sister?’ Colin asked, keeping a sunny smile on his face, just to annoy Wickham, who had surely been trying to annoy him by omitting his sister’s name.

As if you could simply say ‘your sister’ to a Bridgerton and expect him to know who you were talking about.

‘Francesca.’

‘Ah, yes. She’s returning to Scotland soon, isn’t she?’

‘Tomorrow.’

Colin handed the towel back to Wickham, who regarded it as he might a large insect. ‘I won’t bother her, then. Just let her know I’m here when she’s done with Francesca.’

Wickham nodded. ‘Would you care to change your clothes, Mr. Bridgerton? I believe we have some of your brother Gregory’s garments upstairs in his bedchamber.’

Colin found himself smiling. Gregory was finishing up his final term at Cambridge. He was eleven years younger than Colin, and it was difficult to believe they could actually share clothing, but he supposed it was time to accept that his little brother had finally grown up.

‘That’s an excellent idea,’ Colin said. He gave his sodden sleeve a rueful glance. ‘I’ll leave these here to be cleaned and fetch them later.’

Wickham nodded again, murmured, ‘As you wish,’ and disappeared down the hall to parts unknown.

Colin took the steps two at a time up to the family quarters. As he sloshed down the hall, he heard the sound of a door opening. Turning around, he saw that it was Eloise.

Not the person he wanted to see. She immediately brought back all the memories of his afternoon with Penelope. Their conversation. The kiss.

Especially the kiss.

And even worse, the guilt he’d felt afterward.

The guilt he still felt.

‘Colin,’ Eloise said brightly, ‘I didn’t realize you—what did you do, walkl‘

He shrugged. ‘I like the rain.’

She eyed him curiously, her head cocking to the side as it always did when she was puzzling through something. ‘You’re in a rather odd mood today.’

‘I’m soaking wet, Eloise.’

‘No need to snap at me about it,’ she said with a sniff. ‘I didn’t force you to walk across town in the rain.’

‘It wasn’t raining when I left,’ he felt rather compelled to say. There was something about a sibling that brought out the eight-year-old in a body.

‘I’m sure the sky was gray,’ she returned.

Clearly, she had a bit of the eight-year-old in her as well.

‘May we continue this discussion when I’m dry?’ he asked, his voice deliberately impatient.

‘Of course,’ she said expansively, all accommodation. ‘I’ll wait for you right here.’

Colin took his time while he changed into Gregory’s clothes, taking more care with his cravat than.he had in years. Finally,
when he was convinced that Eloise must be grinding her teeth, he reentered the hall.

‘I heard you went to see Penelope today,’ she said without preamble.

Wrong thing to say.

‘Where did you hear that?’ he asked carefully. He knew that his sister and Penelope were close, but surely Penelope
wouldn’t have told Eloise about that.

‘Felicity told Hyacinth.’

‘And Hyacinth told you.’

‘Of course.’

‘Something,’ Colin muttered, ‘has got to be done about all the gossip in this town.’

‘I hardly think this counts as gossip, Colin,’ Eloise said. ‘It’s not as if you’re interested in Penelope.’

If she had been talking about any other woman, Colin would have expected her to give him a sidelong glance, followed by a coy, Are you ?

But this was Penelope, and even though Eloise was her very best friend, and thus her finest champion, even she couldn’t imagine that a man of Colin’s reputation and popularity would be interested in a woman of Penelope’s reputation and (lack of) popularity.

Colin’s mood shifted from bad to foul.

‘Anyway,’ Eloise continued, completely oblivious to the thunderstorm that was brewing in her normally sunny and jovial brother, ‘Felicity told Hyacinth that Briarly told her that you’d visited. I was just wondering what it was about.’

‘It’s none of your business,’ Colin said briskly, hoping she’d leave it at that, but not really believing she would. He took a step toward the stairwell, though, always optimistic.

‘It’s about my birthday, isn’t it?’ Eloise guessed, dashing in front of him with such suddenness that his toe crashed into her slipper. She winced* but Colin didn’t feel particularly sympathetic.

‘No, it’s not about your birthday,’ he snapped. ‘Your birthday isn’t even until—’

He stopped. Ah, hell.

‘Until next week,’ he grumbled.

She smiled slyly. Then, as if her brain had just realized it had taken a wrong turn, her lips parted with dismay as she mentally backed up and headed in another direction. ‘So,’ she continued, moving slightly so that she better blocked his path, ‘if you didn’t go over there to discuss my birthday— and there’s nothing you could say now that would convince me you did—why
did you go see Penelope?’

‘Is nothing private in this world?’

‘Not in this family.’

Colin decided that his best bet was to adopt his usual sunny persona, even though he didn’t feel the least bit charitable toward her at the moment, and so he slapped on the smoothest and easiest of his smiles, quirked his head to the side, and asked,
‘Do I hear Mother calling my name?’

‘I didn’t hear a thing,’ Eloise said pertly, ‘and what is wrong with you? You look very odd.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘You’re not fine. You look as if you’ve been to the dentist.’

His voice descended into a mutter. ‘It’s always nice to receive compliments from family.’

‘If you can’t trust your family to be honest with you,’ she volleyed, ‘who can you trust?’

He leaned fluidly back against the wall, crossing his arms. ‘I prefer flattery to honesty.’

‘No, you don’t.’

Dear God, he wanted to smack her. He hadn’t done that since he was twelve. And he’d been horsewhipped for it. The only time he could recall his father laying a hand on him.

‘What I want,’ Colin returned, arching one brow, ‘is an immediate cessation of this conversation.’

‘What you want,’ Eloise needled, ‘is for me to stop asking you why you went to see Penelope Featherington, but I think we both know that isn’t likely to occur.’

And that was when he knew it. Knew it deep in his bones, from his head to his toes, his heart to his mind that his sister was Lady Whistledown. All of the pieces fit. There was no one more stubborn and bullheaded, no one who could—or would—take the time to get to the bottom of every last piece of gossip and innuendo.

When Eloise wanted something, she didn’t stop until she had it firmly in her grasp. It wasn’t about money, or greed, or material goods. With her it was about knowledge. She liked knowing things, and she’d needle and needle and needle until you’d told
her exactly what she wanted to hear.

It was a miracle no one had found her out sooner.

Out of nowhere he said, ‘I need to talk to you.’ He grabbed her arm and hauled her into the nearest room, which happened
to be her own.

‘Colin!’ she shrieked, trying unsuccessfully to shake him off. ‘What are you doing?’

He slammed the door shut, let go of her, and crossed his arms, his stance wide, his expression menacing.

‘Colin?’ she repeated, her voice dubious.

‘I know what you’ve been up to.’

‘What I’ve been—’

And then, damn her, she started laughing.

‘Eloise!’ he boomed. ‘I’m talking to you!’

‘Clearly,’ she just barely managed to get out.

He held his ground, glaring at her.

She was looking away, nearly doubled over with laughter. Finally, she said, ‘What are you—’

But then she looked at him again and even though she’d tried to keep her mouth shut, she exploded again.

If she’d been drinking something, Colin thought without a trace of humor, it would have come out her nose. ‘What the hell is
the matter with you?’ he snapped.

That finally got her attention. He didn’t know whether it was his tone of voice or maybe his use of profanity, but she sobered in an instant.

‘My word,’ she said softly, ‘you’re serious.’

‘Do I look like I’m joking?’

‘No,’ Eloise said. ‘Although you did at first. I’m sorry, Colin, but it’s just not like you to be glowering and yelling and all that. You looked rather like Anthony.’

‘You—’

‘Actually,’ she said, giving him a look that was not nearly as wary as it should have been, ‘you looked more like yourself,
trying to imitate Anthony.’

He was going to kill her. Right here in her room, in his mother’s house, he was going to commit sororicide.

‘Colin?’ she asked hesitantly, as if she’d just finally noticed that he had long since passed angry on his way to furious.

‘Sit. Down.’ He jerked his head toward a chair. ‘Now.’

‘Are you all right?’

‘SIT DOWN!’ he roared.

And she did. With alacrity.

‘I can’t remember the last time you raised your voice,’ she whispered.

‘I can’t remember the last time I had cause to.’

‘What’s wrong?’

He decided he might as well just come out and say it.

‘Colin?’

‘I know you’re Lady Whistledown.’

‘Whaaaaat?’

‘There’s no use denying it. I’ve seen—’

Eloise jumped to her feet. ‘Except that it’s not true!’

Suddenly he no longer felt quite so angry. Instead he felt tired, old. ‘Eloise, I’ve seen the proof.’

‘What proof?’ she asked, her voice rising with disbelief. ‘How can there be proof of something that isn’t true?’

He grabbed one of her hands. ‘Look at your fingers.’

She did so. ‘What about them?’

‘Inkstains.’

Her mouth fell open. ‘From that you’ve deduced that I’m Lady Whistledown?’

‘Why are they there, then?’

‘You’ve never used a quill?’

‘Eloise …’ There was a great deal of warning in his voice.

‘I don’t have to tell you why I have inkstains on my fingers.’

He said her name again.

‘I don’t,’ she protested. ‘I owe you no—oh, very well, fine.’ She crossed her arms mutinously. ‘I write letters.’

He shot her an extremely disbelieving look.

‘I do!’ she protested. ‘Every day. Sometimes two in a day when Francesca is away. I’m quite a loyal correspondent. You should know. I’ve written enough letters with your name on the envelope, although I doubt half of them ever reached you.’

‘Letters?’ he asked, his voice full of doubt… and derision. ‘For God’s sake, Eloise, do you really think that will wash? Who
the devil are you writing so many letters to?’

She blushed. Really, truly, deeply blushed. ‘It’s none of your business.’

He would have been intrigued by her reaction if he still weren’t so sure that she was lying about being Lady Whistledown.
‘For God’s sake, Eloise,’ he bit off, ‘who is going to believe that you’re writing letters every day? I certainly don’t.’

She glared at him, her dark gray eyes flashing with fury. ‘I don’t care what you think,’ she said in a very low voice. ‘No,
that’s not true. I amfurious that you don’t believe me.’

‘You’re not giving me much to believe in,’ he said wearily.

She stood, walked over to him, and poked him in the chest. Hard. ‘You are my brother,’ she spat out. ‘You should believe
me unquestioningly. Love me unconditionally. That’s what it means to be family.’

‘Eloise,’ he said, her name coming out really as nothing more than a sigh.

‘Don’t try to make excuses now.’

‘I wasn’t.’

‘That’s even worse!’ She stalked to the door. ‘You should be on your hands and knees, begging me for forgiveness.’

He hadn’t thought he had it in him to smile, but somehow that did it for him. ‘Now, that doesn’t really seem in keeping with
my character, does it?’

She opened her mouth to say something, but the sound that came out was not precisely English. All she managed was something along the lines of, ‘Ooooooooh,’ in an extremely irate voice, and then she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Colin slouched into a chair, wondering when she’d realize that she’d left him in her own bedchamber.

The irony was, he reflected, possibly the only bright spot in an otherwise miserable day.