A Defense of Honor by Kristi Ann Hunter

Author:Kristi Ann Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Historical Fiction;FIC042030;FIC042040;FIC027070
ISBN: 9781493413799
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2018-04-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Graham felt a little panic and a lot of frustration as Kit’s eyes met his and then fell away once more. He knew he was at risk of losing this conversation, of having her join Daphne in whatever game the children were playing now, but he didn’t want her to go.

So he changed the subject. “It’s beautiful here.”

“It is. I still remember the first time I came out here. The idea of Haven Manor was nothing but that. An idea. A desire with no practicality. But this place, it was an answer to all the prayers I hadn’t the courage to voice. That first night I sat on the steps up there, staring down at this lake for as long as the moon’s reflection could be seen. It seemed so large then, so impossible.” She reached out to snag a wayward hoop and send it back toward the playing children. “Now it’s home.”

So she would talk about now, talk about the children, talk about what he could see with his own eyes. But her past, the details he hadn’t learned on his own, those were forbidden.

And those were what he wanted so desperately to learn.

“What’s your favorite color?” he asked instead.

She blinked at him. “Green.”

Like the dress. Only he wasn’t going to mention the dress again. He didn’t want her thinking about those things. “Best food you’ve ever tasted?”

“White soup.”

He laughed. White soup was so common to him, it was hard to imagine it being the food that lingered in someone’s memory. “Truly?”

She nodded. “I’d never had it before going into London society. But it was served at the first dinner party I went to and I loved it so much that I asked a servant for another bowl of it later in the evening.” She smiled, but shadows quickly encroached upon her happy expression.

“Favorite book?”

Her bark of laughter chased the shadows away and made him feel like a conquering hero. “You can’t ask a book lover such a question. It’s like asking a mother who her favorite child is.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Who’s your favorite child?”

One side of her mouth lifted in a smirk as she shook her finger in his direction. “I’m not falling for that one, Lord Wharton.”

“Call me Graham,” he said, surprising himself. “It feels strange being the only one in the house being formally addressed. Why, I don’t even know your last name.”

The offer felt right. It made them equal, somehow, which hopefully made him a little less intimidating. It was why he, Oliver, and Aaron had decided to go by given names instead of titles. Neither Graham nor Oliver had wanted Aaron feeling like he was less important.

“I’m simply Kit now,” she said, instead of giving him the information he’d hoped for. “To everyone.”

“Then I insist on being Graham. For you, Daphne, and Jess at least. The children have fallen into calling me Wharton already, which I’ve no problem with.”

She winced. “I should have taken the opportunity to force more lessons on proper address.

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