Page 14 of Miss Kimble Bites Back

He seemed to stiffen in his chair. “Would that be Lady Clarissa Whitlow, viscountess?”

Gabby nodded quickly. “Yes.”

The duke pursed his lips. “I see.”

“Are you acquainted with the family? I would be happy to introduce you to my friend’s sister if you were not.”

“I don’t care to be introduced to anyone connected to the Whitlows,” he said somewhat sternly.

“Oh,” Gabby replied, thoroughly confused by his response. “What could be wrong with knowing Justine’s family better?”

Bennett strolled in then and the duke didn’t answer, but he seemed unconcerned to find Gabby sitting alone with the duke in their front parlor. “Appreciate you keeping your word to call on my ward, your grace,” Bennett said, sitting down to join them.

“I said I would come.”

Bennett’s lips twitched. “And so very loudly, too.”

The duke smiled slightly and then glanced her way. “I believe you danced for the rest of the night after our set.”

“Yes, I did,” she said, and then decided to be blunt about her suspicions. “Did you expect that would happen? That others would follow your example.”

“Perhaps I did.”

“Thank you.” She smiled quickly. “I cannot ever repay you for such a kindness.”

“’Twas not a kindness but a remedy for folly,” he said briskly.

“Folly?” she said slowly, narrowing her eyes at him. Was he talking about her unchaperoned visit to the library where they’d first met, or her declaration about admiring Lord Brookes?

“What folly was that?” Bennet asked, frowning as he glanced between.

Gabby prayed the duke would not mention meeting her last night. Bennett, who knew of her interest in Brookes but not that she went in search of him for a private conversation, would not be pleased.

Mamble shrugged. “Of my fellow man for being so blind as to ignore your ward.”

She let out a shaky breath. Lord Mamble wasn’t about to share her secrets with her guardian today.

She smiled at him again, grateful. “Will you be in Town long, your grace?”

“Yes, for some time. Most of the season, I imagine.” He turned to Bennett. “I learned from Lord Triscot that you have a long connection to his family.”

“Indeed. We knew each other as boys,” Bennett admitted. “He was actually the first patient I ever had, and he’s never let me forget the pain of the stitches I put into his arm that day.”

The duke’s eyes narrowed on Bennett. “You’re a surgeon?”

“Among other things. It was always my greatest wish to help those in need.” Bennett’s eyes flickered in her direction. “Of late, I tend the needs of a small country parish. Perhaps you are acquainted with Somerset and Lord Scarsdale’s country estate there? We’ve been friends since childhood.”

“We are acquainted but I have never visited him there,” Mamble admitted and then suddenly laughed. “You’ve been away from society a long time, sir.”

“Much has changed,” Bennett murmured.

Bennett had said very little to Gabby about his life before she’d become his ward but, clearly, he’d enjoyed a wider acquaintance than she’d ever known. She glanced down at her hands as Bennett’s enthusiasm for the subject of the past loosened his tongue and guilt set in. Bennett had given up his life to take care of her in the country.

“And what of you, Miss Kimble?” I duke asked, startling her. “Have you performed in as many amateur theatricals, too?”

She glanced at Bennett, startled by the question and by what she must have missed of the conversation.

“No,” she told the duke. “No one has ever asked me before.”