"Why not?" "Because it means you would have done the same for any child." "I would have."
He almost smiled. It was a very small movement at the corner of his mouth, gone before she was certain she had seen it. He turned back toward the window.
"Petra," he said without looking around, "your grandmother is coming. Show her your hand. You have been stung on the ear, I think." "Twice," Petra said with quiet pride. "But I did not cry." "You did not. You were very brave."
"Miss Vivienne told the bees not to hurt me. Do you think they listened, Uncle?"
He turned his head and looked at Vivienne. His gray eyes rested on her a moment too long. "I think they listened to her."
The Dowager Duchess entered a moment later, leaning heavily on her stick, with a small dark-haired woman in a white apron behind her. There followed a bustle of practical things: the drawing out of stings, the application of a paste that smelled of honey and something bitter, and the fetching of a cool cloth for Petra's ear.
Vivienne allowed herself to be tended. At last, Petra was persuaded by the promise of a story from her grandmother to release Vivienne's hand and go to the nursery, but only after making her promise three times that she would still be in the house when Petra woke.
"I promise," Vivienne said for the third time.
When they were gone, the Duke crossed the room and sat in the chair opposite her. He sat straight, with his hands loose on his knees. He looked tired. Vivienne noticed faint shadows under his eyes and a small scar at the edge of his jaw that she had missed on the lawn.
"Miss Ashcombe, I have something to say, and I would rather say it now while I have the courage." "You do not lack courage, Your Grace."
"I lack it more than you think." A log shifted in the grate. "My niece has not spoken more than four words at a time to anyone in this house since her mother died. Not to me, not to my mother, not to the woman who has been her nurse since birth. She eats, sleeps, and curtsies when told. She does not laugh. She does not choose."
Vivienne swallowed. "Your Grace—"