Free A Lady of Notoriety (The Masquerade Club) by Diane Gaston - A Lady of Notoriety (The Masquerade Club) Page B

front of him and it swung free. She held on to him as well, but that gratified him in other ways. The air was crisp and cool and it nourished him. This was not a day to be hesitant or gloomy. This was a day to enjoy the scent of flowers, of a stable nearby, of stone and grass. All cheered him.
    They descended the step. ‘Tell me what I would see in front of me.’
    ‘There is a walkway,’ she responded reassuringly. ‘Nothing to trip on.’
    ‘Not what is in front of my feet.’ He swept his hand across the vista hidden to him. ‘What I would see. I smell the stable. It must be in sight.’
    ‘Oh.’ She paused. Had he made her feel foolish? ‘There is a stable. Off to the left maybe a hundred yards away. The walkway leads to a road and the stable is several feet away on the road. The road leads past some trees and a field and you can see it reaching a bigger road that leads to the village. You can see the village. It is a mile or two away. There is a church tower rising above the other buildings.’
    It could have been a description of anywhere, but it helped him feel grounded.
    ‘What does the stable look like?’ he asked.
    ‘It is white stucco, like the cottage.’ She turned as if double-checking the cottage’s appearance. ‘Would you like to walk down the path to the road?’
    ‘That will do.’ He did not really care as long as he was stretching his legs.
    But they could not move at any great pace. He depended on her support more than he thought he would. His feet faltered a couple of times. She and the cane helped him keep his balance. The only words spoken were her warnings. ‘Take heed, there is a puddle. There is a rock.’ It made him feel like a cursed invalid.
    He forced himself to walk with more confidence, even though he did not know what was in his path.
    Perhaps she sensed his frustration. She suddenly made an attempt at conversation. ‘Tell me about your family, the ones you refused to allow me to contact.’
    His family? He’d already told her about his profligate father. She probably wondered what other horrors his family possessed. ‘The others are not like my father.’
    ‘Then why not allow them to be contacted?’
    He frowned. Why was she asking? ‘Because they would all come running to care for me.’
    ‘And you find that objectionable?’ she asked.
    She must want to rid herself of his care. ‘None would be a good caretaker.’ He tried to explain. ‘My mother would merely consign me to the role of infant and try to do everything for me. She’d drive me insane in the space of an hour.’ He need not mention his mother’s lover, now constantly at her side. ‘My brother Ned, the new earl, carries the bulk of family responsibility. If he came, he would be neglecting something more important. But worse, he married this empty-headed chit who would be utterly infuriating.’ He also did not mention Rhys, his bastard brother. He had no right to ask anything of Rhys. ‘Then there is my sister—’
    ‘Your sister?’ Her voice tensed.
    It was puzzling. ‘Phillipa would take good care of me, I am certain. I would not ask her, though. She is busy with the baby.’
    ‘A baby?’ Her voice grew soft, but none of the tension in it eased.
    He’d forgotten. A baby was the likely reason for her long retreat on the Continent.
    ‘She recently gave birth to a girl.’ He was sorry he’d brought this up.
    ‘How nice for your sister.’ Mrs Asher’s voice turned sad.
    He put his arm across her back. ‘Is this an unhappy topic for you, Mrs Asher?’
    He felt her stiffen. ‘No. Why should it be?’
    He wanted to ask if she had other children. If not, what a heart-wrenching situation. A childless widow having to give up her illegitimate baby.
    He asked a different question. ‘Where is your family? Your parents? Sisters or brothers? Do you see them?’
    ‘I have no family.’ Her tone hardened.
    No other children, then.
    He held her tighter. ‘Forgive me. I did not know you were so