Free Sharon Sobel by The Eyes of Lady Claire (v5.0) (epub)

are.”
    “Please speak for yourself, Lord Wentworth! Ask Lady Camille what she wants.”
    “I know what my sister wants and needs, and it is not a widow who does as she pleases and goes where she will. And that includes walking unchaperoned in the woods in the evening.”
    “I was perfectly safe before I was accosted by a passing vagrant who did nothing to calm my fears.”
    Wentworth flushed to the roots of his dreadful beard and dropped his sister’s hand. “There is no reasoning with you, Lady Claire, and I see no purpose in wasting my time on one whose hearing is as impaired as Captain Pierce and whose understanding is as impaired as any of society’s minions, whomever they may be. Please excuse me.”
    He stalked to the door of the room, where he surprised poor Mr. Clark and nearly toppled the tray the butler carried. Once he helped his servant right the tray, he turned back to Camille and Claire.
    “And there is nothing wrong with the dresses my sister wears, Lady Claire. They are ordered from the best dressmaker in our town, and are of the finest fabrics.”
    Claire refused to allow him the last word, no matter how absurd it was.
    “They are ordered from the only dressmaker in your town. And there are finer fabrics to be had than scratchy worsted and rough linen, Lord Wentworth.”
    Claire felt a moment of terror, for he looked as angry as her late husband, and she guessed him possessed of even greater strength. But Lord Wentworth did nothing more than drop his hands to his sides, turn on his heel, and leave them in peace, even as their words still reverberated in the room.
    Claire dropped into her chair, utterly exhausted.
    “That went well,” she said.
    Camille laughed, as if nothing had passed of any consequence. “It did go well, my dear Lady Claire. I have never had such a champion.”
    “Of course. It is a wonderful thing to have a brother so concerned for one’s welfare, who is willing to sacrifice everything for a sister’s happiness,” Claire admitted.
    “I do not refer to my brother, dear friend. I say you are my champion, for no one has ever stood up to my brother in his whole life. It is an unfortunate thing, you understand, for it allows him to believe he is always right.”
    “If you do not believe that is so, you must stand up to him yourself.” Claire sighed, knowing the truth of what Wentworth said. It was not her place to come between a brother and sister. “It will be very difficult, but I believe you have the strength of character to act in accord with your own wishes.”
    Camille turned to the window seeing something not visible to anyone else. “It is not so easy as that,” she said.
    “Change never is easy, but in time your brother will come to see that you enjoy what every other young lady of quality enjoys. And even more, that you are quite capable of holding your own amongst the beau monde.”
    “Maxwell does not doubt that. He may argue otherwise and cite a dozen reasons why I will fail utterly in such society, but the one who will have the most difficult time is Maxwell himself.”
    “I suppose he is very shy? It is true that when we met in London, he looked like he wanted nothing more than to hide among the Corinthian columns in Lady Armadale’s ballroom.”
    “He is not shy, at least not in the usual way.”
    “What is the usual way?” Claire asked, having never before considered the question.
    “Someone who is naturally shy cannot bear to look at other people or talk to them or hear what they have to say. Maxwell does not seem to have such problems. But he carries a great burden of guilt with him, and if he senses that I will be abused because of my condition, then his burden becomes even heavier. He might collapse under the weight of it.”
    Claire thought about Lord Wentworth’s broad shoulders and the very solid look of his body, and imagined he could bear a great deal. She wondered how it would feel to be lifted into his arms as she mounted a horse or