“All right then. What are you waiting for?” he demanded.
Silence reigned supreme once again and for the remainder of her examination. The only sound that finally broke the cloying atmosphere was a laugh ringing out from some other part of the house. A loud laugh.
A recognizable one.
The earl arched a brow. “Your sister, I presume?”
“Undoubtedly, my lord,” she murmured. Truth be told, the sound of her sister’s bright and happy laugh made her want to smile, but she suspected it had the opposite effect on the earl. Sure enough, when she turned back he was frowning.
“This may have been a mistake,” he said. His voice was so low she wasn’t entirely certain whether he was speaking to her or himself.
She paused in the midst of tidying her equipment. “Pardon me?”
He faced her then, his composure back to normal as he slipped his jacket on, his servant hurrying over to assist him as he did. “You seem like a responsible child.”
Her lips twitched with amusement. “Responsible? Yes, I’d like to think so.” She hesitated but then her true nature won out. “It is the ‘child’ part I am not so sure about.”
To her great surprise—and to the servant’s wide-eyed shock—the earl let out a huff of laughter. “You’re amusing, too.”
She dipped her head. “Rarely. And usually in the least acceptable way.”
He gave a bark of laughter at that. “I admire the way your father raised you.”
She arched her brows. She couldn’t have hid her surprise if she’d tried. Where had this approval been the day before when his friends were mocking her and her sister for it?
“I’ve known your father for many years, you know.”
She nodded. “Yes, my lord. He has mentioned you often.” Well, perhaps ‘often’ was too strong a word for it. But at the very least, her father mentioned his acquaintance with the earl with pride. The earl had taken an interest in his father’s work at the stone frigate years ago, likely because it was so close to the earl’s property.
But her father had often remarked on how he respected the earl for dropping his airs when he came to visit the officers. How he spoke to the captain and his underlings as men worthy of respect. More than once, her father had said, the earl had quizzed her father on his time at sea during the war with France and had applauded her father’s acts of valor and bravery.
For that alone, Sally was prepared to like this old earl. Any man who respected her father was worthy of her respect.
“He’s raised you to be useful,” he said. “Not some silly chit with nothing better to do than sleep the day away.”
“Yes, sir,” she murmured, wondering how on earth her sisters would have responded to that one. It seemed to be a compliment and also a clear mark of her status in one go.
“Your sister.” He met her gaze intently. “Is she as levelheaded as you?”
Sally’s lips parted and her eyes widened in surprise. “Well, sir, she is young, but she is intelligent.”
He arched a brow. “Some girls might forget their place at a party such as this one.”
And just like that his meaning became clear. Irritation warred with curiosity. For the life of her she could not say if he was telling her this because he was concerned for her sister or because he thought Rebecca so silly that she might lose her head and fall for one of the guests.
Or worse, one of his sons.
The thought of the earl’s sons—of one very particular second son—had heat rushing to her cheeks. Some mix of guilt and embarrassment had her hands clenching at her sides. But it was righteous anger on her sister’s behalf that made her speak. “Rebecca might be quick to laugh and the first to dance, but I assure you, Rebecca knows her place.”
His grunt of acknowledgment made her wonder. Was that acknowledgement or disagreement? Grunts truly were quite difficult to decipher.
“Not everyone is raised to be as responsible as you Jones girls,” he finally said. “My own sons, well…” He gave his head a shake. “My eldest is a good chap, but Sebastian…” Another sad shake of his head and he fell into silence.
Sally stared at the top of his head, torn between wanting to stand up for her new friend and demanding to know what he’d meant by that. But then her mind called up an image of Sebastian, of his easy nature and his flirtatious manners.
Her stomach sank when she realized that she knew exactly what the earl meant.
Sebastian’s smile was charming, his laughter endearing, and his demeanor so informal it made one feel like one had been his friend since birth. She’d fallen into a friendship with him in what felt like the blink of an eye. She could only imagine how easy it would be to feel more. To fall even further.
“I’m afraid Sebastian has always been drawn to whatever he cannot have.” The earl huffed. “His mother spoiled him, I supposed, for he never outgrew that urge to thwart the rules.”
She swallowed, his meaning settling like a coiled snake in her belly. As the son of an earl, he could thwart the rules and get away with it. As a young lady without a fortune or a title?
She could not afford the same contempt for society’s rules.
Was that what the earl was warning her against? The thought had a blush creeping into her cheeks, and for a moment she wondered how much he’d seen between her and his son. “I’ll take my leave, my lord,” she said softly.
“Yes, yes, you do that. And Miss Sally,” he called when she’d reached the door.
“Yes, my lord?”
There was something very close to a smile on the old man’s face when he added, “I do hope you enjoy your time here at Hampton Manor.”
She curtsied, keeping her head low. “I am
