Page 38 of The Duelist for the Ton
“What do soldiers do?” the boy asked.
“This soldier, not very much at present,” Stephen said. “I’m in town for the foreseeable future, taking care of my sister.”
“Oh, like Flora? She takes care of me and my brother.”
“Is your brother with you today?”
“He’s too young to walk in the park. Mrs. Smith’s taking care of him at home in the country. He’s a viscount, you know.”
A look of discomfort darkened Lady Staines’s expression, but the boy had yet to understand the implications of his younger brother having the title that he did not.
“Is this your first visit to London?” Stephen asked.
Gabriel nodded. “I didn’t like it at first—so many people, and they all stared at me. But Mama says it’s rude to stare, so I didn’t stare back.”
“And now?”
“I like coming to the park. They have swans here. We don’t have swans in the country, but there are moorhens on the lake. Do you know what a moorhen is?”
“A hen that lives on the moors?” Stephen said.
“No, silly! Hens don’t live on the moors.”
“Gabriel, hush,” Lady Staines said. “Remember what I said about needing to be polite when we’re out, and why?”
The boy colored. “You said not everyone would be kind to me.”
Stephen’s heart ached at the stricken expression on Gabriel’s face, and the fear in his mother’s eyes. At that moment, Angela returned from the water’s edge with Lady Portia. Lady Staines glanced from Stephen to Lady Portia, then extended her hand to Angela.
“Lady Angela, would you walk with me?”
Angela took the proffered arm, and Stephen approached Lady Portia. She linked her arm through his as if it belonged there, and his heart warmed with hope as a spark of desire flickered in his blood.
“Who might you be, young sir?” Lady Portia said, glancing at the boy with a smile.
“I’m Gabriel Staines.”
Her smile slipped and she glanced toward Lady Staines, then back at the child.
“Of course,” she said. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Mr. Staines. I’ve heard much about you.”
Stephen stared at her.Yes, I’ll wager you have—you and all the gossips.
“This man’s a soldier, you know,” Gabriel said, tuning his admiring gaze to Stephen once more. “He saves everybody.”
“Everybody?” she said, curling her lips into a smile. “A remarkable feat. Do you think we’re in danger here in the park?”
“Mama told me London can be dangerous.”
“And she’s right,” Lady Portia said. “I trust you listen to your mama. I confess, I don’t always listen to my brother, but you ought to be a better person than I and do as your mama says, at least until you’re old enough to make your own way in the world.”
“Areyouold enough to make your way in the world, Lady Portia?” the boy asked.
She let out a laugh. “I’m afraid I’ll never be given the freedom to do so, Master Gabriel. That is the curse of being a woman, and of having a title. Whereas you…”
She faltered, her cheeks reddening.
“It matters not,” she said. “If Society’s rules cannot be broken, they can at least be molded to our satisfaction.” She bent down and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “And what my brother doesn’t know about my antics cannot hurt him.”
