Page 16 of A Sister to Beguile (Sherton Sisters 5)

But she was a Sherton and as such, hiding was not an option. Lifting her chin as high as she could without appearing any more ridiculous than she already did, Grace forced her lips into a practiced smile of serenity and looked around the table to ascertain the state of everyone else present.

No one else had noticed thecontretemps. That, at least, was a relief. If she couldn’t get away with hiding from the earl, maybe she could at least ignore him. Felicity’s household was obviously far from conventional, so she needn’t concern herself that she would face a reprimand from that quarter. But when her eyes fell upon Adelina, Grace had to fight the urge to crumple. She couldn’t set a poor example for the young girl, not when her stepmother wasn’t likely to bother with such things.

Grace loved her sister fiercely, but she doubted Felicity would be able to steer the child toward a conventional future, even if she tried. For the first time, Grace contemplated whether she ought to extend her visit with the Barringtons even further than her mother required.

She stifled her sigh. She was worse than Vicky in her efforts to keep everyone happy. The thought distracted her briefly from her own uncomfortable situation; their middle sister’s awkward attempts at keeping the peace at all times had surprisingly led to a fairy tale marriage.

For the first time, Grace wondered if such a fairy tale were possible for her. Indeed, she’d never desired one. But Grace had no evidence there was a fairy godmother waiting to pour out blessings upon her. No, Grace felt certain if she were to ever find her own happy ending, she would have to achieve it for herself.

Grace allowed her gaze to meet Lord Sterling’s once more and was thrilled to see that he now looked more puzzled than empathetic. Puzzled she could handle. She had been puzzling people most of her life, so it wasn’t much of a bother. The smile that suddenly graced her face felt far more genuine than it had previously.

“You’ve been quiet, Easton,” Grace finally prompted. “What have you been keeping busy with this summer?”

The boy offered her a rather shy smile in answer to her question before it suddenly widened into a grin. “I’ve been trying to keep up with Gardner, Adelina, and Jonesy.”

Grace found it amusing that the children still referred to Felicity in the manner that Adelina had adopted when Felicity was there under the guise of Felicity Jones, paid companion. The duke didn’t much care for it, but he hadn’t yet insisted that the children find something else to call their stepmother. Grace supposed it was an awkward situation for the children. What were they to call her? Your Grace would be rather formal for the unconventional young woman, who wasn’t terribly much older than they were. It seemed easier for the children to call her “aunt” than it was for them to call Felicity “Mother.” Perhaps if there were a new babe in the house, who would by nature call their father’s wife mother, it would ease the way. In the meantime, calling her ‘Jonesy’ seemed to amuse rather than offend Felicity, so Grace didn’t consider it worth even mentioning. It was clearly a term of endearment from the children.

Her mind bounced back toward the earl, and Grace grew convinced that she was being ridiculous. She tried to distract herself by thinking about anything but him. But her efforts seemed to have the opposite effect.

The thought suddenly occurred to her. What if the earl wasn’t opposed to Felicity’s matchmaking efforts? Grace thought back to all her previous interactions with Lord Sterling. It didn’t take long, as there weren’t all that many.

She supposed, having been raised in a noble family, she had been aware of the earl’s family from the beginning of time. But she had only encountered the man a handful of times. She didn’t even know all that much about him, aside from the facts that he was well reputed, danced well, and was ridiculously handsome. Grace supposed, if she would be forced to marry someday, she could do far worse than him.

But despite the kind eyes he had temporarily made at her, he hadn’t really indicated any sort of marked interest. In fact, the one time he had called, he had only been interested in learning more about Rathnelly.

Suddenly, Grace was looking at the man in a far different light. He couldn’t very well be trying to set up a flirtation with the recently married duchess, could he? The thought horrified her before she quickly dismissed it. Rathnelly was sitting right there; surely the man wasn’t that daft.

“You didn’t mention what sort of work you were going to take up on your estate, my lord,” Grace prompted, as she noticed the conversation lagging around the table. “Are there repairs or renovations you intend to make?”

She had considered it an innocent topic, but she should have guessed from the way he had side-stepped it earlier that it wasn’t so simple. He surprised her by sighing heavily.

“That is one of the things I was hoping to discuss with you, Your Grace,” Lord Sterling said, shifting his gaze between Grace and the duke. “I have had to terminate my steward’s employment quite suddenly and haven’t any connections in the area to hire a new one. I could send someone from Lakewood, I suppose, or hire someone in Town, but I was of a mind to find someone local, who would be happy for the position close to home.”

Rathnelly, never one to respond quickly, looked at Lord Sterling for a long moment. “Sounds like a complicated situation,” he commented dryly before he exchanged speaking expressions with his wife. “I might know of one or two individuals who would consider the position. Perhaps, we can discuss it in a little more detail after the meal,” he concluded with a smile toward his children. “While Wickham and Easton are doing their best to learn the details of running a large estate, they may not appreciate this level of discussion over dinner.”

“Of course, Your Grace,” Lord Sterling replied promptly, appearing suddenly uncomfortable.

Grace once more felt responsible, as it was her question that had prompted the topic. She encompassed the entire table as she glanced around with what she was sure was an awkward smile upon her face. “My apologies, everyone. It would appear my curiosity got the better of me once more.”

The earl had a strange expression upon his face that she couldn’t interpret, but Gracie chose to ignore it rather than stare at him long enough to figure it out. Such staring could only alert Felicity and give her the wrong impression. Grace would never be able to convince her sister to cease in her efforts at matching them up if the duchess had any suspicion that an attraction was present.

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