Alex went still. He’d thought no one else could discern his burgeoning attraction, but—Good lord. How obvious was it? “Are you asking me if I’m courting your sister?”

“Are you?”

“I don’t have that honor, no.”

Teddy frowned. He had a sharp face, thinner than his sister’s but no less striking. “She’s not without protection, you know.”

“You?” Alex felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for the boy.

“And my Aunt Charlotte.”

“I see I shall have to watch my step.”

Teddy reached for some of the papers on his desk. They appeared to be half-finished sketches made with pen and ink. “I must thank you for looking after my aunt.”

“Not at all.”

“She has a dodgy heart. The doctor makes her take syrup of digitalis. It’s sufficient for now, but one day…” He shuffled his papers. “My sister doesn’t think I realize.”

“Your sister is the one who manages the household? Not your aunt?”

“Aunt Charlotte?” Teddy gave a short laugh. “No. It’s Laura who looks after us.”

Alex wasn’t entirely surprised. Of course Miss Hayes was the one shouldering all of the family burdens. Doubtless she’d been doing so since her father’s death. No wonder she was searching for a way to salvage the remnants of the family business. To recover her brother’s paltry inheritance from the clutches of their unscrupulous solicitor.

“You haven’t rescued me from anything,” she’d told him that day alongside the road. “No one can.”

A knot of helpless frustration settled in his midsection. There was nothing he could do to save Miss Hayes. Nothing that wouldn’t jeopardize his own plans. He was risking enough just being here. Henrietta Talbot was a jealous creature. When she learned that he’d driven Miss Hayes home, that he’d remained to visit her family, she’d suspect the worst. And then, God only knew how much it would set back his progress with her.

He should leave at once. Bid Miss Hayes and her brother good afternoon and return to the vicarage. It was the wisest course. The one best designed to keep him out of Miss Talbot’s black books.

But he didn’t leave.

Instead, he moved closer to Teddy’s desk. “Are those finches?”

“They nest outside my window. It’s difficult to capture them from this angle. I can’t seem to get it right.”

“You might see them better from outside.”

Teddy’s expression tightened. “I don’t go outside anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m confined to my chair.”

“Permanently?”