"Say you will stay, Miss Lockhart,” Sir Lucius said.

Selena felt tears prick at the back of her eyelids at the tender manner in which he spoke her name. “Under what guise?" She could not meet his gaze any longer. It had become too weighted. Instead, she watched the flickering flames in the fireplace, hoping desperately that Mrs. Randall would not reappear until this painful conversation—this painful, wonderful conversation—was terminated.

But the weight of reality pressed at her as the memories of last night flooded her vision. She spoke in a near whisper. “You did not see fit to speak of this last night before I made a hasty departure. Nor did you see fit to connect your name in any way with mine by stepping forward when I was the target for Mr. Downing’s mockery.” She skewered him with her gaze. “Those actions do not belong to a man who has the right to make a request of any nature.”

“I know it.” Sir Lucius leaned forward and covered his face with his hands, rubbing it fiercely. “I did not come to your aid. It was wrong of me. I cannot explain fully—not yet.”

Abruptly, he sat up and reached for Selena’s hand. "I am being very forward—impossible even. Because I cannot ask you for…for what you should have every reason to expect after I’ve requested you to stay. I simply need time. I only ask that you give us that time to deepen our acquaintance while I sort things out.”

Selena’s heart grew cold, even as she hid her sudden desire to weep. What was he offering her? She could hardly say. He certainly was not offering her marriage. Surely it could not be yet another carte blanche? As if he thought she would accept such a thing. He must be a fool indeed. But Sir Lucius was no fool.

Perhaps she was the fool if her longing to see where things might lead with Sir Lucius kept her from rejecting him outright, despite his lack of gallantry.

She was most certainly a fool—and a pitiful one at that.

“I have already been giving much thought to my situation,” Selena said. “I will stay a short while longer because it is wrong to leave Lady Harrowden without allowing her to find a new companion.”

When relief flashed over Sir Lucius’s face, she warned, “Lady Harrowden might not even wish me to stay. She certainly had plenty of reproaches to throw at me last night. I may have no choice in the matter but to be on the first stagecoach.”

“That was very wrong of her.” Sir Lucius’s brow creased again. “Although I think you might be surprised when she makes no mention of your leaving. Lady Harrowden blusters easily enough, but she really does need a companion, especially now. And Miss Woodsley still needs a governess. I'm asking you to stay while we find a replacement.”

Selena felt a ludicrous sense of disappointment, even as her chin came up. "It is for their sake you ask this of me?”