Jasper set his drink down on the nearest surface and stepped up in Barnaby’s face. “Listen here, you drunken lout,” he began, just barely containing himself from grabbing for the man’s lapels and shaking him. “I will not hear a bad word against my wife nor her sisters. Interchangeable they are certainly not. I will have you know—”

“Harcourt?”

He froze and so did the other two men, and they all turned to see Thomasina standing there, just at Jasper’s elbow, her face lined with concern.

“My lady,” Barnaby said, at least having the awareness to blush at the idea she might have heard his unkind words. “I did not realize you were so near.”

She smiled, a tight little expression. “I would assume not—you three seemed engaged in intent conversation. But I require the company of my new husband, if you do not mind.” She held out a hand, meeting Jasper’s gaze and holding there evenly. Her eyes said everything, telling him to come away.

He looked around and found a few people watching. Although he hadn’t touched Barnaby when he stepped up to him, he realized now just how loudly and sharply he had spoken. No one within a five-foot radius could have been confused about his displeasure. They were all waiting for what would happen next.

But what had happened was Thomasina. Who effortlessly inserted herself to keep him from his worst impulse, drawing him away from the new scandal he might have created. Being everything he needed in this moment and hadn’t realized.

And so he took her hand and let her be that.

“Many felicitations, my lady,” Walker called out weakly, and Barnaby muttered the same as she and Jasper walked away.

She guided him through the crowd, friendly and easy as she maneuvered him toward the terrace, smiling at their guests, responding with everything pleasing and light as they were acknowledged and congratulated.

But once they exited the ballroom and she shut the door behind them, he felt the weight of the effort in her every move. Her shoulders rolled forward a fraction and her smile faltered. She released his arm and motioned toward the terrace wall. They moved to it together and she faced him, exploring his expression carefully.

“How much did you hear?” he asked softly.

She shrugged one shoulder. “Enough to know that nothing was said that hasn’t been said a dozen times over the years. A hundred times, probably. Why did it upset you so much? Neither of them meant any harm.”

He drew back. “They didn’t mean any harm? How can you say that? You and your sisters may look alike, but you are not identical, not truly.”

“It means a great deal to me that you do not think we are, but the rest of the world has always seen us as an oddity.”

“Don’t say oddity,” he grumbled.

She smiled, as if she were far older and wiser than he was. “Do you know how rare it is for triplets to survive birth? Even twins do not always make it. I have never met another trio like us and neither has anyone else in our acquaintance, I would wager. We are an anomaly, Jasper. To some we are like a traveling show with its attractions.”