She exhaled a stuttering breath, not entirely sure when she had inhaled.

Lord, he was handsome.

And that was a paltry thought indeed.

“I do apologize, Mr. Sterling,” Joan all but whispered, seeming to tremble where she sat. “I had no idea that… that your family… That you were so connected with them. I meant no offense to you or to your family, certainly.”

Hugh’s smile turned a touch ironic, and he slowly drew his gaze away from Elinor to glance at Joan. “I mention my family only for context, Mrs. Ramsay, not out of offense. My concern in this matter centers on Elinor and the views her family holds of her. It is she who deserves any apologies you might wish to offer, though I daresay she expects none.”

Elinor bit her lip hard, biting back a laugh that would not help anyone at all.

Hugh surprised her further still by turning to Barbara and bowing. “Miss Asheley, if you would be so good as to show me to the library, I would be honored to have a recommendation from you on what I might read during my unoccupied hours here.”

Barbara looked surprised, but beamed quite freely up at him, her almost awkward brown ringlets seeming to dance a jig as she rose. “I would be p-pleased to, Mr. Sterling.”

“Winthrop, weren’t you wishing for a good book yourself?” Hugh asked, giving Mr. John a pointed look.

No man had ever smiled with such luminescence in history. John Winthrop leapt to his feet, nodding excessively. “By Jove, you have an excellent memory, Sterling. Do let us be off, then. I’ve a fiendish desire for a good book.”

The three of them left the room without much of a word, and Elinor fought down a desperate fit of giggles. A “fiendish desire” for a book? John Winthrop either knew the exact way to Barbara’s heart or he was the most unexpected scholar on the planet.

And Elinor was well aware that Hugh knew full well where the library was, as he had played with the children there only yesterday.

But that would remain her secret, as his actions were blessedly heroic under the present circumstances. No need to disillusion the company or Barbara.

The room remained silent for a moment, and then Lavinia, without any hesitation, said, “Well, I feel rather an idiot, don’t you all?”

Ellen snorted loudly once. “I don’t, but I’d wager Joan does.”

“Ellen,” Elinor choked out, her restrained laughter beginning to make her chest ache.

“What?” her sister asked with all the innocence of a fifteen-year-old.

Elinor only shook her head, feeling rather fond of her impetuous sister, despite her shortcomings.

“I’d like to hear that apology Mr. Sterling mentioned,” Mr. Partlowe said almost as an afterthought.

Elinor wrenched her gaze to her usually stoic, propriety-focused brother-in-law, staring at him as though she had never seen him before.