“Thank you very much for your opinion!” his sister chirped. “Yes, we will have tea,” she said, presumably to Duckworthy.

He didn’t look up.

Lydia sat down beside him in a flurry of skirts that made it clear she was still wearing her “young debutante” as opposed to “sensual matron” wardrobe. “What’s the matter? You look uncharacteristically disheveled.”

“She refused my proposal.” His voice came out leaden.

“Lady Yasmin?”

“You needn’t sound so astonished,” Giles said, straightening his back. “No matter what you think, Yasmin has most of the eligible men in London at her feet. If there’s a man who isn’t, it’s because she hasn’t bothered to look at him.”

Lydia leaned in, as if to hug him, then changed her mind and patted his knee. They didn’t hug in their family. “I know you desire her, but—”

“I feel more than mere desire,” Giles bit out.

“I see.” After a moment, Lydia said, her voice awkward, “Why on earth won’t she marry you, Giles? Did she find out about Mother?”

“Our parentage had nothing to do with it.”

Lydia’s brows drew together. “But she does know?”

“I told her myself. Don’t worry. She won’t share the truth.”

“I see.” Silence again. “Are you quite certain that didn’t enter into her decision, Giles?”

“Yes. She refuses to marry me because I belittled and disrespected her. She deserves better than me. She’s right.” He dropped his head into his hands again.

“Oh.” A hand rubbed his sleeve, trying to comfort. “I’m sorry, Giles. She’s making a mistake.”

He snorted. “No, she’s not.”

“She always danced with you, Giles. And she . . . she liked dancing with you.”

The words filtered into Giles’s brain slowly. “We desire each other. She succumbed to that, briefly, then thought better of it overnight.”

“I used to kiss boys during the waltz you shared. Did you realize that?”

He shook his head, not giving a damn.

“I was free to do as I wished during the first waltz because you never looked away from her face. Other people glanced around the room while dancing, but your gaze never shifted. It may be true that she does not feel the same,” Lydia said, her voice not unkind. “She did glance around the room. That’s how she noticed that I was sneaking away.”

Giles took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. A dull pain reverberated in his chest.

“Perhaps she wanted you to propose simply because you had belittled her,” Lydia said thoughtfully. “I suspect there’s pleasure in bringing a man to his knees who has made his aversion apparent. It’s not unlike what I was doing, for slightly different reasons.”

“I didn’t mean to show my . . . my aversion.”

“Yet, you did,” his sister said as blunt as ever. “You danced with Lady Yasmin only once an evening, so everyone assumed it was merely a matter of courtesy. You curled your lip when she giggled. I never wanted you to be around her, because I could see how much you wanted her. But everyone else?” She shrugged. “They think you despise her. Apparently, she told Algernon Dunlap in your presence that you disliked her, and you didn’t counter it.”