She kissed her sister again and ran across the corridor to her own room.
Amalita opened the door to her room.
Only then did she realise that the Earl, who had been behind them, had reached the top of the stairs.
She gave him one quick glance before she attempted to escape into her own room.
But before she could do so, he had reached her.
“Are you disappointed?” he asked.
She did not pretend to misunderstand him.
“It was your father’s idea, not mine,” she answered.
“I know,” he said, “but I suspect that, like all women, you were thinking how important socially Carolyn would be.”
He spoke somewhat provocatively.
“On the contrary,” Amalita answered, “I want Carolyn to be as happy as her father and mother were.”
She paused for a moment before she added,
“They wanted only to be toge
