As You Are by Sarah M. Eden

her? Frustrated at being forced into conversation? She certainly hadn’t insisted on it.
    “I like discussing those kinds of things. Important things.” He wore a somber expression that did not seem to fit him, though he had never seemed frivolous.
    “Apparently,” Clara replied.
    He grew noticeably uncomfortable and rose abruptly. “I . . . I have some things to see to.”
    Clara nodded, as confused as ever.
    “Mister!”
    They both looked at Alice. She grinned as she took a finger sandwich in each hand and proceeded to press them on either side of her face. Edmund sputtered into his milk. Alice giggled as bits of sandwich fell from her cheeks.
    Clara bit her lips together, holding back laughter. It was precisely the sort of ill-mannered behavior she had feared but in the moment did not bring the horrified backlash she had anticipated. Caroline, far from being offended, grinned as she watched Alice repeat her actions.
    “See, Mister?” Alice sounded quite pleased with herself. “Funny!” She pressed what little remained of her ill-used sandwiches to her face again, earning full laughs from her table companions and the nursemaid.
    Corbin smiled at her as well. He shook his head in obvious amusement. Then his eyes met Clara’s, and the laughter in them faded. He once again assumed the somber expression he’d worn earlier.
    “Mister.” Alice tugged on the leg of his pantaloons.
    Clara bit back her warning that she be careful not to smear the mess from her hands all over him. The words would have come too late as it was. She shifted to the edge of her seat, ready to intervene should Corbin be upset over his ruined clothing.
    “Yes, Alice?” He did not sound overly upset. He did not sound upset at all, in fact.
    “I’m funny?” She offered him a sparkling smile.
    “Yes,” Corbin said. “You are being very funny today.” Why, then, did he not sound entertained?
    Alice patted her cheeks with her hands, this time free of her sandwiches. She dissolved into a fit of giggles. Clara allowed herself to smile. Corbin seemed undecided. The other two children laughed along with Alice.
    “Finish your tea, sweetheart,” Corbin quietly instructed.
    Alice climbed back up on her little chair, looking quite pleased with her impromptu role as jester.
    Corbin glanced back at Clara, uncertainty mixed with sobriety in his face. If not for the slightest hint of vulnerability she saw there, Clara might have been entirely put out with him. As it was, she watched him, trying to sort through the puzzle he presented.
    Was he annoyed with them? Wishing the lot of them to Jericho? He had always been patient with the children and, though perhaps a little disapproving of her relatively humble circumstances, had never been unkind. They’d even exchanged a few amused observations earlier that day.
    Why, then, had he been so unpersonable since arriving in the nursery? He could not possibly have been less enthusiastic about speaking with her.
    “I need to go see to something.” Corbin bowed a little awkwardly and swiftly left the room.
    What a confusing man he is.

Chapter Twelve
    “Here I come, Alice!”
    Corbin recognized Edmund’s voice. He had been riding Elf, trying to add a little natural dishevelment to the look he was attempting to affect. Appearing rough and carelessly powerful had proven harder than he’d anticipated.
    After the abysmal failure of Harold’s advice, he’d opted to try Jason’s suggestion instead. He ought to have known any plan involving actually speaking was bound to be a bad idea. Clara had looked at him as though he were entirely out of his mind during his ill-fated trip to the nursery. And no wonder. He’d acted like an idiot, unable to stick to any topic, running out of things to say almost instantly.
    Maybe Jason’s advice would work better than Harold’s had.
    He dismounted, wrapping Elf’s reins around an obliging branch, and inched forward, peeking through the trees. He’d nearly reached the