Indulgence 2: One Glimpse by Lydia Gastrell

had slipped from his shoulders. He ran his hands over his face and struggled to steady his breath. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”
    “Say I have done you no favor?” Sam forced a clumsy laugh. “Respecting another man’s privacy, surely that is what any decent man would do.”
    “Decent man.” Darnish laughed too, madly. “If that is so, then I think the list of decent men must be very short.”
    Darnish turned his back, but Sam could see him wiping at his face with his sleeves. His humiliation was contagious, and Sam’s heart ached for him. He opened his mouth to say something, though God help him if he knew what, when Darnish made a sound of surprise. Sam followed his gaze and saw that Mutton had joined them from her place near the fire.
    “Well,” Darnish said thickly, “if it isn’t the fob-stealing little cur.”
    Oh, God. Heat rushed over Sam’s face.
    Darnish took a knee as Mutton approached him and gave a thorough inspection to the hat he had dropped earlier. Sam watched, stomach knotting, as Darnish laid a gloved hand on the dog’s head and stroked her. Mutton immediately forgot the hat and turned her adoring eyes on him.
    “Don’t you clean up well? Lucky little wretch.” At those words, Darnish lifted his gaze and gave Sam a strange, watery smile. It vanished almost immediately, but not before Sam’s heart bounced into his throat. When Darnish stood and faced him again, his glossy brown depths were full of knowing.
    “Yes, well,” Sam mumbled. “I’m sure you will, eh, want to be going. It’s the dinner hour and I, um, I wouldn’t want to keep you.” The dinner hour? Good Lord.
    “Yes. I won’t keep you,” Darnish replied. He retrieved his mangled hat and gave Mutton one last scratch behind her ear.
    Such warm eyes . The thought entered Sam’s mind uninvited, but wasn’t it the truth? He swore he could feel the heat of Darnish’s gaze on him as he moved around the desk and pretended to straighten things that were already in order. Oh, certainly not that sort of heat. It was a beautiful, calming warmth, like a small fire on a brisk autumn day. He wondered what thoughts were playing behind those warm eyes just then.
    Drop down from your cloud, fool. Sam shook himself and crossed the room to open the door. He expected Darnish to simply go and be thankful to make his escape. Instead, he stopped in the doorway next to Sam, causing him to look up. Darnish’s eyes were still swimming, but the life that had been absent from him only minutes before filled them now.
    “Shaw.” Darnish drew a deep breath. “Thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am for this.”
    I do. Believe me, I do.
    Sam nodded and made a tense smile, for if he allowed himself to say anything, he just might say everything. Sam watched as Darnish crossed the hall and passed the footman at the open door. The clicking of tiny of nails sent Sam’s attention down to Mutton, who had come to stand next to him.
    “You couldn’t stay quiet on your rug, could you?” Sam grumbled, but there was no anger in it. He bent down and lifted her pathetic weight into his arms, immediately receiving a few licks for his trouble. The look in Darnish’s eyes had all but announced he was aware of the farce with the dog, as if that stupid incident held any importance now. Still, if there was anything from the whole terrible business that Sam could be sure of, it was that Darnish would not tell a single soul.

Chapter Five
    Acquaintances
    “I hate this, Sam. Is it wrong that I hate this?”
    He managed a smile of sorts. “It’s not all that bad, is it? It’s just a ball. You’re supposed to be enjoying yourself.”
    “Oh, is that the purpose of a ball?” Flor snorted.
    The girl was too clever for her own good, though Sam only really believed the first half of that sentiment. It was his other sisters, mother, aunt, and basically every other member of the family who saw her wit as a flaw.
    “I stand corrected,” he said.