“If you will excuse me, please…?” she asked, her lower lip trembling as she rose from the table. She fled the room before anyone could say a word.
Kyle scowled at Lydia while Bea struggled to her feet. “I’d better see to her.”
“No, please,” Selena interjected. “Would you allow me?”
Bea looked surprised, but she nodded at once, and so Selena laid down her napkin and followed the trail of wine drops up the stairs.
She found Zoe in her room, sobbing softly into her pillows. Quietly, she sat beside the girl and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know anyone who hasn’t drenched themselves with wine at one time or another,” Selena said gently. “I’ve done it myself dozens of times.”
It took a long moment, but Zoe’s sobs eventually quieted. Selena reached up to stroke Zoe’s hair, and another long moment later she heard her sigh.
“I did so want to make a good impression on you,” Zoe said in a muffled voice.
“I know. And I wanted to do the same with you. Do you realize how mortified I was to hear Horatio swearing? I never taught him those words, I promise you. I suspect he learned them on your brother’s ship. I should have put cotton in his ears, I suppose…Horatio’s ears, not Kyle’s.”
There was a pause, then a muffled chortle.
“Zoe, my love, I don’t think Lydia meant to hurt your feelings. Indeed, she was probably very grateful to you.”
Puzzled, Zoe lifted her tearstained face.
“For diverting everyone’s attention from her problems,” Selena explained.
Zoe cocked her head, seeming to consider that. “Lydia has been so mean since Mama and Papa died. She used to be nice.”
“I expect she misses your parents.”
“I suppose. I miss them, too, but sometimes I wish I didn’t have Lydia for a sister.”
“Well, I’ve often wished I had any kind of sister. I’ve never had any, or brothers, either.”
“You don’t have any family?” Her tone sounded shocked. “You must be lonesome.”
Selena smiled softly. “Not any longer. That is…I was hoping you would be my family.”
Shyly, Zoe returned her smile. “Yes.”
“Good. Now, why don’t you change your gown and splash some water on your face, then come down and join us?”
Zoe glanced down at her wine-stained bosom, then flushed with guilt when she saw the red splotches on the yellow counterpane.
“I expect we can get the stains out,” Selena assured her as she rose. “I brought some excellent soap with me from the island.”
“Selena?”
She turned as she reached the door, raising a delicate eyebrow.
“I’m glad you’ve come.”
“I am, too,” Selena said gently, before leaving the room and pulling the door closed behind her.
She was startled when she nearly ran into Kyle’s tall figure. He had obviously been waiting in the hall, listening to her console his sister. But what surprised Selena more was the look in his eyes. Kyle was gazing down at her with the same tender light that she had seen the night of the storm.
She wished he wouldn’t. It flustered her to have him looking at her so, as if she had accomplished some great deed rather than simply comforted a weeping child. And his simple words flustered her more.
“Thank you,” he said softly, his husky tone vibrating through her, warming her.
She swallowed, her voice suddenly deserting her as she gazed into Kyle’s green-gold eyes. She felt herself being drawn into his gaze, into the vital, rugged aura that was so much a part of him. Being this close to him was having a strange effect on her senses. She was too aware of him as a man… of his heat, his power, his strength.