pair ended. Dare, who with his effortless charm and ease with a smile, would have never let tension march on as this woman did. This woman, who seemed to revel in the thick discomfort that hung within the carriage.
Lady Kinsley stared boldly back; there was a directness to her gaze that Temperance admired. There was also a coldness to it, too, however. Temperance lifted her chin and continued to meet that unforgiving stare.
She may have been born to a different rank from the woman opposite her; however, people were people. As such, weakness wasn’t tolerated or forgiven in any side of England.
The carriage hit an uneven cobble, and she tamped down a groan.
Do not be sick . . . Do not be sick . . .
And then, miracle of miracles, God proved himself capable of listening to people like Temperance, after all. The carriage rolled to a slow, easy halt.
They’d arrived.
There would be time enough to focus on the misery awaiting her in a posh London modiste’s. For now, however, there was only relief that the tense, silent carriage ride had come to an end.
The duchess knocked once on the roof.
A dutiful servant immediately drew open the black lacquer panel and handed the duchess down. He reached back for Dare’s sister, but the young woman flicked a palm. At that dismissive gesture, the young man pushed the door shut.
“I do not trust you,” Lady Kinsley said the moment the panel clicked shut.
Well, the woman was nothing if not direct and honest. As ruthless as that leveled charge was, Temperance preferred this directness to the veiled insults and innuendos.
“I can certainly understand why, Lady Kinsley,” Temperance said. “I’m a stranger, and I’m from the Rookeries. I trust, therefore, you might have reservations about someone of my station.”
By the way those thin, dark-brown eyebrows crept up, Temperance’s hadn’t been the response the other woman had expected.
“However”—Temperance leaned forward—“having had dealings with people of all stations, I can personally attest people of all stations are capable of like cruelty.”
Understanding glinted in the lady’s eyes. And something that looked very close to appreciation. It was instantly gone. “My grandparents . . . My mother when she was here . . . living, were desperate to see their grandson and son again. They would accept him back into the fold, regardless of who he is now.”
It did not escape Temperance’s notice that the other woman hadn’t mentioned her father. Questions swirled around Dare’s life . . . before. “Your brother,” she made herself say.
Lady Kinsley cocked her head.
“That is, you’ve referred to Dare as a grandson and son, but he is also your brother.”
Hate glimmered in the young lady’s eyes. “He is no brother of mine. He is, as you said, a stranger, and not to be trusted because of it.”
Fury threaded its way through every corner of her person, and Temperance bit the inside of her cheek to keep from hurling a stream of invectives and insults at the woman who’d question Dare. Darius Grey, who’d been a savior in the streets for so many. Even if Temperance could never and would never approve of the work he’d done, she would always respect what he’d sought to do . . . and had done with his spoils. When she trusted herself to speak, Temperance did so in carefully measured tones. “With all due respect, Lady Kinsley, you do not know Dare.”
Another person might have been properly chastised. This woman could have challenged a cold slab of stone to a contest and come out triumphant.
“With all due respect,” Dare’s sister tossed back, “my brother, as you would have me refer to him, before he was cut down from a gibbet, was ready to swing for the acts of thievery. Therefore, do not speak to me about, as you call him, Dare’s honor.” She leaned forward in her seat and didn’t allow Temperance a word edgewise. “I know people like my brother. Charmers. Scoundrels. Thieves. Glib with words. They can seduce a person into believing they are something other than they are.” Her eyes glinted like ice. “But they can’t be. They are and always will be thieves, not to be trusted.”
What had befallen this woman that she’d such a vile opinion of . . . so many? Including her own brother?
And yet . . . Temperance tried to imagine what it must be like for this woman, to find herself meeting a brother whom she’d never before known. “I trust this is difficult.”
Color filled Lady