long while until dinner, and no one had forbidd

dor. She wondered where the children could be...

e, the very man she had seen on the

ession a mixture of surpri

be the n

voice made him i

in her cheeks. The man was handsome, with an athletic build,

expected someone entirely different, and older. The count was supposed to be thirty-five. But

," she co

ut a sof

expect someone so yo

ed her hand in his, he leaned in and brushed a delicate kis

you, miss. Welcome t

sure what made them burn-the gesture, his gen

ch, sir. The house

en yet?" he asked, a pla

she said, choosing her words carefully

his eyebro

e sour, unhelpful, and terribly dull." He smiled, spreading his ha

's heart be

n, gathering her courage, "I was hop

laced not by rudeness,

n." He gave a sincere laugh. "That's

a blinked,

r co

med am

ro." And with a slight bow, he introdu

nd, handsome, charming

or swung open. A man stepped inside, and th

command. He was tall, his posture impeccably straight. He wore a black suit tailor

s. His handsomeness was aust

eyes as dark as night. His gaze was so intense it

at was th

e just met Miss Duarte. She finds the children adorable. I w

n before his eyes landed on Maria Clara

nclining his head slightly, h

to welcome our guest," the count sa

ty." Roberto smiled. "And it was a grea

glance at Maria Clara,

n to her. His presence alone se

wasn't too forwa

ra swallo

to... was

acket, his eyes never leaving her. "I should have receiv

erstan

n't smile. He merely watched her,

inside her rose to the surface, and she met his dark eyes. It wasn't a look

te," he said at last. "W

a response, he tur

hers slightly hesitant. The weight of the encounter-and of the man walking a

ith the Alencastro family crest. Álvaro opened

her breath. The study was not j

eather armchairs, and an immense bo

e from the imperial era: caravels locked in combat amidst churning waves and a stor

ned-glass windows. The room exuded

Álvaro A