“How often can we practice?” she asked, thrusting once again in his direction.
“How often do you want to see me?” he asked, failing to realize what he’d said until he said it. He blocked her and reposted.
“I…I enjoy seeing you very much,” she stammered as she parried.
There it was. What he shouldn’t want to hear. Only he did want to hear it—she enjoyed spending time with him. “I can come by tomorrow for another lesson, but I wanted to make sure you were up to it,” he said, parrying.
“I would love that,” she said, stepping back. She beamed at him, her blue eyes sparkling.
He almost forgot himself as he beheld the warmth in her smile. And before he knew it, she thrust her epee and scored a touch at his midsection. “I did it! I did it!” she said gleefully, jumping up and down.
“You did. I must have fallen asleep not to have seen that coming,” he jested. “You’re an excellent student and a quick learner.” Sebastian grinned. “You win.”
A tap on the floor drew his attention to the opened doors. “I say, you’ve done well in one day!” said the dowager. “I hope the next lesson is soon, so you can build on that success!”
“Would tomorrow be too soon, Duchess?” Katie asked.
“Tomorrow?” She laughed. “Of course not. I want you to learn. If Lord Soren has time for us, we will make time for him!” She thumped her cane as if to change the subject. “I have sent an invitation to Sir Nelson for dinner.”
“I should leave so that I may change for dinner. I will return with Sir Nelson. I feel sure he won’t be able to refuse your invitation, Duchess.” He placed his mask, glove, and epee on a table. “Thank you for providing the opportunity to teach Miss Latham… Katie has already proven to be a most apt pupil and has done better in her first lesson than many men I know who’ve had years of practice.”
“When you have the motivation Katie has, my dear Sebastian,” the dowager drawled, “You learn things quickly.”
Sebastian gathered his hat, coat, and gloves at the door. “This has been an unexpected and most delightful afternoon, ladies, Your Grace. I shall return for dinner.”
Once outside, Sebastian turned back to see Katie watching him from the parlor window. He winked and turned back to the drive where his coach awaited.
“Why don’t we step into the drawing-room, now that dinner is over,” the dowager duchess said, standing. “Franklin has set up an easel with paper, and there are charcoals.” She turned to Paula. “Will that suffice, my dear?”
They stepped into the cozy room. Books lined two walls, with gliding ladders that slid to the various stacks. A roaring fireplace was built into the wall across from the bookshelves. A painting of the dowager hung over the mantel. The fourth wall featured portraits of her son, the duke, her children, the duke’s family, along with the duchess and her late husband hanging on both sides of the window. “I miss him,” the dowager whispered, glancing up at her husband.
Katie heard the heart-felt remark, and her own heart squeezed. She knew the feeling, having lost Wendel. And yet the sharp pain she’d felt for months after Wendel’s death had lessened to an ache and she didn’t know how she felt about that.
“I thought it might be helpful if Miss Latham and Miss Gowans sat next to each other,” the duchess suggested, pulling Katie from her thoughts. “Lord Soren, Sir Nelson, you may sit across from the young ladies to offer advice. I will sit here on the chair.”
A footman walked in with a small tray of drinks and set them down beside the duchess.
“Please, help yourself to an after-dinner drink. We have brandy and sherry.”
Katie and Paula chose a sherry, and Katie suppressed a smile as the duchess took a brandy, as did the men. “I’m ready. I’ve been giving this thought all afternoon, so there’s some anxiety to see if we can put my jumbled thoughts to paper and have them make sense.”
“Katie, tell us what you recall,” Sebastian said. “Miss Gowans, perhaps you can interpret her thoughts onto the paper.”
“Please call me Paula, Lord Soren,” Paula suggested. “I’m already nervous enough.” She chuckled. “I hope I can rise to the challenge.”
“Very well, but I insist you call me Sebastian. And I am certain you will do very well. Katie has told me how talented you are.”
Paula blushed becomingly, and Katie couldn’t help but notice the slight frown on Sir Nelson’s face as he glanced between Paula and Sebastian.
“And I insist that you both call me Nelson,” Sir Nelson said abruptly. “Everyone else does.”
“Thank you, Nelson,” Katie said with a smile.
“Very well,” Paula added in rather a stiff tone.
Katie caught the irritated look Paula shot at Nelson. Nelson was Sebastian’s friend and Sebastian trusted him completely, and yet for some reason, Paula, who was usually so affable and quick to smile had been rather prickly toward him at dinner. The dowager had placed Paula next to Nelson and Katie had seen them exchange only a few stilted words but not much else.
She took a sip of her sherry and thought it best to begin with her description. Perhaps as the evening progressed, Paula would soften her view of Nelson.
