Mira was in full-blown laughter by now. “They know,” she said. “I have told you repeatedly that you must tell Lady Isabel. She will end that behavior very quickly.”
He shrugged. “I know,” he said. “But it seems cruel to do it. She is very strict with her wards, I have noticed.”
“Then you are weak and soft and it serves you right if they never stop spying on you.”
She wasn’t serious and he knew it, so it was a struggle to maintain a frown without smiling. “That is a terrible thing to say to me,” he said. “How hurtful.”
“I doubt it.”
His eyebrows flew up. “Is that so?” he said, nearly sneering at her. “Very well, then. If you are so smart, tell me how I can end this attention once and for all.”
“That is simple,” she said, lifting her hand to shield her eyes again. “All you have to do is declare which young woman you favor most and the rest will leave you alone. None of them woulddare tread on another woman’s territory. Especially of the male persuasion.”
His smile faded, as did his jesting mood. “Are you serious?”
“I am afraid I am,” she said. “I told them I would ask you which lady you favor. Astoria asked me to put in a good word for her.”
He shook his head and turned away. “I am not going to declare anything,” he said. “If you could simply ask them to leave me to my business, I would be grateful.”
Mira began to follow him. “I cannot,” she said. “All jesting aside, my lord, they are very serious about you.”
“Then that is their misfortune. And I told you to call me Douglas.”
That was true. He had. Mira took up pace beside him. “Now who is being cruel?” she asked. “These are fragile young women. You do not want to upset them.”
He stopped and looked at her. “They are all far too young,” he said. “Why do they not fixate on Davyss? He is more their age.”
Mira shrugged. “Because they like the blond, godlike creature who strolls the grounds,” she said, her eyes glimmering with mirth. “As the representative of the wards, I must ask you to come up with a pleasing answer that does not hurt their feelings, yet does not commit you to anything.”
His gaze lingered on her for a moment. Truth be told, he was fairly smitten with Mira and had been since the day they’d met, but given the circumstances and the politics at Axminster, there was no possible way he was going to declare that the only young woman he was interested in was, in fact, her. But he wasn’t here to find a wife and, frankly, he didn’t need the headache. He was here to do a job and a job only. But every day that he saw her, his resolve weakened more and more. In moments like this, she would have done less damage had she taken a battering ram to him. That rock-solid de Lohr composure was weakening.
But he almost didn’t care.
“Very well,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Is that what this will take?”
She nodded. “I am afraid so,” she said. “I know they have been quite a nuisance, but one word from you will end it.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
“I hope so.”
He scowled. “That does not sound very confident.”
She shrugged. “I cannot promise anything with that group,” she said. “But I believe they will stop.”
He looked at her, lips twisted in thought. “Then you will have to help me.”
“How?”
He gestured between the two of them. “Pretend you are madly in love with me and I will pretend I am madly in love with you,” he said. “You are the only one I trust, Mira. Anyone else would take it seriously.”
He’d addressed her informally on more than one occasion and she found it quite endearing. She liked Douglas, very much. He was humorous and animated at times, and she’d found him to be very wise. He was always right, about everything, and she had come to trust his judgment. Not that they had any real relationship outside of an occasional conversation—and, one time, he’d helped her track down several errant chickens when it was her turn to manage the kitchens—but still, she liked him. She didn’t have a brother, so Douglas had shown her what it might have been like to have had one. Or any sibling, for that matter. Perhaps even a husband.
She considered him a friend.
It was a foolish dream to consider he would ever be anything more.
Still, his suggestion was a surprising one and, if she thought about it, a suggestion to be feared. She was astute enough toknow that pretending she was in love with the man might give her a taste of what it would actually be like, and she wasn’t sure that was a good idea. With Douglas, it would be so easy to hope for the real thing.
