“Provided it’s not grey in color or easily mistaken for wallpaper,” Cole amended hurriedly. “Anything attractive and fashionable that the lady wants. Anything attractive and fashionable even if the lady doesn’t want it. There are no limits. Just—” He waved his hands in the direction of the rows of fabric. “—perform some magic.”
The attendant nodded sagely. “All the fashionable magic that the lady wants.”
“In that case…” Diana edged next to the attendant and pointed a gloved finger toward Cole’s midsection. “Something to replace that waistcoat, don’t you think? And that jacket! Look at the curve on the cutaway hem, and the length of the sleeves. The whole ensemble seems like it came from 1812.”
“1812 was a fine year,” Cole protested. “We passed the Infant Suitors in Equity Entitled to Stock Act, celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Wicked Duke… and besides, we’re not here forme.”
“Aren’t we?” she asked, her blue eyes batting in feigned innocence. “You said ‘anything the lady wants,’ and what I want is for you to unquestionably be the finest-attired duke that London has ever seen.”
Cole shook his head. “None of your trickery, Diana. You know very well what I meant to say.”
“Irrelevant.” She patted his arm as though to console him. “As a legislator, you must know that what issaidoutranks what ismeant. I shall fully comply with the letter of the law and spend your money exactly how I want, as requested. If you now regret this order, perhaps you will think of it the next time Parliament discusses clarification and simplification of the—”
“Yes, yes,” he assured her. “Weights and measures. Loan me your relevant journals when we return to your town house and I will read them. In the meantime, we are not leaving this shop until you have selected enough fabrics to commission a morning gown and an evening gown for every single day of the season.”
The attendant looked as though he might swoon on the spot.
“My unmemorable manner of dress is by design,” Diana reminded him. “I have more pressing concerns than being picked as a dance partner. I’m not one of those flighty chits with nothing between her ears but embroidered rosebuds and net lace.”
“The presence of lace isn’t an indisputable sign of vapidity,” he pointed out. “Pretty gowns won’t stop you from being the cleverest woman in the room.”
Vulnerability softened her face. “You think I’m the cleverest woman in the room?”
“You’re often the cleverestpersonin the room.” He let her see the honesty in his gaze. “If you think fashionable clothing blinds others to that truth, then ostrich feathers and seed pearls are no less as powerful a disguise as mud-brown muslin.”
Eyes narrowed in thought, Diana touched a finger to her chin as if scouring a chessboard for the best path to counter a checkmate.
“Very well,” she said as if today’s visit had been her idea. “So long as for every gown I select for myself, we also commission something new for you.”
A handful of women draped in measuring tape and armed with pins and shears materialized out of nowhere.
Cole took a step back. “Gentleman do not require all-new attire twice a day for the length of the season. Buckskins were chosen for their durability precisely because they will be reused time and again. Gossips don’t whisper if a man wears the same cravat twice in one week.”
She folded her arms beneath her breasts and waited.
“For the love of…” He raked a hand through his hair. “You’re just like my sister.”
Diana arched a brow. “You don’t like your sister?”
“I love my sister!” Cole snapped, only to immediately regret his outburst when the obvious implication blanketed the shop in awkward silence. He quickly changed direction, all but tripping over the words. “As many gowns as can possibly be made for the lady, and… a dozen jackets and waistcoats for me. No further discussion.”
Although this result was not the one-to-one ratio she had cheekily demanded, the smug twinkle in Diana’s eye indicated she counted herself the victor of today’s battle of wills.
Cole tended to agree.
Parliament could do much worse than have a force of nature like Diana Middleton leading its committees. Come to think of it, Diana could do much more than run circles about the House of Lords. If she put her mind to it, she could become a grand society dame on par with Lady Jersey without blinking an eye.
In fact, that was how he’d explain today’s expenditure to Thaddeus. He wanted his ward wed, did he not? Cole was facilitating the process. Not by transforming Diana into someone else, but by revealing her as the strong, capable, beautiful, indomitable woman she already was. The next time she stepped into a ballroom,no onewould overlook her.
The image stole his breath away as he watched the seamstresses coo over Diana’s choices in fabric. Her apparent encyclopedic knowledge of fashion and design had them falling over each other to present the best materials and debate the latest elementsà la modein Paris.
“You will be this year’s Original,” one of the seamstresses gushed.
Diana gave a doubtful shake of her head. “I’m seven years too long on the shelf to become society’s darling, I’m afraid.”
But was she?
Cole had no doubt Diana knew as much about society and the players within it as she knew about Rumford corn gallons and the proper gauze overlay for figured muslin. Had he believed she would not be able to cope with the role of duchess? Overnight, Diana would make centuries of previous duchesses look like novices.
