Your gesture is kind but unnecessary as I have many dresses that I may attend the ball in, so I do not need yet another. Besides, this is far too fancy a dress for me.
Also, you have failed to indicate the date of this ball? Am I to be prepared every evening just in case?
Miss Catriona Wallace
“You cannot possibly send that!” Frederic grasped.
“Why not?” she challenged, blowing gently on the paper to urge the ink to dry faster.
“You will come across as cold and uncaring of his gift.”
“I did say that it was a kind gesture, did I not?” Satisfied that the ink would not smudge, she folded the letter and made her way back to the box, Frederic and Francis on her heels. She neatly put the box back together, even tying the bow, before handing the box and her letter to Francis.
“Please ask the footman to have this safely delivered to His Grace,” she told him.
Francis nodded curtly. “Yes, Miss.”
Frederic waited until the butler was gone to heave a great sigh. “You never fail to amaze me, Cat.”
Catriona only smiled. Hopefully, Joseph thought so as well.
“This has arrived for you, Miss Wallace.”
The return of the box and another letter from Joseph came within half an hour. Catriona had to admire the speediness though she did lament the fact that the delivery was being made with both her sisters now present in the library.
Ava, who had been in the middle of playing with the dogs, scrambled over, just barely making it before Maisie, who had abandoned her embroidery. Thankfully, Frederic stayed where he was by the hearth, but Catriona knew she had his undivided attention.
“Is it from the Duke?” Maisie asked excitedly.
“Open it,” Ava urged, “open it quickly!”
Catriona sighed heavily as if she too wasn’t just as eager to see what he’d said in response. This time, she reached for the letter first.
Dear Catriona,
Please forgive the oversight. While the thought of you getting ready for a ball every evening is indeed amusing, I suppose it is far more proper of me to inform you that it will be in two days’ time. I have returned the dress to you (as it is now yours)since I can only assume that you agree that it will look quite beautiful on you. While I would love to see you wear it, I have also decided to open an account at an excellent modiste for you to go and pick something yourself. Feel free to gift this beautiful dress to one of your sisters if you wish.
As the future Duchess of Irvin, nothing is too fancy for you.
Yours, Joseph
By the time she was finished reading, there was no fighting the smile that touched her lips. She couldn’t believe it. Was he… flirting with her? Certainly not. But he was teasing her, at the very least, which she could hardly believe. She’d never imagined a man like the Duke capable of such banter.
“Oh goodness!” Maisie’s squeal drew her attention away from the letter. She hadn’t realized that her sisters had gotten to the box before she could. Maisie was holding the dress up, eyes shining with wonder. “This is absolutely beautiful!”
“What did he say?” Ava asked, nudging Catriona impatiently. “You were holding the letter so close to you that I could hardly read anything.”
“That is because it is inappropriate to read other’s letters,” Catriona told her. “I can only imagine where you would have gotten such a bad habit from.”
Frederic, to his credit, pretended he didn’t hear. Or perhaps he truly didn’t. Either way, he’d returned his attention to his book.
“Yes, yes, it was rather rude, but you’re my sister, and I’m sure you won’t hold it against me. So? What did he say?”
“He said that he has opened an account at a modiste for me to pick a dress for myself. And that one of you may have that one.”
“Was it not meant for you?” Ava asked. “It would look lovely on you.”
Catriona shrugged. “I suppose you do not want it then.”
