“Of course,” he said, smiling as he offered her his arm. The way she looked at him, only able to see the good side of his face, Alex could almost believe what she had said previously about his being handsome.
She certainly made him feel far better about himself than anyone else had.
And when she took his arm, he made a point of placing his hand over hers, squeezing her fingers affectionately. “For appearance’s sake,” he whispered to her, hoping not to frighten her off.
She looked down at his gloved hand on top of hers on his forearm and he feared he had done just that. But instead, she turned her face back up to him and smiled, “Indeed.”
They walked through the park gates in silence and almost the moment they did they were bombarded by gossiping glances, whispered voices and much scrutiny.
Perhaps we ought to have gotten to know each other better outside the public eye,he thought begrudgingly. The last thing he wanted for Emmaline was more discomfort. But to her credit, she held her head high and greeted people with a wave or a dip of her head and a few words here and there in passing.
Alex was once more in awe of her. The way she appeared to take everything in stride was most becoming of her. He wholeheartedly admired her, imagining once more that she might just be the perfect duchess for Westmarch.
“What are you staring at?” she asked, making Alex jump when she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
“You,” Alex said simply and for perhaps the first time in a long time, he felt himself blushing. How silly he must have looked blushing like a schoolboy with such hideous scars upon his face. “You are a natural.”
Emmaline looked at him with a raised brow. “A natural what?”
Alex shook his head and cleared his throat. “It does not matter.”
Emmaline looked about to question him further when they were accosted by one of the many peddlers in the park.
“Buy a rose for the lady, sir?” the young man, barely old enough to be called a man, asked as he dipped his head. He held many roses and other various flowers on a tray that had been strapped around his neck and hung at his chest.
“Oh, that is most kind of you but—” Emmaline began but Alex did not allow her to finish her protest.
He released her arm and took out his money purse. “How much?”
“Three shillings, sir,” the man said.
“Your Grace, there is really no—” Emmaline tried to protest again, and Alex saw the way the boy's eyes widened at his title.
“Forgive me, Your Grace, I did not know who you—” he began but Alex waved away the apology and pulled a silver coin from his purse. “Here. Keep the change.”
With that, he plucked the only yellow rose from the tray and turned to offer it to Emmaline, feeling a small thrill at the shock on the man's face.
“Be gone with you before I change my mind,” Alex barked, feeling several members of thetonwatching him closely.
Though he wished to show Emmaline the man he could be, he still had a reputation to uphold.
As the boy scurried off, Alex dipped into a bow and offered the rose to Emmaline. “My dearest, please accept this as a small token of my gratitude for becoming my wife.”
Emmaline looked at the rose with an unreadable expression and just when Alex thought she might decline for his harsh words to the peddler, she smiled. Taking the rose from him, she sniffed its petals before she said, “That was very generous of you.”
“It is only a single rose,” Alex said, shrugging.
She looked at him over the rose and scowled. “I meant the silver.”
“I like to do my bit,” he said, shrugging. “What is the point of having so much wealth if others cannot enjoy it too?”
Emmaline looked surprised at that, but she quickly gave the flower another sniff before she asked, “What made you choose the yellow?”
“Do you not like it? I can fetch an—”
“No, no! It is wonderful. I just wondered… oh, it doesn't matter,” Emmaline said, shaking her head. “It is just, well, yellow roses are my favorite.”
Why that made Alex quiver, he did not know.
