She smiled up at him. “I am looking forward to getting a closer look at the gardens at Blackwell Manor. I am sure they are breathtaking.”
“Not as breathtaking as you,” he murmured. “Follow me.”
He took her through the house and out a door in the back. As soon as they stepped foot outside, Joanna could see several garden beds lined with fragrant blossoms and beautiful trees providing shade. A narrow path started near an arch, covered in vines, and disappeared around a bend.
“It’s so beautiful!” she said, taking a step forward to the archway. She turned to look back at him. “Will your grandmother be joining us?”
His eyes twinkled with mischief. “No. It’s just the two of us today. Don’t worry, you are perfectly safe here.”
Her cheeks grew warm as dangerous fantasies flew through her head of getting him shirtless so she could explore every inch of his skin with her hands while he did the same to her. Worried her feelings would be noticeable on her face, she tried to cover them up with a mischievous grin. “A mouse is never safe around a hawk, Your Grace.”
He smirked. “And here I thought I was as docile as a lamb.”
She bit her lip, considering. “I believe that depends on the day, Your Grace.”
He stepped forward and took her hand as he began to lead her down the garden path. “Please, Joanna. When we are alone, call me Evan. I like hearing my name in your voice.”
Her breath caught in her throat, and her cheeks warmed. Everything about this man was as dangerous as it was tantalizing. He made her want to be positively reckless.
They walked through the gardens. Joanna took her time looking at all the fragrant flowers, neatly trimmed and tamed into submission by the fleet of gardeners the manor no doubt employed. There was not a weed to be seen, nor a rose bush that needed pruning. The gardens felt like they were straight out of a fairytale.
“I love walking through the gardens when the weather permits,” Evan said. “There are so many dreary days in London, but that makes the sunny ones all the better.”
She smiled as she looked up at him. “That’s quite an optimistic perspective by someone who goes by the Duke of Ice.”
He smiled in return and Joanna couldn’t help but feel a small glow of happiness that she earned one of his rare smiles. “It’s not a perspective I often share with people around me.”
She bent down to smell one of the roses. She closed her eyes, taking it in with a happy sigh.
“I take it you also enjoy getting fresh air in the gardens, then.”
She nodded as she straightened up, but she felt a pang of sadness as they continued on with their walk. “I used to love walking through the gardens at Clifford Manor as a girl. But it’s toopainful now. We can only keep one gardener. He does his best to keep the place from looking completely neglected, at least from the street view. But upon closer scrutiny, it’s easy to see the areas where plants have died or are overgrown. I am afraid the only carefully maintained area in the gardens is the vegetable patch, and that is mostly out of necessity.”
He didn’t say anything in response, and she felt queasy with anxiety. Perhaps she said too much. There was no point in hiding her financial struggles from him, though. He knew everything already.
Eventually, he spoke. “I would like to extend our agreement,” he said. “Into next Season.”
She turned to look at him, frowning. “Why?”
He didn’t look at her, instead looking straight ahead as they continued on the garden path together. “I…” he trailed off and cleared his throat. “I think it would be mutually beneficial.”
She snorted, unable to stop the pang of disappointment at his words. Leave it to the Duke of Ice to give a cold, objective assessment to something as personal as courtship. “Is that so?”
“Yes. I can ensure both you and your sister have a good Season next year.”
“We will already have a good Season. You have already promised to sponsor Aurelia and provide us both with dowries. You alsopromised to find me a suitable husband who would provide me with security and everything else I need.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw, and he looked ahead with a glower. “But I can still give you more, can’t I? I can employ a proper staff for Clifford Manor. Or I can pay off your father’s debts.”
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of that, but for some reason irritation and pride prickled through her. Did he really think so little of her? Did he really think she could be bought like this?
Have you shown him any differently? You practically jumped at the chance when he initially proposed this agreement.
“That is very generous, Your Grace,” she said. His expression soured even more at the use of his title, but she continued on. “But I cannot see what value I could provide in exchange to warrant such a generous offer.”
“I want to see you again,” he said. The words sounded almost as if they pained him. “I don’t want this to end at the end of the Season.”
Joanna’s chest felt tight as desire conflicted with pragmatism inside of her. “And at the end of next Season? What then? You might have the leisure of biding your time with a false courtship, but I do not. I hope to marry someday, and I am already at a disadvantage on that front. My age, combined with my father’s reputation, already gives me few opportunities. I beg you not to reduce my options even further.”
