"That is a very diplomatic answer."
"I am a duke. Diplomacy is among my few talents."
"I suspect you have more talents than you acknowledge."
"And I suspect you see more than you should."
It was the most honest thing he had ever said to her. Lillian felt her breath catch, her chest tightening with something that felt dangerously like hope.
"Perhaps," she said, "we are both guilty of seeing too much."
Before he could respond, the library door swung open and Rosanne burst in, flushed with excitement.
"Lillian! My gown is finished, and it isbeautiful. You must come and see it immediately. Daniel, do not monopolise my friend. She was here to seeme, not to discuss whatever dusty tome you are trying to foist upon her."
The duke stepped back, the walls slamming down so quickly Lillian almost heard them crash.
"Of course," he said, his voice cool and formal once more. "I would not dream of monopolising Miss Whitcombe's time."
He glanced at her once more, a quick, unreadable look, and then walked past Rosanne and out of the room.
Lillian watched him go, her heart still beating too fast.
"Was he being terrible?" Rosanne asked, linking her arm through Lillian's. "He was probably being terrible. He does not know how to be otherwise."
"He was not terrible," Lillian said quietly. "He was…….Unexpected."
Rosanne's eyes sharpened with interest, but she did not press. Instead, she simply squeezed Lillian's arm and led her toward the door.
"The gown," she announced. "And then tea. And then you must tell me everything."
Lillian went with her, and she did not look back at the empty library.
Chapter Seven
"The seating arrangement, Your Grace. Mrs. Gerald requires your approval before the place cards can be written."
Daniel looked up from his correspondence to find Simmons standing in the doorway, a sheet of paper in his hand and an expression of patient expectation on his face. The harvest dinner. Of course. He had nearly managed to forget about it, or rather, he had deliberately avoided thinking about it, which was not quite the same thing but served a similar purpose.
"Place it on the desk," he said. "I shall review it presently."
"Mrs. Gerald did emphasize that presently should mean within the hour, Your Grace. The penman has been engaged for this afternoon, and she wishes to avoid any last-minute alterations."
Daniel suppressed a sigh. The harvest dinner was one of Wyntham’s oldest traditions; an annual gathering where the duke hosted his senior tenants, the local vicar, and various other worthies of the neighborhood for an evening of food, conversation, and the careful maintenance of social bonds that kept the estate running smoothly. His father had loathed the event; his mother had treated it as a theatrical production in which she was the undisputed star. Daniel merely endured it, as he endured most social obligations, with grim efficiency and a fervent wish for it to be over.
This year, however, the dinner carried an additional complication.
He took the seating chart from Simmons and examined it with more attention than such a document typically warranted. The names were arranged in neat columns, Mr. and Mrs. Garrett, Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs, the vicar and his wife, various other tenant families, with blank spaces indicating where Daniel and Rosanne would be positioned at the head of the table.
And there, nestled between Rosanne and Mrs. Garrett, was the name that had been occupying far too much of his attention in recent weeks.
Miss Lillian Whitcombe.
"I was not aware Miss Whitcombe had been included on the guest list," he said, keeping his voice carefully neutral.
"Lady Rosanne requested her inclusion, Your Grace. She indicated that Miss Whitcombe's presence would provide her with…… Moral support, I believe was the phrase used."
Of course Rosanne had requested it. His sister had become increasingly transparent in her efforts to throw Daniel and Miss Whitcombe together, manufacturing excuses for shared company. The painting lessons, the walks that somehow always coincided with his inspections of the grounds, the convenient headaches that required her to lie down, leaving Daniel alone with her friend.
