The last thing he should have done was hold her in his arms and spin her around the dance floor. Not when he knew who she was.
But it was too late. He knew what that felt like now, and there was no erasing that knowledge.
And Beatrice knew it too—the smirk she had given him proved that.
What did she think was going to happen? Did she think he was going to get to live happily ever after with Ella the way she had with Alexander? Because that was a fairy tale, and fairy tales did not exist—she would have to find someone else to matchmake.
He had told her over and over that he was not ready for romance, and perhaps that was his fatal flaw. Maybe if he hadn’t told her so many times, he wouldn’t be staring at a girl he could not have.
He rode up to the stables and went into his office to pen a note to Beatrice. After sealing it, he walked back out and sent it with one of the grooms.
If Beatrice accepted, he would see if the young ladies wanted to go for a picnic. Perhaps Colette would think she was too old to gallivant off for a picnic—she was nearing ten years old, and it wouldn’t surprise him if she tried to act older than her age. But Celeste was merely seven, and she would almost certainly want to explore…and Colette wouldn’t want to be left behind.
He wouldn’t say anything until he heard from Beatrice, and while part of him hoped she would accept, another part of him hoped she wouldn’t. Every moment he spent with Ella was only making it harder to walk away.
But the duke wanted his daughters to have a picnic in the clearing where Eliana used to picnic. And what better way to get to know their sister than to meet her there—even if they wouldn’t know who she was.
But what if they recognized her from the portrait?
He frowned at the ground as he reached for his pocketknife and a wooden block. It was possible they had seen the portrait. Likely, even. But what were the chances that two little girls would ever connect a girl who looked like the painting to their missing sister?
It seemed rather far-fetched. Although if they did discover it, he wouldn’t have to keep the secret anymore, and that would make things easier for him.
He found himself carving a little boot as he waited.
Why a boot?
He frowned at it as his knife began working over the heel. Then a memory popped into his mind, unbidden: a young Lady Eliana showing him her brand-new riding boots so she could learn to ride.
With a growl, he threw the block of wood across the room. Why was everything about her?
Why couldn’t he have one moment where he didn’t think about Lady Eliana—or the Ella he was spending more and more time with?
He slipped his knife back into his pocket and left his office, striding out into the barn. If he couldn’t stop thinking about her, he might as well do something useful, since sitting in his office wasn’t accomplishing anything.
Even if he didn’t necessarily want to deal with his men and their inevitable comments.
It was only a matter of time before they realized he was falling for someone. They had already been mercilessly teasing one of the others; it wouldn’t be long before they discovered his secret and turned their attention to him.
He listened to the banter coming from the men as they cleaned out the stalls.
“Are you going to take another horse out?” one of them asked as Dietrich approached.
“Does she need to go out?” Dietrich replied.
“Not particularly,” the man said with a grin. “But since you seem to be sending an awful lot of notes over to Eldenwilde, I thought maybe there was a young lady you were interested in—and needed an excuse to visit.”
Dietrich fought to hide the blush creeping into his cheeks. There was no way they knew he’d already been to Eldenwilde earlier today. The man was bluffing.
“You’ve got jokes,” Dietrich said, giving him a friendly shove on the shoulder. “Very funny.”
At that moment, John appeared, waving a note in his hand.
“Your letter from Eldenwilde!” he announced loudly, ensuring everyone could hear.
Dietrich groaned as his men erupted into cackles of laughter. Of course, they were all paying attention now.
“It’s from Lady Beatrice,” he said loudly, hoping to deflect some of the teasing.
