Catherine pouted. “That is hardly fair. I cannot be expected to gush about Henry if you will not tell me a word about your own prospects.”
“Because there are none.”
“What of Lord Cherrington? And Lucas clearly wishes to be one as well.”
“We are back to that again?”
“I don’t recall ever leaving it,” Catherine said with a teasing smile.
Elowen sighed. “The Duke has made it quite plain that he has no interest in me, Miss Beaumont. It would be foolish to assume otherwise.”
“Then why is he staring at you like that?”
Elowen’s heart skipped a beat. She looked out the window, hoping it would give her the strength not to give in and look at him. “He’s probably looking at you.”
“Then I suppose he is walking this way to speak with me?”
“Elowen.”
The sound of his voice froze her. She took a moment to compose herself before she dared look at him—and instantly wished she hadn’t. The way he was looking at her made the air around her seem too thin.
She didn’t bother pointing out the fact that he had ignored her request to maintain formalities once again. “Yes, Your Grace?”
“May I speak with you in private?”
“Miss Beaumont and I are in the middle of an important discussion.”
“Which can wait,” Catherine said brightly, rising at once. “Aunt Charlotte? Did you say something?”
The Dowager Duchess looked up, confused, but Catherine was already gone—leaving Elowen very muchnotalone.
The Duke took the empty seat beside her—far too near for comfort.
“I think we began on the wrong foot,” he said.
“No, we did not.”
His mouth quirked. “You make no secret of your dislike, Miss Tremaine—or, at the very least, your mistrust. And that is my fault. I was far too taciturn at the museum. You must have thought the worst.”
“The worst is oftentimes the truth, Your Grace.”
She didn’t like the way his gaze softened after those words. “No, Elowen—it isn’t.”
She exhaled sharply. “Why do you care what I think of you, Your Grace? Surely you do not seek the approval of every person you meet?”
“No,” he said simply. “Only yours.”
“But why?”
He thinned his lips, saying nothing for a moment. Elowen waited a few seconds, hating the way anticipation morphed into desperation. She hadn’t realised how much she wanted to know the answer before she’d even asked the question.
“It is...complicated,” he said at last.
Elowen huffed a breath of disbelief, just barely stopping herself from rolling her eyes. “What a cowardly response.”
“Perhaps. But no less true.”
“And you think to convince me of your sincerity while hiding your hands behind your back. For all I know, you might be holding a stone, waiting to hurl it the moment I lower my guard.”
