When she was lying in bed, alone, thinking of him, the name “Zeke” was the one that popped into her head.
He was not the marquess, or Lord Greystone, Ezekiel, or even Greys. But, in her imagination, in her dreams…
He wasZeke.
And in her imagination, Zeke washers.
“You weren’t exactly quiet, sloshing around like that.” Her sister giggled.
“How long were you watching before you said anything?” Diana turned her head on the floor to study Collette’s profile.
Seeing her older sister’s cheeks pink up was not at all a common occurrence. Collette slipped her hand into the pocket of her skirts and withdrew her ever-present tin of comfits. She popped one into her mouth and then held the open container out for Diana to take one. Obviously, she would rather distract Diana from this discussion now that she had become the focus of it.
“How long?” Diana sucked on the mint candy while waiting for her sister’s answer.
“Not even a minute.” Collette closed the tin and slid it back into her large pocket. “And in my defense,” she added. “Once I begin teaching, it’s not as though I’ll have any opportunities to experience anything like that myself.”
Diana shook her head, mortified but also resigned. Her sister had seeneverything.
“You certainly aren’t shy, are you?” Collette laughed.
But Diana couldn’t help but worry about her older sister. “Are you sure you want to teach? You don’t have to,” What was she going to do without her sister to talk to every day? A needling pang pierced her heart at the prospect.
“I do, Diana. And for the record, you are not selfish. I couldn’t follow the drum either. Our father may not have acknowledged us publicly, but he made certain we never lacked for any of the essentials—plus a few luxuries—a roof over our heads, hot food. So I doubt I’d be willing to give any of those things up either.”
“It’s just so… primitive. Although I might consider it for—” ” Diana couldn’t bring herself to say his name out loud. What did it mean that the prospect of sleeping in a tent with the marquess wasn’t at all off-putting?
The two girls fell into another silence. They seemed to have been doing a lot of that lately. Perhaps it was because of the looming changes in their lives. They appreciated one another now. In fact, they had hardly bickered at all since the season commenced.
“I think you need to do something that will force him to reevaluate his choices.” Collette’s suggestion surprised her.
“But he—"
“Even before you went to retrieve your ribbon, he was watching you—during our lessons.”
“Watching me? Watching me how?”
Collette scrunched up her face and then narrowed her eyes to glower in Diana’s direction. At the startling expression, Diana laughed. “That settles it. He hates me.”
“No! I’m not doing it right.” Collette tried again, this time placing her hand over her heart.
“So, he is a grandmother now?” Diana teased.
Collette waved a hand through the air. “How do you expect me to imitate a besotted marquess? I’m not the performer of the family, after all.”
“Besotted?” That was an accurate description of her own feelings. “Really?”
“Oh, yes. And the marquess barely left your side from the moment he saved you from drowning.”
If Diana hadn’t been so self-conscious with her brother and Bethany there, she would have enjoyed it more—teased the marquess even—flirted with him.
“What would you do?” she asked.
Collette pursed her lips, her brows furrowed in thought. “I would consider having a heart-to-heart talk with him. No dissembling allowed.”
“Yes. But to do that, we’d need privacy. And you know I wouldn’t do anything to compromise myself into marriage. Not only is it a debasing circumstance for both parties, but I refuse to become an aristocrat’s marital duty.” She grimaced. “Not that I’d know what that meant—other than sitting at home while your husband seeks enjoyment elsewhere. Look what that did to father’s wife.”
“Chase would never do that to Bethany,” Collette reminded her.
