“Does that bother you?” he asked. “Would it bother Lady Judith if I stood too close?”
Lucy swallowed and looked away. “No,” she whispered.
“Then answer my question, Lucy.”
Lucy stole a glance at him and sighed. “If you wish her to feel at ease, then you must listen. Truly listen. Ask her what concerns her, what occupies her thoughts, and then give her the respect of hearing her answer.”
Rowan watched her closely, unmoving.
“You need not speak endlessly of your duties or your travels or your accomplishments,” Lucy continued. “Women do not seek to be impressed at every moment. They wish to be seen. To be heard. If you allow her the space to speak, if you let her feel that her words matter to you, she will find that appealing. I would.”
His gaze lowered for a brief moment, then he found her eyes again. “All right. That should be easy.”
She did not like the way her body betrayed her so easily in his presence nor the way her thoughts wandered where they had no right to go. Whatever the reaction was, she could not allow the Duke to see even a hint of it, could not give it space or meaning, because once acknowledged, it would demand far more than she was prepared to offer.
Rowan, however, showed no inclination to retreat. There was an insistence to him now, and she couldn’t understand why. The way he held her attention and continued to press the matter, as though he had decided that this lesson mattered more than any other they had attempted. It unsettled her, not because of whathe asked but because of how closely he watched her while asking it.
“You will be joining us for dinner this evening,” Rowan said, as though he were informing her of the decision, not asking.
Lucy looked up from where she stood, her brows drawing together at once. “I beg your pardon, Your Grace?”
“Lady Judith will arrive in a few hours,” he continued, entirely unbothered by her reaction. “She will dine with us. We will talk. The boys will be present. You will be present as well.”
Lucy turned fully toward him now. “Why would I be?” she questioned. “Your Grace, I am quite certain I am not required. You have already met her, you have spoken with her at length, and she appears perfectly at ease in your company.”
“That is precisely why I need you there,” he replied.
She stared at him. “That makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Rowan said calmly. “You will observe. You will correct me if I falter. You will ensure that I am doing everything properly.”
“Doing what properly?” Lucy asked. “Eating? Speaking? Existing?”
His mouth twitched. “Flirting.”
She let out a short breath that might have been a laugh had it not carried such disbelief. “You cannot be serious.”
“I am entirely serious.”
“You do not need supervision,” she argued, shaking her head. “Lady Judith already likes you. That much is obvious. You are a duke, you are courteous when you want to be, and you have not frightened her off with your personality. Truly, what more do you think is required?”
“I am less confident in that assessment than you are.”
Lucy studied him then, properly, and it struck her that he was standing closer than before. Close enough that she was aware of him in a way she would have preferred to ignore. She did not step back. She couldn’t anyway, Rowan had her pinned to the window, and the way he stood adamantly made her feel curious as to his reasoning.
“Is there something you are avoiding telling me, Your Grace?” she asked with squinted eyes.
Rowan frowned. “Why would you think that?”
“Because you are being persistent today,” Lucy said, meeting his gaze without hesitation. “More than usual. You have not been like this before.”
He considered her for a moment. “So, what conclusion have you drawn from that?”
Lucy shrugged her shoulders. “Perhaps, the thought of this dinner makes you uneasy,” she suggested. “Well, maybe not the dinner itself, perhaps, but what it represents. You have spoken to Lady Judith before without difficulty. You have practiced conversation with me more than once. There is nothing left to rehearse. Yet here you are, insisting I be at the dinner beside you and monitor your every word.”
His jaw tightened. “It is not unreasonable to wish to make a good impression.”
“No,” Lucy said softly, “but it is unusual for you to doubt yourself.”
