And finally there was Flora, herself. She was lovely, always more lovely than he recalled her to be, which had been shocking when he saw her in the park and was no less so now. Her auburn hair was done in in a complicated twisting style that highlighted her face perfectly. She wore a dusky blue gown with translucent layers beautifully folded and tucked over one another.
She all but flowed forward toward him, hand outstretched and eyes bright. “Mr. Desmond, welcome.”
He smiled as he took her hand, wishing he could school the throb of his heart when he touched her. “Your Grace. It seems I am late—my apologies.”
“Not at all,” she assured him, as she withdrew her hand and placed it on her heart almost absently. “I believe you know almost everyone here. I will introduce with first names, as that is our way when we’re all together. Too many dukes and duchesses in a room and it becomes a comedy of errors when one Your Grace bleeds into another.”
First names. Roarke shivered at the thought of being allowed to call her Flora. Of her saying Roarke. That was intimate, inappropriate in most company. And he longed for it.
“I can imagine,” he said. “As long as no one is offended by a lowly non-duke saying their first names.”
“As long as you do it with cheek,” Lightmorrow said with a laugh.
Flora joined the laughter. “Theo and Callum I think you know.”
Roarke inclined his head. He hadn’t ever called either man by their first name, but neither seemed offended by the idea. “Gentlemen.”
“Roarke,” Callum said with a warmth to his smile, like he was giving permission.
Flora continued, “You met Bernadette as the Duchess of Tunbridge at Theo’s ball last week. I believe the only stranger to you here is our dear Valaria, the Duchess of Gooding.”
Roarke’s eyes went wide. He had heard of the death of the Duke of Gooding. Whispers of a violent accident had reached even his ears, but it hadn’t seemed too long ago. The lady ought not to have been out of mourning and yet she wore full color in this company, and the way she stroked her fingers along Callum’s arm made it clear she was attached to his old schoolmate.
“Your Grace,” he said so that his assessment would not be clear.
“Valaria,” she reminded him, holding his gaze evenly, almost in challenge.
He didn’t intend to rise to the challenge, of course. His duty was not to investigate whethershewas carousing with a gentlemen before her mourning was over. It was none of his business, and he was happy for Callum, who looked positively besotted by the lovely lady.
And yet it led to more pause about Flora. If her friend could be having a secret relationship kept out of the public eye, Flora might also be capable and he simply hadn’t figured it out yet.
He pushed the thought from his mind. “Valaria,” he repeated with a smile, and then turned back to Flora.
“And that is our entire party,” she said, he thought a little nervously. “As I mentioned, it is a small party. Just friends.”
There was something warm that spread throughout his whole chest at the idea that she might see him as a friend. “Then it will be a charming evening.”
“Come,” Callum said as Valaria slid her arm free of his. “Let Theo and I talk you into a drink before supper.”
He motioned to the sideboard, and Theo and Roarke followed him. Meanwhile, the ladies stepped to the other side of the room and bent their heads in what looked like close conversation. By the way Bernadette and Valaria looked at him from time to time, he couldn’t help but believe they were discussing him.
“You have passed the test,” Callum chuckled as he handed over a whisky.
“The test?” Roarke repeated. “What test is that?”
“The character appraisal of the Duchesses of Kent’s Row,” Theo said as he took a swig of his own drink. “Or at least the most interesting three of them.”
“I will defer to your knowledge,” Roarke said. “You two seem to know them all well. I, of course, just met the Duchess…” He faded off and shook his head. Flora was right, it was too complicated to even try for propriety when there were so many Their Graces in the room. “I only met Bernadette and Flora at Lightmorrow’s ball.”
“Yes, our wonderful Flora,” Callum mused. “What do you think of her?”
Now Roarke’s brow wrinkled. From Callum’s tone, it was clear Roarke didn’t just have to pass the judgment of the ladies. He cleared his throat. “She is lovely. And my exchanges with her have been…” So many words flooded his mind. Enchanting, fascinating, intoxicating. “…pleasant.”
Theo pulled a face. “Pleasant,” he repeated.
“What do you want me to say?” Roarke asked, forcing a chuckle. “As I said, I barely know the lady.”
Not entirely true thanks to his research, but he’d rather hear the take of his friends than reveal he was all but stalking the lady on behalf of stepchildren who’d like to destroy her. That would certainly change the tenor of this evening.
