Lucy was not envious. However, she could not help but hope that Joshua would finally realize she needed a wardrobe to be noticed by suitors. He was always pushing her to wear the most unsightly dresses.
“Are you buying the blue dress, Lucy?” Victoria asked, looking eager.
Lucy knew that her friend was thrilled for her when she had tried on the dress, but she could not help but disappoint her.
“No, I can’t,” she said softly. “It’s too improper.”
“Improper? Nonsense,” Victoria chided her gently. “Lucy, please. It looked wonderful on you.”
“Let me buy it for you,” Richard offered with a smile.
“Your Grace, I don’t want to impose,” Lucy protested.
“Let him!” Victoria insisted. “It would be a tragedy to leave that dress here. If you don’t let Richard buy it, I will buy it for you.”
“Joshua will never allow me to wear it, so it will merely be a waste of money. I am also a spinster now, out for a few Seasons and not attracting even a single suitor. Wearing midnight silk would be, in people’s minds, a sign of desperation.”
“At twenty-two?” Victoria sputtered, looking aghast. “You’re certainly far from a corpse, but your brother wants you to act like one!”
Lucy sighed and shook her head. She would not purchase the dress, nor would she let anyone else do it for her. She could not take the risk. The midnight blue dress represented false hopes.
Even though Victoria looked slightly disgruntled, they left the shop without the dress. Their outing was not over, though. They made their way toward Hyde Park, where the air was crisp and fragrant with fresh blooms. The scent of the damp earth added to the allure of the day.
Richard and Victoria walked ahead, arm in arm. Lucy could tell that they were lost in their own world. It did not seem like it mattered if words were spoken. Shared glances and occasional whispers were enough for the two.
Lucy had no choice but to walk alongside Daniel. She did not know what to say. They didn’t really know each other and appeared not to have anything in common.
“It’s a good day for a walk, isn’t it?” Daniel asked, sounding grave.
Lucy almost chuckled at the seriousness with which he spoke the mundane words.
“Certainly. However, while it might be a little cooler at the moment, it might warm later, and I would be roasting under the heat,” she replied, making light of her gray dress.
“Mhm. I did wonder why you chose the dress. Your dress’s relationship with the weather is just like the park’s gravel paths. Some of them are easier to navigate than others, making the walk pleasant.”
Again, he spoke in the same somber tone. Lucy wondered if he was jesting or if he was truly just that serious.
“I suppose we cannot always control the quality of our walks. However, the Duchess is certainly happy,” Lucy noted, her eyes on the couple walking ahead of them.
“She certainly is,” Daniel agreed, his hands clasped behind his back as they walked. He walked at a pace that matched her own, and she could not help but smile at that. “Victoria is much different from how she used to be. She was wild and reckless—a hoyden. In the country, she was free and careless, and whenever she was in London, she felt confined by the walls. Not just the physical ones.”
“Oh,” Lucy murmured. “I can relate to that. The walls can feel so thick that it is hard to breathe.”
Why did she say that? She regretted uttering those words. Why would he care what walls were closing in on her?
“Was that why I found you in that dark alley?” Daniel asked, after chancing a glance at her. “Was trying to meet with St. Clair a way out of your walls?”
“No. I was merely trying to see what it is like beyond the world I have been confined in,” Lucy admitted, her breath catching at the mention of the secret they had kept so far. “I knew I was going to be a spinster.”
She stopped before she could reveal more. She wanted to say that, since she had no hopes of marrying, taking pleasure in a male escort’s company did not feel wrong. She was no longer saving herself for anyone.
Not really.
“You can be free of your walls without having to confine yourself in another,” Daniel said, smiling softly.
Lucy was surprised to see the light in his eyes. His smile was genuine. Or was it another confusing moment? Perhaps he was merely being polite.
Whatever the case might be, she had to admit that she liked it when he mellowed down a little.
