However, Yvette noted a coy smile on Carrowell’s lips… as if this was his plan the whole time.
“That settles it then.” Stranger still, Lady Emily appeared rather pleased by this outcome. Again, there was a sense that everyone except for Yvette was in on some kind of joke. “Your Grace, I look forward to seeing you there. And you, Miss Norleigh.” Her smile was surprisingly warm. “Hopefully, it will give us a chance to better know one another.”
“Yes…” Yvette forced herself not to look down as the whole room watched her. “That sounds… lovely.”
Was the situation slightly different, Yvette might have found a reason to smile. After all, being invited to a ball would ordinarily be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And that she was to be going with the Duke… again, she should have been thrilled by the notion.
But the invitation came at a cost. She had found herself in the middle of something, and she did not like feeling so helpless and exposed.
“I should go.” Lady Emily Pearce was the first to leave, which she did quickly, after once again confirming that the Duke wouldbe attending the ball with Yvette… and after once again scowling with antipathy at Carrowell.
“As should I…” Carrowell was the next to leave, and he wore a knowing smile the whole time, one that made his eyes glimmer with humor. “Miss Norleigh, I apologize that it cannot be me who takes you. I do hope that Alistair shows you a good time. If he is capable of such a thing.”
Finally, she and the Duke were alone. And as was to be expected, it was terribly awkward. A throwback to how things were between them when she first started working for him.
“I am so sorry,” the Duke hurried once the door closed behind them. “Carrowell is… peculiar at the best of times. And Lady Emily, she means well, but I did not expect –”
“If you wish for me not to attend, I understand,” Yvette cut him off. “I know that you were surprised by the invitation and you were just being polite.”
“Do you not wish to go?”
“I –” Her mouth hung open, not sure what she meant to say. “I… I do not wish to impose.”
“You are certainly not imposing.”
“I will only get in the way.”
“Somehow, I doubt that.”
“You and Lady Emily…” Her pulse raced, and it felt as if butterflies had exploded in her stomach. “I know that you two are courting, and if you arrive with me, it might –”
“I told you already, Miss Norleigh, Lady Emily and I are just friends.” He smiled at the notion and, for the first time since Yvette walked into the room, he appeared relaxed. “And as she was the one to invite you, it would be rude to decline now that you have agreed.”
“So…” She licked her lips. “You wish for me to attend?”
“Do you wish to?”
She hesitated… she considered… she should have turned the offer down, if for no other reason than to dispel any false illusions that she had. But the Duke looked at her with soft eyes, a hopeful smile on his lips, and she knew right then, like she knew anything, that he wanted her to go.
Why he did, she did not consider. She did not want to jynx it. But that he wanted it was enough.
“I would like to very much.” Finally, Yvette allowed a smile, and it was a most wonderful thing.
“That settles it then. You are going. Scratch that, we are going.”
She laughed. “Is there anything I should know? Be prepared for?”
He laughed with her. “About a dozen things, but I find that these events are best learned through doing. We will attend together, we will have some drinks, a few laughs, maybe even a dance. And if all goes well, perhaps we will escape out the other side in one piece.”
It was said as a joke, and Yvette laughed as she knew she should.
Behind the words, buried deep within, was another meaning that both she and the Duke seemed to recognize as one. Going together as they were would undoubtedly invite rumor, it was sure to cause whispers, and it was very likely to set the ton on fire with gossip.
That was assuming, of course, that they gave the ton something to gossip about…
CHAPTER TWENTY
“What time will you be home?” Hugh asked Yvette.
