“He most certainly did.”
Lucinda was rendered speechless, which was a rare thing for the loudmouthed cook. She looked from the dress to Yvette with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open, confusion filtering behind those eyes as she struggled to comprehend what was going on.
“His Grace bought you… Yvette, this is… I do not even know what to say!”
Yvette shrugged as if to dismiss the excitement. “It is no big thing, Lucinda. No doubt His Grace knows that I do not haveanything to wear tonight, and as he is escorting me, he did not wish for me to embarrass him.”
“Maybe…” She bit into her lip as she eyed the dress.
“Not maybe. It is a simple enough reason.”
“Yvette, I don’t think you understand.” She gave her head a shake to clear it and looked at Yvette again; still, shock was written clearly across her chubby features. “To buy you a simple gown is one thing, that I understand. But this…” She eyed the dress again. “This is more than a mere gift, and it is certainly beyond something a Duke would buy their governess. This is…” She licked her lips. “I am not sure.”
The chance that Yvette might dismiss the meaning of this dress was becoming harder and harder to do. Like Lucinda, she suspected the significance of what this gown might mean, but unlike Lucinda, she was not willing to voice it.
On the surface of her intrepid feelings, she told herself that it was as she had said time and time again. The Duke was just being kind, while ensuring that, as his guest, she looked the part.
A simple enough explanation… even if it feels hollow.
Deep within her conscience, where her heart beat and her excitement piqued, Yvette dared to wonder at what this gown truly meant. It was more than a gift. It was more than a tacticalpurchase. It was, by her estimation, an announcement to the world.
The Duke did not just want her as his guest tonight; there as friends and nothing more. He wanted her by his side so that the world could see them together. And if that was true, then it meant…
Easy, Yvette, do not get ahead of yourself. It is only a gown!
But was it just a gown? Again, all the evidence presented to her suggested otherwise, and the longer that she considered it, the harder the truth was to deny.
What was once a dream now looked as if it might be a reality, and while Yvette did her best to remain humble and not get ahead of herself… the way that gown shimmered, the way it shone and sang for her, made that rather hard to do.
Like it or not, tonight promised to change everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Miss Norleigh…” Alistair’s mouth hung open like a rusted gate. “You look…” His mouth turned dry and while he knew what he wanted to say, the words would not come.
“It’s not too much?” Miss Norleigh stood at the top of the stairs and when she saw the look on Alistair’s face, she shied away.
“No.” He straightened. He forced his mouth to close. And then he looked upon Miss Norleigh as if she was the most beautiful creature that he had ever seen. It was an easy expression to wear because, at that moment, she just might have been. “You look beautiful.”
Her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, and she looked as if she wanted to turn around and hurry back down the hallway; no doubt she was overcome with embarrassment. Thankfully, she recovered, she then started down the stairs toward where Alistair stood waiting, and she presented herself with eleganceand beauty of the type that would suggest to anyone watching that she had done this one hundred times before.
“You mock me,” she said as she continued down the steps.
“I do no such thing.”
“I suppose you are after a compliment of your own?” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Would you like for me to tell you how handsome you look?”
“Only if you mean it.”
She laughed. “You do look that… very handsome, I mean. Is that a new suit?”
“Is that a new dress?”
“Oh, this?” She shrugged. “It’s just something that I had lying around.”
He chuckled along. “Lucky that you did. It looks…” Alistair could not help but stare. “You look perfect.”
Alistair stood in the middle of the foyer, a perfect position so that he could gaze upwards as Miss Norleigh approached. She seemed to float as she walked down the stairs, just as she seemed to glow in the soft light of the chandelier that hung from the ceiling.
