Darling?
Hannah’s fingers dropped away. “Now I’ve done it again, haven’t I? You can ignore the last word.”
“I liked it… my love,” Eoin told her as he clumsily tacked on the endearment. Acknowledging they were sweethearts, nowthat, he could handle. No matter what, they meant something to each other.
Hannah’s entire face shined with so much joy that Eoin almost did kiss her. But this still wasn’t the place, and she was right that he needed time to fully think through all that had happened.
“Five days,” he promised. “In five days, I shall come to the Black Sheep, and we can discuss everything. By then, I should have dealt with my aunt and will have had the opportunity to unravel my emotions.”
“Five days,” Hannah said, her green eyes shining as brightly as cut gems. “I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Hannah was not generally one for pacing, but then again, she rarely had time when she wasn’t occupied with some task or another. But she and her cousins had decided to close the doors of the Black Sheep on the day that Eoin was scheduled to arrive. Hannah’s meeting with him was too vulnerable, too personal for a large audience. She would have even sent her cousins away if she hadn’t needed their support while she waited.
Hannah should have insisted on setting a time. But she hadn’t realized that she’d be so bloody nervous.
She hoped, oh, shehoped, that they would reconcile. If she could bring herself to trust their parting words, she wouldn’t worry at all. Yet doubt had crept in. She’d sorely wounded Eoin, and his sense of betrayal could have caused him to change his mind.
But what if he hadn’t wavered? That, too, was a frightening prospect. He clearly would not make Hannah his mistress. If they were to renew their relationship, Eoin would insist upon marriage.
But could Hannah become a duchess?
“You are orbiting again,” Sophia pointed out.
Hannah wrung her hands. She did not normally twist herfingers any more than she typically strutted aimlessly about the room. “I can’t help it. I cannot stop.”
“What is worrying you?” Charlotte asked.
Hannah barked out a short laugh. “Everything. Will he arrive? What will I do if he doesn’t? What happens if he does? What if everything between us goes right?”
“Worrywart! Worrywart! Worrywart!” Pan cried gleefully from the rafters.
“Oh, do be quiet, Pan!” Hannah shouted in irritation. “Iwillmake a fine duchess!”
“So that is what is bothering you,” Charlotte said quietly.
“Yes!” Hannah huffed out. “I am the daughter of a pirate and the proprietress of a coffeehouse. I’d make a bloody terrible peeress.”
“I personally think you’ll make a fine one,” Sophia said. “You’ve successfully run this coffeehouse since you were seventeen, and you’ve always had a head for figures.”
“Peeress! Peeress! Peeress!” Pan croaked as he tapped his gray foot in time with each word.
“I agree with Sophia,” Charlotte said, entirely ignoring the parrot. “You would have no trouble managing a household, and it is not as if the butler and the housekeeper won’t be able to guide you.”
“Handling the accounts and organizing the staff are the least of my concerns. I’d have to entertain nobs!”
“You’re a fine hostess here,” Sophia pointed out. “I mix up the brew, and you make the customers feel at home.”
“It is hardly the same set of etiquette and rules!” Hannah protested. She’d increased her speed to a pace where she almost felt dizzy. But still, she could not slow down.
“I must second Sophia again.” Lady Charlotte stood up from the chair where she’d been sitting. Intercepting Hannah, sheplaced her hands on her shoulders, forcing her to stop. “You will never follow the proper protocol. It’s simply not in your nature. But you will be a duchess and, thus, allowed to be eccentric. That means that you can continue to draw people to you with your own unique appeal, just as you do now.”
Hannah huffed out a sigh, which was half frustration and half relief. Charlotte was a kind but honest sort. She wouldn’t say those words if she didn’t believe them. And Charlotte was in the unique position of understanding both the aristocracy and the world that Hannah inhabited. And Hannah’s mother had been born a noble. The damn ton couldn’t entirely dismiss her lineage… but…
“I don’t even like nobs!” Hannah practically wailed as she tossed her head back. Then realizing what she said, she quickly amended, “Except for you, your brother, your husband, Eoin, my mother, Calliope, and I suppose some of our new members aren’t terrible sorts.”
A half smile curled Charlotte’s lips as she dropped Hannah’s palms from her soft grasp. “You do realize that you’ve listed almost every noble who you’ve had the chance to spend time with. There are absolutely horrid ones like Eoin’s grandfather and his aunts and uncles, along with Lord Hawley and my parents. But there are good and bad people of all ranks and positions.”
