“You really didn’t know I was watching you?” he finally asked, his tone altogether different.
Tilly narrowed her eyes. This kinder voice was not to be trusted. She dropped her hand from her mouth. “Certainly not. I wouldn’t have been on the swing if I had.” Nor would she be out again. She spared the swing a sad glance.
He frowned in confusion. “But, last evening, when I met your sister, she said you’ve been out here every day, flaunting yourself in order to seduce me.”
Tilly spun toward the window. To her relief, three heads still appeared above the sofa back. “Prudence,” she muttered. She turned back to Lord James. “If you’d attended London before now, you would be familiar with my sister. She makes it her mission to sow turmoil.”
Uncertainty filled his face, making him appear younger, less supercilious and somehow even more attractive. “I didn’t know.” He rubbed his jaw, where her handprint had faded. “You’re sure you’re not a title-grubbing seductress?”
Tilly rolled her eyes. “Hardly.”
Lord James cleared his throat. His expression became pained. “I very much owe you an apology, Miss Philmont.” He grimaced ruefully. “This is not how I pictured our first meeting.”
He’d imagined them meeting? With the way he’d behaved, she did not want to know how that imagining went. She stared at him for a long moment and tried to look past how handsome he was to read his face. He did look young, and very sorry.
She relented. “As you are new to London and aren’t familiar with my sister, I accept your apology.”
“Thank you.” He executed a deep bow.
Tilly took in the grace and strength of his movements and bit her lip. “Have you really been watching me?”
He angled his face toward the grass. “I wouldn’t admit to it, except I already have.” Deep blue eyes glanced at her through dark lashes. “I’m a fool. I should have known better than to trust anyone as snooty as your sister, or that stuffy git, Erwin.”
Tilly put her hand to her mouth again, stifling a giggle.
“And now I’ve gone and insulted your family.” He gave his head a shake, his expression bemused. “I’m certainly doing a masterful job of creating a good first impression.”
Tilly pulled her hand away from her mouth and smiled. “My sister is snooty, and I imagine Lord Erwin’s been called far worse than a git, from what I’ve heard about him.”
“Heard?” He raised dark brows in inquiry.
She shrugged. “I’ve only met him once, briefly.”
Though he frowned at that, Lord James didn’t comment. He looked about them, his eyes settling on the swing. “May I?”
“Be my guest.” Tilly shrugged. “I won’t be using it anymore.”
He shot her a surprised look before taking his place on the seat. The swing wasn’t quite wide enough to accommodate his broad shoulders. He draped his arms about the ropes, his expression dejected.
“Won’t you?” He actually sounded wistful. “I wasn’t lying. Seeing you out here smiling in the sun has been the highlight of every day I’ve been in London. I was heartbroken to learn you were just another shallow, title-grasping seductress. You always seem so purely happy here.”
Tilly regarded him a long moment. She wasn’t certain what to make of the handsome, mercurial duke sitting on her swing, or the way studying his face made her pulse flutter. “You thought I was a sweet young miss, then my sister told you I am not, and so you climbed into our garden to what? Compliment my legs?” She blushed as she spoke. No one had ever complimented any part of her before, let alone a part no man but her husband was meant to see.
He shook his head, his expression sorrowful. “I was playing the rogue.” His cheeks went ruddy with embarrassment. “I thought the role would be easier, actually. I wanted a kiss.”
She should slap him again. “A kiss?”
He nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it, kissing you, that is, and I thought if I did, I would be able to banish the daydream I’d concocted as to who you are. And I was angry. I wished to torment you.”
“Angry?” The man was unfathomable. “But, we’ve never met. How could you be angry with me?”
Lord James offered a rueful smile, much more pleasant than his earlier bedeviling grins. “I suppose it’s poor form for me to admit as much, but I’m half in love with you, Tilly Philmont. You can’t imagine what women have been like since my uncle died and left me a dukedom. Even ones I’ve known for years. Their behavior has been… disillusioning, to say the least.” He regarded her with those devastatingly blue eyes, so startling under his dark locks. “Seeing you out here, looking as if you haven’t a care in the world, gave me hope. I told your sister how enchanting you are.”
Tilly didn’t believe his claim of love for a moment, but she did sympathize with him. How could he, a newcomer to London, realize how foolish it was to confide in Prudence? “That was your mistake,” she said emphatically. “My sister is evil.”
