Madeleine looked perplexed. “Why on earth would a shopgirl be at a dinner party?”
He sighed. “Not a shopgirl. She is the chocolatier. She and her sister brought the chocolates and stayed as guests.” He could not imagine how could she have forgotten the unforgettable Rare-Foure sisters.
She blushed slightly. “I suppose I had eyes only for you, Your Grace.”
Henry chuckled slightly at her adept answer. “How kind of you to say.” It was the first time she’d made an effort to single him out as if he meant anything to her. Apparently, his suit was making progress. That should fill him with gladness.Why didn’t it?
“Beyond that,” Madeleine added, “the mind plays tricks when things are where they are not supposed to be. If I saw a warthog dressed up and astride a horse on Rotten Row, I probably wouldn’t think anything of it.”
Was she comparing Amity to a warthog?
As he tried to form a response, she shook her head in dismay. “That seems terribly untoward, even shady, for our hosts to inflict such low-class women upon us as invited guests. I hesitate to go to another event at Lord and Lady Peabody’s home. What next, sitting down at the table with the butcher or the lamp-lighter?”
He knew what the termto bristlemeant but wasn’t sure he’d ever truly experienced the sensation until then. Now, he felt himself bristling at her mean-spirited remarks.
“That’s an unnecessary thing to say,” he told her quietly. “And it is unbecoming of a gracious lady.”
Her nostrils flared and her eyes widened at his rebuke, but then she lowered her gaze. After a long pause, she said, “I believe you are correct. It was wrong of me.”
Henry didn’t know her well enough to discern if she spoke from her heart or was telling him what she thought he wanted to hear. One thing was certain, if she were to be his duchess, he would instruct her to be kinder with those beneath her since nearly everyone in society would be.
He still hadn’t told her what was on his mind, his guarantee to Amity.
“I would very much appreciate, as a personal favor to me, if you let your spat with Rare Confectionery disappear like morning mist.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he continued, “I very much enjoy their chocolates and will continue to patronize them. It would not do for me to support the shop while you shun it. That discord would reflect badly on at least one of us, don’t you agree? Especially if we are to continue to grow closer.”
Her answer might end their relationship that very evening.
Chapter Sixteen
Lady Madeleine pausedbefore responding and even sent a sideways glance toward the chaperone, whose own gaze was fixed pointedly out the window.
“As long as I do not have to return to the shop — and I see no reason why I would — then I shall simply ignore its existence as well as the awful women who run it,” Madeleine said quietly.
“Thank you.” Henry was relieved for Amity. Also, he could continue in his pursuit of the earl’s daughter. Although why that hinged on whether she tried to destroy a confectionery, he could not say. Nothing seemed straightforward anymore since meeting the chocolatier.
