He gestured for her to walk ahead of him through the gate, and though stubbornness urged her to stay behind, to insist that she might admire the gardens instead, she found herself moving forward.
In a strange daze, with him a few steps behind her, she allowed him to escort her back to the manor. But even with a polite distance between them, her skin seemed to burn where he hadtouched her upper arm, as if his fingertips were still there, lightly brushing her skin. And as she breathed in, she could smell his intoxicating perfume, clinging to her like an embrace.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ishould have let her struggle.
The tailcoat gripped in his hand went some way toward easing the strange, tight feeling in his fingertips, like they needed to be flexed or clenched to ease overwrought muscles. It was as if, by accidentally touching her, he had brushed a nettle and now had to bear the sting.
Ithadbeen an accident, but he should have known the risk of gently removing his tailcoat from her. And now, rather than pleased by his daughter’s progress, he felt oddly agitated.
“Here you are,” he said, gesturing to the entrance hall as if Frances were a complete stranger who had only just arrived.
She tilted her head, a slight frown lining her brow. “Yes, I am well acquainted with Alderwick by now.” She barked a small, awkward laugh. “But… um… thank you for escorting me back. You did not have to.”
“We were walking in the same direction,” he replied stiffly.
“Were we?” she asked, in a soft voice that troubled him. “I thought you were going to help rebuild a barn?”
He could have smacked himself for his idiocy. “I must change first,” he replied, the excuse coming quickly. “One cannot do such work in clothes like this.”
“No…” She dropped her gaze, the faintest flush of pink dusting her cheeks, a new canvas for her pretty array of freckles. “No, I suppose you cannot. Not that I would know; I cannot say I have ever rebuilt anything before.”
I would not say that, necessarily.He held his tongue, though he thought of his daughter’s eager expression, and how well she had carried herself through that peculiar lesson. In terms of Harriet’s confidence, Frances was certainly bolstering the foundations.
What he had seen in the rose garden was unlike anything he had witnessed in his thirty-eight years of life. Frances’ way of teaching was assuredly unorthodox and, at first, he had been ready to reprimand her for the ridiculous charade… but then she had come alive, transforming into the character of so many ne’er-do-well society gentlemen. The kind he had gone to Eton and Oxford with, the kind he had been glad to set aside once he retreated from society.
The kind Harriet would have to face when she debuted.
He had laughed, to his own surprise, because it had been so perfect, even with the oversized tailcoat.Becauseof the oversized tailcoat. Frances had had the mannerisms and the dramatic bursts of speech curated in such realistic detail that he had not been able to help his amusement, laughing in a way he had not laughed in years. Smiling with an ease he had not felt in just as long.
Now that the show was over, however, he was at a loss.
I should not have let my guard down, lest she believe that something has changed in our agreement.
“Well then,” he said, clearing his throat, “I shall leave you to those letters and whatever else you intend to do, until my daughter emerges again.”
He was about to head up the stairs to change his attire, when she called out to him, halting him in his tracks.
“Your Grace?”
He did not turn, for there was something in those summer green eyes and that blushing face that felt risky.
“What is it now, Lady Frances?” he replied bluntly, his agitated hand gripping the banister.
He heard her clear her throat with a few nervous coughs. “Do you recall me saying something about borrowing gentlemen, so Harriet can practice in a more accurate setting?”
“I will not lend you any footmen,” he replied.
“No, no, of course not.” The bottom step of the staircase creaked, as if she intended to come closer. “But… I thought it might be of benefit to her if we held a small, pretend dinner party here at Alderwick? Your cousin could invite a few people, and you could invite anyone you think might be suitable.”
His grip tightened on the banister. “She cannot attend a dinner party; she has not debuted.”
“That is why it is apretenddinner party,” Frances urged, as she suddenly appeared beside him on the stairs, a look of determination fixed upon her face. “Every guest will be informed of the nature of the occasion before they arrive, and I shall write little cards for the gentlemen, with small scripts or characters that they must play throughout the evening.”
Dominic glanced at her as if she were quite mad. Then again, after what he had seen in the gardens, there was certainly method to her madness. A very successful method, in fact.
And it would be in Harriet’s best interests. The more informed she is, the more she can protect herself, the easier it will be for us all.
