Alexander was sitting across from her, one arm resting lazily along the back of his chair, the other near his teacup. The light caught faintly in his sandy hair and along the rough line of hisbeard, sharpening the strong angles of his face in a way that made him look both relaxed and attentive at the same time.
Lady Salford leaned forward slightly in her chair, her sharp eyes bright with mischief as she regarded Diana with unmistakable delight.
“My grandson,” she continued, nodding with decisive satisfaction, “has received great and undeserved good fortune.”
Diana blinked, unable to grasp the words at first. They suspended somewhere between humor and sincerity, and she could not quite decide which one Lady Salford intended.
Lady Salford leaned farther forward, resting her forearms lightly on the polished surface of the table as though preparing to deliver a secret of great importance. “By marrying you.”
Diana felt the warmth rush up her throat and into her cheeks so quickly it startled her. It was as though someone had suddenly opened a door somewhere inside her chest and let the heat pour straight to her skin.
“I declare, my dear, if you blush any harder, the roses in the garden will resign their positions.”
The porcelain trembled slightly in Diana’s fingers as she hurried to set it back down upon the saucer before she did something truly embarrassing, like spilling tea across the immaculate white linen.
“Lady Salford,” she protested softly, though the protest lacked any real force because she was already laughing under her breath, “you exaggerate most terribly.”
But even as she said it, the warmth refused to leave her face. It had been a very long time since anyone had valued her like that. The unfamiliar kindness caught her completely off guard.
Across the breakfast table, Alexander’s mouth twitched.
It was not quite a smile. She had begun to recognize that particular movement during the past weeks, though she would never admit to having studied him closely enough to notice such things.
The corner of his mouth lingered in that faint upward curve for only a moment before smoothing again, but Diana had already seen it. And somehow, that made everything worse, because it meant he was agreeing with Lady Salford, and she didn’t quite know what to do with that.
Diana kept her gaze fixed carefully on the breakfast table, pretending great interest in the delicate pattern painted along the edge of her porcelain plate, afraid that one wrong move could reveal much more than she intended.
Lady Salford, however, was not finished.
“My dear girl,” she continued warmly, “I have spent the better part of the last three days observing you with great care. Onemust be diligent when assessing the woman who has married one’s only grandson.”
Alexander lifted his coffee cup lazily. “That appears quite ominous.”
“Oh hush,” Lady Salford said cheerfully, waving him off without looking at him. “You ought to be grateful that I approve.”
Diana lowered her eyes to her plate, but the older woman’s words had already struck their mark.
For a year, she had trained herself not to think of marriage at all, and it had become something distant, almost theoretical. A title she carried. A circumstance she inhabited. Not a living bond between two people.
The sort of marriage Lady Salford was speaking of did not belong to her. Those things belonged to women like Emma, who laughed easily beside a man who adored her, whose husband looked at her as though she were the best decision he had ever made.
Diana’s own marriage had been a transaction, neat and practical. And yet the words lingered stubbornly in her mind, refusing to behave like the empty thing she had forced it to become. Hope, once awakened, was far more dangerous than disappointment ever had been.
Lady Salford’s voice broke through her thoughts again.
“You are thoughtful, you are gracious to the servants, and you are clever enough to argue with my grandson without fainting,” the dowager continued. “That alone qualifies you as exceptional.”
Alexander set his cup down. “You are aware that you are complimenting her at my expense.”
“Yes, naturally.” Lady Salford turned back to Diana with a satisfied nod. “You see? Proof that you are already improving him.”
Diana laughed softly. “You give me far too much credit.”
“No. I give you exactly the credit you deserve,” Lady Salford said firmly. She leaned back in her chair, studying Diana with open affection. “My dear, do you know what I expected when I arrived?”
Diana shook her head.
“Something dreadful,” Lady Salford said frankly. “A proud duchess who would treat the household like furniture and speak only of gowns and titles.”
