"Leave her alone, Daniel," the duchess said with a slight lift of her brow.
"I’m simply making conversation."
"You are never simply making conversation," Cait said, closing her eyes against the swaying of the coach.
Daniel looked at her with such open warmth that Cori had to look away. "That," he said, "is one of the things I love most about you. You never let me get away with anything."
"I know," Cait replied, the tips of her lips curving upward just so.
Cori smiled at the window. They were adorable. She was genuinely happy for her sister. If she could find even half of that happiness one day.
An image of the Duke of Linthorpe popped in her mind and Cori tried her best to push it away. She was nervous enough as it was. The last time Linthorpe had seen her, she had been sitting on the floor of his corridor with his daughter and a kitten and approximately none of the composure she had spent the previous fortnight constructing. He had been, if she was honest, rather kind about the whole thing. But kind was not the same as forgetting, and she was fairly certain he had not forgotten the image of her on his floor. And that was not the impression she’d wanted to leave him with. Her cheeks stung anew.
A fortnight at Acklan.
She was going to be perfectly composed and sensible for every moment of it. Perfectly composed and sensible, she thought, and sat back, and was very nearly both for the remainder of the journey.
The hour passed in the way the last hour of a long journey always did, both quickly and not quickly enough. And then the carriage slowed, and the wheels crunched on a different surface, and Daniel sat forward.
"There," he said suddenly. "There, through that gap in the trees. Can you see it?"
Cori leaned forward and looked.
The top of the north turret, just visible above a stand of ash trees, pale stone against the pale sky.
Oh.
Her heart did something completely uncooperative.
Perfectly composed and sensible, she thought, and sat back, and was very nearly both for the remainder of the journey.
After the carriage finally reached its destination and rolled to a stop, Cori allowed Lord Daniel to help her from the conveyance. Then she stood there for a moment, soaking in the atmosphere of the place, letting it swirl around her like a dream.
Acklan Castle rose out of its valley with the confidence of something that had been there for a very long time and expected to be there for considerably longer. It was not grand in the way that London houses were grand. There was nothing polished about it, nothing that asked to be admired. Instead, it was grand in the way of things that had earned it, stone by stone over centuries, the north turret standing against the pale sky with a solidity that made the flat white clouds seem temporary by comparison. The grounds spread away on either side, formal near the house and then less formal and then growing more wild before fading into moorland that stretched to the horizon and beyond.
Well?" Daniel appeared at Cait's elbow, practically vibrating, having clearly been waiting a very long time for exactly this moment.
Cait looked at the castle for a long moment. "You were right," she said.
The smile on his face was one of the better ones Cori had seen on her sister's betrothed, which was saying something as Lord Daniel had a considerable range as far as smiles went.
The housekeeper had come out to receive them. Hannah had materialized from the direction of the stables with a piece of straw in her hair and an impish expression on her face. She crossed the drive with purpose the moment she spotted Cori.
"You are here!" the child announced.
“Indeed, we are!” Lord Daniel scooped his niece up into his arms and she squealed with utter delight before finally begging to be returned to feet.
Once on the ground, Hannah smoothed her hands back over her frock and tried to appear more dignified. “Goodness, Uncle Daniel,” she admonished with a dignity beyond her years. “I’m supposed to be a lady.”
“Of course,” Lord Daniel agreed with a tight nod. “My apologies, Lady Hannah.”
The little girl beamed at that. Then she turned her attention to Cori. “You have to come see our new foals,” she began. “Bread has a very expressive face.” This appeared to be the most important piece of information she had assembled since their arrival. "I will show you after tea."
"I’ll look forward to it very much," Cori said.
"After tea," came a voice from above.
Cori looked up.
