“It’s too late now, I suppose,” Temperance said. “The ball is a mess.”
Across the room, the woman in blue silk had located Harper and was saying something to him at length. Several other guests had gathered around him. But Harper was standing very still in the middle of all of it, and Temperance watched him take in the general state of everything.
He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.
In second, the dogs stopped wreaking their chaos and walked directly to Harper.
Temperance stared at him with her mouth hanging open.
Of all things, she hadnotexpected that to happen. It was as though he had effortlessly taken control of the situation and brought order to everything. Even the guests, who had been complaining just a moment ago, were now focused on Harper.
Harper looked at Temperance then, their gazes locked and a strange warm feeling passed over her.
He turned back to the guests.
“I owe you all an apology,” he said calmly, “This evening has not concluded as intended and the fault is entirely mine for not anticipating the possibility.” He looked around the room, taking in faces and making eye contact.
Effectively, he had diffused the situation perfectly.
“I would ask you all to make your way home for the evening. Anyone whose clothing has been affected should send the details to my staff and the cost will be covered in full.”
There was a murmur through the room and the woman in blue silk opened her mouth.
“In full,” Harper said, looking at her, and she closed it again.
The guests began to move toward the doors, and the room began to empty out. Temperance stood near the wall with Albina and Joseph and watched the room empty.
“My, word,” Albina laughed, “now that was rather remarkable. Did you know he was going to do that?”
Temperance shook her head.
“No, but I am not surprised,” she said. He was a natural leader, and this incident had proven it. She thought back to their kiss, feeling her cheeks heat up.
“Are you alright?” Albina picked up on the change of color.
“It’s fine,” she said, turning away. The chaos had made her nearly forget that everything between them had changed now, and it would be difficult to go back.
When the last guest had gone, the ballroom was very quiet again. Biscuit was still sitting at Harper’s feet while Midge had lain down across his shoes.
“He’s made friends with the dogs,” Albina remarked. “Wonder when that happened.”
Harper still hadn’t said a word to them, remaining eerily silent. A part of her worried that he was going to explode in anger at any moment.
After all, he had just been proven right about his point about not letting the dogs inside.
She braced herself, quietly, and beside her she felt Joseph do the same, as though he was preparing for consequences.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’ll defend you.”
“I’m not sure if you can get me out of trouble this time,” Joseph sighed, resigning to his fate. Perhaps he would be grounded for weeks, or not allowed to do anything with the dogs from now on.
But what happened next surprised them all. Harper opened his mouth not to shout at them, but laugh.
“Excuse me?” Temperance muttered, surprised. The duke was... Laughing? He found all of it funny?
But it set off a chain reaction, and the next thing she knew, she was laughing too.
Albina made a sound that was half laugh and half something that might have been relief, and Joseph, after one more moment of uncertain stillness, laughed too.
