To her immense annoyance, the Duke laughed.
The sound caught her completely off guard. She had heard him amused before, but only in fleeting moments, and never quite like this. The laugh transformed his face, softening the severity of his features and bringing warmth to those green eyes. For a brief, treacherous moment, she forgot to be irritated.
Far too handsome. Entirely unfair.
And somehow even more irritating because she noticed it. As his laughter faded, something thoughtful lingered in his expression. He regarded her quietly, his gaze moving over her face as though weighing a decision. The silence stretched just long enough to make her uneasy before he finally said, “I am going to help you.”
Seraphine frowned at him immediately. “Help me?” she asked, folding her arms more tightly across her chest.
The Duke inclined his head slightly. “Find a husband,” he replied as though discussing the weather.
She stared at him in disbelief. “Why?” she demanded.
“Because your judgement is clearly questionable,” he said dryly, one dark eyebrow lifting.
“My judgement is excellent,” Seraphine informed him, drawing herself upright.
The Duke’s expression remained unimpressed. “You selected Pemberley,” he pointed out.
“I selected a title,” she countered, gesturing vaguely in the direction the disgraced gentleman had fled.
“A poor strategy,” he replied.
“An effective one,” she shot back.
“Not tonight,” he said, his gaze steady on hers.
The words should not have affected her. Yet something about the way he looked at her made the air feel strangely charged. The familiar tension settled between them once more, that peculiar mixture of irritation and awareness that seemed to accompany every conversation they had.
Then the Duke took a slow step closer. Not enough to touch her. Just enough to make her aware of him.
The movement was subtle, but Seraphine noticed it immediately. She became absurdly conscious of the quiet garden around them, of the distant music drifting from the manor, of the warmth lingering in the evening air.
“I will help you find a decent man,” the Duke said, his voice lower now, quieter.
Something in his tone made her pulse stumble. Suspicion immediately followed. Nothing involving Damien was ever simple.
“And in return?” she asked cautiously, narrowing her eyes at him.
A slow smile touched his mouth. “As you said before, I owe you a favor, sweetheart,” he said.
The endearment should have annoyed her. Instead, the words settled over her like warm honey, sending a flutter through her stomach. Seraphine hated that she noticed the way his voice deepened when he said it.
Sweetheart.
Her heartbeat quickened despite herself.
Why do I feel this way with such a simple word?.
Chapter Five
“Well, this looks scandalous.” The familiar voice caused both of them to turn.
Rosaline stood a few yards away with one hand resting upon her hip and amusement sparkling in her eyes. Beside her, a nursemaid held little Annie, who appeared fascinated by a nearby flowerbed.
Seraphine was shocked. “Rosaline?”
“What?” her sister asked innocently as she approached. “I merely stumbled upon my unmarried sister standing alone in a dark garden with my unmarried brother-in-law.”
