Actual sighs. Good heavens.
“The dimples are most unfair,” Hannah agreed with a laugh. “Completely unfair and disarming.”
Unfortunately, she had noticed the dimples herself. Entirely against her will, of course.
“No, it’s the eyes,” another lady whispered, glancing across the lawn towards Damien as he spoke with a group of gentlemen near the terrace.
“The green ones? Oh indeed,” Lady Katherine said eagerly, leaning forward in her chair.
“Exactly,” the lady replied with an emphatic nod. “Those eyes.”
A fresh round of sighing followed, accompanied by dreamy smiles, and exchanged glances.
Far too much sighing.
She wrapped both hands around her teacup and stared into it as though it might provide an escape.
A library would do. A thunderstorm would do.
At this point, she would happily take either.
“And he is also very intimidating,” she said, lifting her gaze at last.
Several heads turned towards her. Lady Hannah laughed and waved a dismissive hand. “That is part of the appeal.”
Seraphine frowned. “Why?”
“Because,” Hannah said, lowering her voice conspiratorially as she leaned closer, “if he looked at another lady the way he looks at you, she would probably faint.”
Seraphine nearly dropped her teacup. She caught it just in time and stared at Hannah in horror. “What?”
Several ladies exchanged knowing smiles.
“Oh, do not pretend,” Lady Katherine said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Seraphine replied quickly, setting her cup down before she truly did drop it.
The lie came far too easily. Mostly because she desperately needed it.
Lady Katherine grinned. “The Duke pays rather a lot of attention to you.”
“He does not,” Seraphine said at once.
“He absolutely does,” Hannah countered, folding her arms as though presenting an undeniable fact.
Heat crept steadily into Seraphine's cheeks.
They are ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.
As though beckoned by the conversation itself, Damien glanced in their direction from across the lawn. Their eyes met for the briefest moment.
Immediately, she looked away. Far too quickly. The ladies noticed.
Of course they noticed.
Their laughter followed almost instantly, and Seraphine could feel their amused stares lingering upon her. She forced a polite smile and endured the teasing, though inwardly she wished the ground would kindly open beneath her feet.
Yet beneath the embarrassment lurked an uncomfortable truth she did not wish to examine too closely. She did not particularly enjoy hearing them admire Damien. Every sigh and compliment seemed to irritate her more than it ought.
