Page 61 of The Duke’s Matchmaker

“Nobody I knew. If he had been, I think I would have recognized him. It was like Violet said. He saw me and liked the way I looked and wanted a dance. That’s all.”

“If you like him too, perhaps a courtship is imminent,” he suggested, not knowing exactly why he had said it.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen, Nathaniel,” she told him. “That isn’t something I’m interested in. You know that. It was only a dance. Is this what you came over here to talk to me about? Whether I’m going to enter into a courtship with a gentleman after dancing with him a single time?”

She was angry with him, he realized with a start. But why? She was the one who had walked away from him, not the other way around. She was the one who had gone off with someone else when he had been doing his best to find something for the two of them to do together.

If she was frustrated that they hadn’t gone into the garden, though, he could rectify that right now. “What about taking that walk?” he suggested. “Now that your time is your own once more? I’m sure the garden has waited for us.”

“I don’t think that would be a very good idea,” she said stiffly.

He frowned. “Why not? There are plenty of people out there. It wouldn’t cause any trouble. And besides, I want to talk to you a little bit more. I didn’t get everything out that I wanted to say when we spoke earlier.”

“I think you and I have spent enough time speaking,” she countered. “I know you think you can get more help from me, Nathaniel, but I truly believe that I’ve done all I can do. There’s nothing more for me to say. You’ve just got to go and find Lady Amanda and make sure you show her the nature of your feelings. Every moment you spend with me, you’re sabotaging your chances at creating something with her.”

“Well…this will be the last time tonight, then,” he said. The idea of a garden walk had gotten into his head and he found he couldn’t so easily let it go. “I want to say a few more things, and then I’ll be done for the rest of the night.”

Dorothy looked uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to another. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I…I’m not feeling so well. I think I’m going to find somewhere to go sit down and rest for a while.”

“You’re feeling ill?” Worry crept in.

Her face brightened slightly at his words. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, that’s it exactly. Ill. I’m feeling ill. And so I really must go and find a place to sit down and drink some water. If you’ll excuse me.”

“But I ought to come with you,” he said. “You shouldn’t be on your own if you’re ill.”

“No. I’ll be fine.” Before he could say anything more or protest any further, she turned and rushed away, leaving Nathaniel standing on his own and staring after her.

He felt tired and upset, watching her go. She wasn’t ill. He was almost sure of it after the way he had seen her dancing just now. She had been so vibrant, so full of life. How could it be now that she had been ill the whole time?

No, he thought, watching her hurry across the dance floor toward the foyer, away from the direction she’d been heading in before the two of them had seen one another. She wasn’t ill at all. That had been a cover story, a means of getting away.

She was just trying to free herself from him.

She was avoiding him.

After all they had been through, she didn’t want to speak to him.

It was more than Nathaniel could bear.

CHAPTER 31

Dorothy retreated to the library in the interest of getting some distance from Nathaniel.

The fire was unlit and the room was chilly. Clearly, their host had not anticipated that guests would come here, and for a moment Dorothy considered leaving. But she needed the break. She had been so vigilant from the moment she had arrived, so alert to the possibility of Nathaniel’s presence. And he had thwarted her best efforts and found her anyway.

She reached up and fumbled with the ties of her mask, wanting to take it off, but at the last moment she hesitated. Removing the mask would feel too much like accepting failure, admitting that she was incapable of distancing herself from Nathaniel.

She slumped into a chair and stared into the empty fireplace. How long could she get away with sitting in here on her own? How long would be reasonable to wait before hoping that the party might begin to die down? She wanted nothing more than to leave. It had been a mistake to come here in the first place.

It had all gone so wrong so quickly. Already, she’d fallen into the trap of accepting a dance with Nathaniel. She should have told him no when he had asked! The whole time they had spent on the dance floor had been so awkward and uncomfortable, and Dorothy had needed to keep her eyes away from him in order to maintain her equilibrium. Then he had waylaid her when she had tried to escape to the garden, and she had realized that he was intent on following her around for the rest of the evening.

Even then, it had been all she could do to make herself walk away.

It was infuriating to feel so much for a man. Especially knowing that nothing could ever happen between the two of them.

He is going to marry, and I never will, and that’s the end of it. There’s no reason to think on the matter any further than that.

Just then, she heard the creak of the door opening behind her and the sound of footsteps. Startled, she whirled to face the new arrival.