Page 37 of The Mistletoe Duke

“Oh,” Cicely said in a syrupy voice at his side. “Are these your daughters?”

“Yes. This is Victoria, and this little darling is Elizabeth.”

“We’re named for queens,” they informed her.

“Isn’t that sweet. How long did you have to practice?”

Lizzie made a face. “All morning.”

Ah. That must be where Meg had been. He should have known.

“Well, your song was lovely,” Louisa put in from the other side of him. “How old are you?”

The girls held up five fingers each.

“That was quite impressive for five.” She was something of a chatterbox, but Jonathan had to admit, Louisa had a more natural way about her with the girls than Cicely, whose demeanor made him wonder if his daughters were sticky. “Shall we go celebrate with lemonade and cakes?” she asked.

The girls looked to him and when he nodded, shouted hurrah!

“Aren’t they darling?” Cicely asked as Louisa led the girls to the refreshment table in the corner.

He shrugged, keeping his eye on the trio. “I’m partial. But isn’t Louisa wonderful with them?” He wasn’t sure why he said this, but was glad he had when Cicely gasped, leapt to her feet, and practically ran to catch up.

Excellent.

Time to escape.

He could talk to Meg later, when she wasn’t surrounded by slavering dogs.

Before anyone could intercept him, he slipped out of the salon and made his way to the library, and the waiting decanter of whisky.

He’d definitely earned a drink.

* * *

The last thing Meg expected, after her performance, was to be surrounded by all the guests and be gushed over as she was. It took quite some time to thank them all. Long enough for her to recover from her embarrassment at the fuss they made. When it was over, she was exceedingly warm, thirsty, and tired. Certainly ready to escape, although Hisdick, Mattingly, and St. Clare seemed inclined to follow her wherever she went.

Fortunately, there was one place they could not follow, so she headed to the water closet. She stayed there for a long time, until she was certain they were gone.

When she peeped out to find herself alone, she breathed a sigh of relief and vowed never to sing before a crowd again.

She knew that after the musicale, a tour of the conservatory was planned, so she didn’t head there. Rather she sneaked off to her favorite room in the house, the library.

It was quiet and dark and cool. Exactly what she needed.

Despite the business of the morning and the melee of the musicale, she’d been beset with one single thought.

That kiss from Jonathan.

It had dominated her mind since last night, but she wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Jonathan wasn’t the kind of man to run around kissing girls all higgledy-piggledy. In fact, since Tessa, she doubted he’d even looked at another woman. Who would? Tessa had been a diamond of the first water.

But he had kissed her.

It had been the single most thrilling moment of her life.

And the most confusing.