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They continued discussing wool, livestock, transport, and the cost of establishing a reliable supply chain, with Percy asking questions and James offering the sort of blunt advice he had accumulated through years of managing Glenmore. Yet even as he spoke, James's thoughts kept returning to the same subject.

Olivia.

He pictured her grey-blue eyes, her sharp tongue, the way she could turn even a simple conversation into a challenge, and the stubborn determination with which she had insisted upon protecting Louiza and Felix. He imagined her standing in the drawing room surrounded by Northumberland's finest families, pretending she was not nervous while secretly judging every person in the room.

A party would be a practical necessity, nothing more.

Yet as Percy spoke enthusiastically about wool prices, James found himself wondering what color gown Olivia would choose, whether she would enjoy the evening, and whether she would look at him across the room with that infuriating little smile she wore whenever she believed she had caught him caring.

He took another drink. This was precisely why he disliked emotions. They complicated everything.

When the men were done conversing, James rose from his chair and set his empty glass upon the side table.

"Thank you for stopping by, Percy. It was good to see you again."

He crossed the study with his old friend, the conversation lingering pleasantly between them as they made their way through the grand hall. James found himself surprised by how natural it had felt to speak with Percy again. For the first time in some time, he had been able to sit with another man and discuss something other than death, inheritance, trustees, marriage, or the infant whose existence had become the center of his carefully constructed plans. It felt good.

Percy smiled as they reached the front door. "It was good to see you as well. Though I must confess, I had wondered whether you would remember how to entertain a friend after spending so long buried in estate matters."

"I assure you, I have not forgotten," James replied, opening the door for him. "I simply have less patience for most people than I once did."

"That sounds remarkably like the James I remember."

James gave him a dry look, but Percy merely laughed as he stepped outside. The morning air was cool, carrying the faint scent of rain across the grounds. Percy paused upon the steps and turned back toward him.

"Now that I have returned, I shall expect you to call upon me as well. You cannot have me doing all the travelling."

James nodded. "Fair enough. I shall call upon you."

"Good. I shall hold you to that."

"You should."

Percy offered his hand, and James clasped it firmly. "And I shall expect that invitation to your little supper party. I am exceedingly curious to meet the duchess."

"You will receive it," James assured him.

Percy climbed into his waiting carriage, and James remained upon the steps until it disappeared down the drive. Only then did he turn back toward the house, his thoughts immediately returning to Olivia and the party he had just promised to arrange.

He had invited Percy to meet his wife, but suddenly the prospect felt far more significant than a simple social gathering. Olivia deserved to enter society properly, and James found himself determined that no one should make her feel anything less than the duchess she was.

The next morning, Olivia took Louiza to the little stone cottage where Felix was being cared for, and she could not help feeling a flutter of excitement as they approached the garden path. She had been waiting for this moment since telling her sister about the baby, though she had deliberately tried to make her description of him sound sensible rather than completely besotted.

"There he is," Olivia whispered as they entered, and her face softened at once when she saw Felix lying upon a quilt beneath the window, his tiny hands waving as though he had been expecting them.

"Louiza, this is Felix. Felix, this is your aunt Louiza, and she is very nearly as wonderful as I am."

Louiza laughed as she approached the baby, but the laughter disappeared into a soft gasp when Felix turned his head toward her.

"Oh, Olivia," she murmured, reaching down cautiously to touch one tiny hand. Olivia waited with bated breath.

Will she see how beautiful he is or will the mark shock her?

Felix immediately curled his fingers around hers, and Louiza's entire expression changed. "He is beautiful."

Olivia watched her sister's face and felt something warm settle in her chest. She had known Louiza would adore him, but seeing it happen was different. She never had any reason to doubt that her twin would react as she did to the baby, but doubt had still taken hold. It was almost as though another piece of her little family had fallen into place, and for a moment Olivia forgot every complication attached to the child sleeping peacefully before them.

"He has a rather impressive talent for winning people over," Olivia said as she settled beside the baby, carefully supporting his head when he wriggled toward her. "James insists he is remarkably quiet, but I think he has simply discovered that everyone will do exactly what he wants if he makes that little face."