Page 17

“That is not the point,” the Duke said, though the twitch at the corner of his mouth suggested he was fighting back a smile. “Iris, you mustn’t press Laura to take your side against me before we’ve even reached the castle. It isn’t polite.”

“Castle?”

“Oh yes, we live in a castle.”

“How lovely. And it’s all right, truly,” Laura assured, glancing between them. “I don’t mind taking sides. Yellow curtains, decidedly. Every room in the castle.”

The Duke’s eyes met hers, and for one unguarded moment, the careful distance he’d kept since the church slipped, just slightly. Something warm flickered in his brown eyes, like a flame in the wind, before he looked away toward the window.

“Did you know that my bedtime is seven o’clock, Laura?” Iris asked.

“No, I did not. Do you like going to bed at seven o’clock?”

“I do not mind it so much, but I do find having a bedtime a bit unfair.”

“Do you?” the Duke drawled, looking at her.

“Yes, I do,” she said, her lower lip sticking out a bit, which made her look impossibly cute.

“A growing girl needs her sleep, especially one with such an active mind,” he reasoned. “I am always looking out for your best interests, Iris. You must understand that.”

“I know,” she sighed, looking out the window. Then she turned back to Laura. “Would you like to hear more about Buttons?”

“I would very much like that,” Laura answered, happy to steer the subject to more neutral territory. “How long have you had him?”

“Since I was four. He was a gift from Mama, before…” Iris trailed off. “He once scratched his ear badly when we passed a thicket, but Uncle Nathaniel says that all good horses have a little wear on them. Makes them tough!”

“That sounds most wise. It is also true of people.”

“Uncle Nathaniel has a great deal of wisdom.”

“Is that so?” the Duke asked dryly.

“He also says I ask too many questions,” Iris added, ignoring him. “I don’t see how a girl can learn anything at all if she isn’t permitted to ask questions.”

“I don’t see how either,” Laura agreed.

“I never said you asked too many questions, just that you must be prudent about whom and how you ask them. There is a difference.”

Despite every effort to keep her gaze averted, Laura found herself glancing at the Duke. It was strange, watching him from beneath her lashes subtly as Iris chattered on. When she left the church earlier, she expected the rest of the day to be unbearable. She had braced herself for it.

Instead, there was this. Iris. A small girl with a horse and opinions about curtains. And there was the Duke, a man who was clearly not unkind. She could see it in the patient way he corrected his niece without ever once making her feel belittled. But there was something guarded in him too, some door kept shut even in a carriage ride with his niece.

What exactly is he keeping locked inside?

The thought startled her enough that she looked away and out the window.

She stared at the passing scenery until the castle came into view.

CHAPTER 7

Four hours later, as the sun began to sink low across the verdant countryside, the carriage rounded a final bend in the road, and Duskwell Castle came into view.

Laura’s eyes went wide. She had not expected anything like this.

The castle stood against the darkening sky like something out of the stories her governess used to tell her. Towers and turrets rose, all wrapped in a long, weathered grey stone façade. Ivy climbed up and curled around the sides, thick and unchecked, up an entire wing. The oversized windows along the upper floors were dark and unlit despite the fading light.

It was beautiful, even if it looked old and forgotten.