Page 48

“Ducks!” She pointed at the far margin of the water. “Do you see them?”

“Geese,” Adam said.

Eloise pointed more firmly. “And ducks!”

Juliet glanced up at him. The corner of his mouth moved.

“She is correct,” Juliet confirmed.

They walked the bank. Eloise had begun narrating the park to herself in a low running commentary that required nothing from either of them. Juliet walked at her left, and Adam walked beside Juliet, his hands clasped at his back, his eyes moving in long sweeps over the path and the riders beyond the tree line.

When the path narrowed, he stepped a half-pace closer. He did not appear to notice he was doing it.

But she noticed.

“Juliet!”

She started at the sound of her name, and turned instinctively. That was when she saw her best friend, Lady Valerie Slater, cutting across the grass at a pace that made her maid work to keep up, her bonnet ribbons loose, and her face already lit with excitement.

“Valerie!” Juliet screeched, moving before she even realized she was doing it. They met in the middle, both speaking at once and throwing their arms around the other in tandem.

“Three weeks between your last letter and this⁠—”

“The post to Ravenlocke is genuinely hopeless⁠—”

“You mentioned the garden but nothing else at all⁠—”

“I was being diplomatic⁠—”

“You sounded happy.” Valerie held her at arm’s length and looked at her face with the concentrated attention of a friend who'd been reading letters instead of expressions for months and was now catching up. “In the letters, I thought it might be performative. But you look happy too.”

Juliet opened her mouth and, for a moment, could not think of a word to say.

Valerie’s eyes moved past her. Adam and Eloise had drawn up behind them; Adam stopped at a proper distance and gave a short, correct bow.

“Miss Slater,” he said, and barely any warmth came through his tone. It was all formal… all business.

“Your Grace.” Valerie curtsied gracefully, her expression pleasantly neutral.

Eloise, beside Adam, was looking at Valerie’s bonnet. “Those cherries,” she said. “Are they real?”

“Ribbon ones, I am afraid.” Valerie crouched to her level, her face breaking out into a bright smile. “Would you like to touch them?”

Eloise looked up at Adam, and he gave one short nod.

She reached out one careful finger and pressed it to the nearest cherry, then withdrew her hand and stood up very straight. “It is very beautiful.”

Valerie preened under the little girl’s unbridled praise, even though it was not her due. “I shall pass it along to the milliner.” She glanced up at Juliet and said quietly, “She is wonderful.”

At the same time, Adam lifted her into his arms and turned to the governess behind him.

“I know.” Juliet smiled at them. “She is the most wonderful little girl I have ever known.”

“Hm.” Valerie leaned in closer. “And is she as wonderful as her father?”

At that question, Juliet’s cheeks pinked. “Oh, what could you possibly mean?” she grumbled, but Valerie laughed, her eyes wide.

“Has something already happened between you?” she crowed, and Juliet gasped, clapping one hand over her friend’s mouth, her head swiveling this way and that to make sure no one had heard.