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“How dare you⁠—”

But Drake did indeed dare and cut off her remonstrance with another deep kiss. Sebastian chuckled, low under his breath, as he moved away, leaving them to it. It was not often that Drake had the opportunity to halt Lady Astrid in her tracks.

Hearing the distinct tones of his sister’s voice, he hied down the path to the right. Miss Hu answered her, the sound growing louder the closer he came to them. Sebastian felt his heart beating faster in anticipation as he rounded the bend.

Gregory, still walking behind the two ladies, stiffened at Sebastian’s sudden appearance before he recognized who it was and relaxed. The lack of confusion on his face meant that at some point, Tiffany had managed to inform Gregory about Sebastian’s request to see Miss Hu alone, though Sebastian wondered how much she’d been able to tell him.

He was certain Gregory would be more… more something if he knew that Sebastian was considering marriage to Miss Hu. Likely, he thought that Sebastian only wanted to ask her opinion without an audience. Especially of their friends, who had so often heard Sebastian deny that dukes needed a matchmaker.

Well, the joke was on him now, in a far greater way than he’d realized.

He’d thought he’d needed a matchmaker, but he was beginning to feel as though he needed this specific matchmaker… as his match.

“Tiffany. Miss Hu. May I escort you on your walk?” Sebastian held out his arm.

“Oh, yes,” Tiffany said, smiling brilliantly, though her eyes held a warning for him to remember his promise. She slid her arm away from Miss Hu’s. “Gregory can escort me while you walk with Mei.”

Miss Hu frowned, first at Sebastian, then at Tiffany as his sister quickly took her own husband’s arm, leaving Miss Hu adrift.

“I thought there was something you wished to speak with me about.” There was a hint of accusation in her tone.

“I did; you were very helpful. Thank you.” Tiffany tugged on Gregory’s arm, and Sebastian came closer to Miss Hu. Close enough that she could not continue to ignore the offer of his arm without being rude.

Huffing, she took his arm and sent his sister a narrow-eyed glare. Tiffany had already turned away, pulling Gregory with her. He glanced over his shoulder at Sebastian, his expression changing as if he’d realized that something was not quite as it seemed. Sebastian had no doubt that by the next time he saw Gregory, his best friend would be fully informed of Tiffany and Sebastian’s earlier discussion.

“Your Grace,” Miss Hu said in a stilted tone.

“Miss Hu. Walk with me.” It was more of a demand than a request, and he felt her exasperation before she huffed again and began to move alongside him. “We did not finish our discussion last night.”

“Did we not?” There was warning in her words. A warning Sebastian had no intention of heeding.

“We did not,” he replied firmly, leading her deeper into the garden.

20

Mei

Mei should have gone up to bed when she had the chance.

Tiffany had tricked her. Which Mei had not expected. Surely, Tiffany and the Duke of Bolton could not have had a private conversation about Mei after supper… and yet, she highly suspected that was exactly what had happened. There was a part of her that wondered if she was thinking too much of herself, but she knew.

Deep down, she knew.

What she did not know was why.

Keeping as light a touch on the duke’s arm as possible, she was acutely aware of his presence beside her, tall and commanding. Authoritative. Part of her wanted to storm inside, just so she could prove to him that she was not going to be controlled, yet when he’d ordered her to walk with him, she’d found her feet moving.

Perhaps she could blame it on her curiosity.

“What more did you wish to speak of, Your Grace?” she asked, her skirts swishing against her legs. She swore she felt the brush of his leg against her skirt, too, causing the fabric to move in a slightly different manner than usual. Her breath hitched in her throat. “Have circumstances with any of the young ladies changed?”

“No, and that is the problem. Here, we can speak in here.” The duke led her into one of the many squares that were dotted throughout the bushes. This one was among particularly high bushes, obscuring the view and creating almost a small room out of the branches. There was a bench in the center of the square and two entrances in opposite corners, arranged in such a manner that they were difficult to see until one was right in front of them. “Let us sit.”

Sit on a small bench with him?

Yet the only other option was to stand.

Mei’s skin prickled as she released his arm, sitting down on one side of the bench. He crossed over to the other side and sat facing her, so her legs were on one side of the bench and his on the other. It was not a very large bench, and there was not nearly enough space between them.