Page 17

“Why are you wrinkling your nose? Do you not like your figure?”

“This is a silly conversation,” Daisy said. “As it happens, I do like my figure.”

“As do I.”

A wave of happiness washed over her. Miles had never given the impression that he considered her fat and unkempt. The evidence was to the contrary, her mind helpfully suggested. Leaning against him had confirmed it.

She turned her head up and smiled a thank you for his compliment. He had never looked at her with an expression like the one on his face now: amused, desirous, intimate—as far from the chilly lord of her experience as possible.

As if they were not only friends, but lovers.

“I used to make jokes,” Miles said, out of the blue.

Daisy blinked and tried to focus on that, rather than her shameless instincts. “What muzzled your sense of humor?”

“Managing investigations for the House of Lords. Most of the cases are dark. Depressing, to be frank.”

“Such as my uncle’s treason case?”

“You and Frederick made that case more pleasurable.”

“That’s surprising,” Daisy observed. “I thought you found me excruciatingly annoying.”

“No.”

“Are you certain? Because I am fairly certain that most everyone does.”

“What?” He sounded startled.

“Find me annoying.” The words rushed out of her mouth. “My cousin is the only person who can bear to be around me for long periods of time. My mother finds me irritating, my father told me once that he flees to the country merely to avoid my chatter, and my uncle loathed me.”

“Your uncle.” His voice was flat. “If I were you, I would not take his disapprobation as an insult.”

“He did threaten to throw my cousin overboard,” Daisy confessed.

“His own daughter?”

Daisy nodded. “He judged my laughter licentious, so I expect I would have had the same fate as poor Jeremy Tulip had I boarded his ship. Which I never would have done, since I abhorred him,” she added. “Our dislike was mutual.”

“I applaud your judgment. How did we move to such a sour topic?”

“It stemmed naturally from your deficient sense of humor,” Daisy said.

“You make me laugh,” Miles said.

In front of them, the lady’s husband caught her under her arms in an ungainly grasp and dragged her into the foyer.

Daisy let out a relieved sigh. “We can walk again.”

Miles shook his head. “Not quite yet.” He cleared his throat, easing away from her body. “I would prefer not to shock ladies less worldly than you.”

“Lord Devin.” She frowned up at him. “I trust that you are not drawing invidious conclusions about me based on this unfortunate accident.”

“I apologize for that implication.” Their eyes met; his were dark with an expression she found very easy to interpret. “You were to call me Miles,” he said, his voice dropping to an even lower register.

Daisy bit her lip, suddenly feeling shy. They talked so easily together, but most of the time she hadn’t been looking into his eyes, which were seemingly full of bottomless emotion. Now it felt as if the room fell away, along with her fear of scandal and her trepidation about her mother’s health. As if the world shrank to just the two of them.

Her breath caught in her throat because his direct look spoke to something deep and frightening within her. She had shrugged off Lord Devin’s derisive statements and scalding looks. She had teased him when he appeared horrified at the idea of wooing her.