Page 69 of Ten Lords for the Holidays

Eurydice smiled. “If it’s true, the ring will have plenty of chances to do that here.”

“I thought it foolish, but Mary said ghosts were thrown into the sky on his arrival yesterday.” Daphne put on her shoes and considered her reflection in the mirror. “You made these curls very nicely,” she said, admiring her sister’s handwork.

“You did mine better.”

“But I enjoy it. You hate doing it, though you are improving.”

“I took especial care as doubtless you intend to talk to the duke again.”

To be sure, the duke offered a little less temptation on this day than he had at the tavern. Was it conceivable that such a man, however rich he might be, would be able to kiss her as the stranger in the night had done? Daphne had tingled in a most pleasurable way. Indeed, just thinking about that kiss—and the intensity of his blue eyes—made her flush all over again.

But then, the duke had blue eyes and an intense gaze as well.

How curious.

Daphne smiled because her sister was watching her. “And here I thought you were considering a post as a lady’s maid, sinceGrandmamanhas forbidden you to become a governess.”

They laughed together.

“And perhaps you don’t really wish to meet this particular duke again. Goodness, Daphne, but he reminds me of Falstaff.”

Daphne frowned as they left their chamber together. “In that playGrandmamantook us to see in London?”

Eurydice nodded. “Henry IV. Falstaff was so fat. I couldn’t believe that any man could be that large and still manage to walk, but your duke proves it can be so.”

“I can’t remember that actor’s name,” Daphne said, recalling another detail. “We scarce recognized him when we saw him in town.”

Eurydice laughed. “The power of disguise. Come along. I’m famished, probably because I didn’t have a scone in the middle of the night. Let us have something to eat before we walk to Bocka Morrow for church.”

Daphne slanted a glance at her sister. “You just want to tease me about the duke.”

“I just want to see you realize your mistake. I don’t think you will like him nearly as well on second acquaintance. He is a fool, Daphne, and not a man who will ever hold your heart.”

Daphne didn’t reply. She was thinking about the handsome stranger and wondering what she would say to him if they met again at breakfast. Her heart skipped at the prospect. Would he look as dashing in the daylight as at night? Would she recognize him?

And what was he doing, abroad in the middle of the night? She’d never asked and only wondered in the morning if his kiss had been a way to keep her from doing as much.

He might well be a scoundrel or a rake.

Then she thought of the duke, his fine legs and the intense glitter of his eyes. Could it be that he and the actor who had played Falstaff had a disguise in common?

Or had she become as whimsical as the maid Mary after her midnight adventure?

CHAPTER3

Alexander awakenedto find that a lush plant growing from his wine glass. Surely, his eyes deceived him. That small seed couldn’t have grown so much in a few hours!

He rubbed his eyes and rose to examine the plant, but it was no illusion. He could see its roots coiled inside the cup, and it had grown a vine of at least a foot long, one adorned with fleshy dark leaves. There was even a bud tucked beneath one leaf.

Rupert was suitably astonished by the sight of it, but Alexander didn’t explain. He didn’t think the truth would sound plausible.

He halfway didn’t believe it himself. Could Anthea have been right about the old tale and the vine’s habit of growing when the laird courted a wife?

If so, he knew which lady he would court. Miss Goodenham was the most captivating girl he’d met in years.

As he dressed, he considered that he scarcely knew her.

He recalled how he relied upon his instincts in all other matters and wondered whether to trust them in this one.

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