Page 57 of Plucked By the Orc

“How kind.” Iris managed a tight smile and took another sip of the black tea Mrs. Thompson had procured from Twinings. She’d developed a taste for it with just a splash of milk.

But at the moment, she might as well have been drinking rainwater for all she cared.

She hadn’t really wanted Felton Maberly to come inside, but Clemons wasn’t about to turn him back out on the street, especially as the rain had picked up such that she could hear it slamming into the sides of the house.

“Kind and the truth.”

Iris didn’t doubt that Felton was telling her what he believed was true. That wasn’t her concern at all.

“I appreciate it—your compliments.” Iris felt awkward, even if she was using the same accent and tone that Duncan Higgins had drilled into her over the past ten days. Iris straightened her spine so anyone would have thought she was suffering on the rack.

Tomorrow, she would appear at Lady Bellingham’s rout as “Countess Jessup,” and there was nothing left to do but practice as best she could.

We are assured of success, Miss Gabbert, so long as you mind your “h’s” and offer your hand for kissing as though it were a precious heirloom to be revered. Such is the way of human society. Believe you are a countess, and a countess you shall be.

Duncan. She mustn’t dwell on thoughts of him. It wasn’t appropriate to think about Duncan when Mr. Maberly was here. It wasn’t fair to him. More so, it wasn’t fair to her.

A match between herself and Felton Maberly would improve her situation tremendously. Lottie would be happy for her. But Iris would never marry someone for any reason other than love.

Of course, as she had discovered, life was more complicated than anyone imagined. Maybe it was a human concern toovercomplicatethings, as Duncan would have insisted.And Duncan had canceled their lessons for the morning. She might as well spend time with Felton Maberly.

Even so, she didn’t care for Mr. Maberly’s attention and needed to discourage it. The kindest way to handle the situationwould be to scare him off rather than saying something polite but ultimately cruel.

When they first met in Duncan’s mother’s parlor, he hadn’t seemed particularly offended by her story about Lottie Greenstreet. Nor had he embraced it. And Lottie wouldn’t give a jot if Iris embellished a tale or two. Later, they’d have a laugh about it.

“You might want to hear more. About my acquaintances. From Drury Lane,” Iris said, reaching for the sterling silver creamer and adding more milk to her tea. “Have you ever heard. Of haggling. Master Maberly? It is an uncommon way to get a good price for one’s wares.”

His smooth brow creased. “Surely you’ve no need to sell wares, as you put it, Lady Iris.”

“No need. Perhaps,” she said. “But. I do enjoy watching it. Let me tell you about the time I saw a young woman exchange a half-dozen daisies. For a hat, it was.”

After a visit with his jeweler, Duncan waited outside the parlor. He had not been present to break his fast with Iris. Instead, he had instructed Mrs. Thompson to let Iris know he would need to cancel their lessons for the morning.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to walk into the parlor, where the housekeeper had indicated Iris was waiting, and face her.

Under ordinary circumstances, Duncan would never have proposed to a woman in such a short space of time. And certainly not after such a row as he and Iris had. But the more Duncan considered the matter, the more he came to realize that his situation with Iris Gabbert was anything but ordinary. She wasnotLady Margaret Hathaway, and if he didn’t use everymethod at his disposal to try to re-establish their connection, he would rue that fact for the rest of his life.

Humans set a store by marriage. And he could think of no other way to assure her that his feelings for her, Iris Gabbert flower seller and Iris Gabbert lady, were genuine.

So Duncan had dropped the ring, nestled inside a velvet-lined box from the jeweler, into the front pocket of his trousers. Humans preferred to keep such matters a secret until the moment the gentleman bent his knee before the lady. She would likely notice the bulge and might even have the wits about her to say something cheeky, but it would have to do. Duncan would bend his knee and needn’t prolong the agony of waiting for her response any longer than required.

But just as Duncan was about to announce his entrance with a loud knock, he heard laughter from the other side of the door. And then a voice that stopped him in his tracks.

“Oh, I say. That is frightfully amusing, Lady Iris. If you tell any more tales of your friends from Drury Lane, I believe I shall perish from mirth.”

“It is a place. I intend to frequent. More often.” Iris’s voice. He pictured her stopping to catch her breath. “If you. Enjoy a laugh. It is. The place to be.”

“Well, if your friend Lottie Greenstreet is half as charming as you, I should rather like to make her acquaintance,” the dotty boy responded. “But if I may be so bold as to say so, my lady, I do hope you aren’t trying to pawn me off on Miss Greenstreet. I am sure she is amiable, but I want to spend as much time with you as possible. If you will have me.”

If you will have me.The very words Duncan planned to utter in not five minutes’ time.

His vision blurred, and he saw Lady Margaret Hathaway, with her elegant curls and perfect face, twisting her lips into a smile and looking down her thin nose at him as he knelt before her.She was trying to maintain a grave expression, as though it truly pained her to deny him, but that didn’t last. Instead, she laughed.

“Why, you do make a right frightful sight from this angle, duke. I apologize only I had not seen the top of your horns before and how oddly they curl. It makes me feel more like a woman of science than a lady faced with a proposal of marriage. So you can see why this would never work between us.”

That image faded, and once again, his parlor door stood before him. Felton Maberly was on the other side, sounding as though he was about to propose to the woman Duncan loved. But what else could he expect? Human men may not have been physically intimate before marriage, at least not with a woman they wished to marry. Still, they certainly went about it fast enough once they determined they wanted that intimacy.

Felton Maberly had wasted no time. And Duncan, in his foolishness, had opened the door for him.

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