Page 35 of Romancing Daphne

James smiled at the teasing remark. He noticed Ben did as well. For a man who had been quite firmly set against Miss Lancaster, Ben had grown noticeably friendlier to her. Somehow the timid Miss Lancaster was making friends. His first conversation about her with Father as well as his earliest interactions with her had very nearly convinced him she needed to be guided through Society with kid gloves. He was pleased to be wrong.

He pulled Ben a bit away.“Will you sit with Mother a moment?”

Ben nodded his agreement but only after a backward glance in Miss Lancaster’s direction. Why did he have such a sudden interest in the young lady?

“What were you and Miss Lancaster speaking of?” James asked.

“Agriculture.”

Agriculture?“I thought you a better conversationalist than that. I no longer wonder at how very unattached you are.”

“Sheinitiated the discussion,” Ben said.“She asked how far distant my estate was, and when I told her I lived in northeastern Lancashire, she surmised that I likely raise sheep.”

A very insightful conclusion, to be sure.

“We were discussing the benefits of raising sheep for wool versus meat.”

“And does that not strike you as an odd topic of conversation with a young lady at a high-society soiree?”

Ben didn’t seem the least put off the topic.“She said her brother-in-law turned around his estate, which had been in a state of ruin for decades, in only six years, and his primary commodity is sheep.”

James could see the interest in his brother’s eyes. Ben had been attempting to turn a profit at his estate but had done so with very little direction and absolutely no experience. He felt his own heart thud a bit with hopeful anticipation.“And Miss Lancaster said her brother-in-law found success with sheep?”

Ben nodded, a distant expression on his face.“I wish I knew Mr. Windover. I would write and ask him precisely what he did.”

James did not know the gentleman either. How frustrating to be soclose to a means of assisting his brother and yet be entirely unable to doso.

“I will sit with Mother, as you requested,” Ben said, a warning in his tone.“You, brother, have a crisis to avert.” He motioned subtly with a nod of his head just over James’s shoulder.

James looked back and watched in growing alarm as his father approached the formidable Duke of Kielder. That would not end well. He moved as swiftly as decorum would allow, reaching the duke just as his father did.

“Well met, Kielder,” Father greeted quite as if they were old chums.

Several other guests turned, shocked. Worried expressions landed onthe two of them. His Grace eyed Father much as one would a smallchild wiping his sweets-stained hands all over one’s best pair of breeches.

James recognized the faux pax, even if Father didn’t. “You assume a great deal in your casual greeting, sir,” James said under his breath. He didn’t wish to publicly scold his sire but couldn’t help feeling the situation would only grow worse if he didn’t do something.

“Nonsense, my boy. Two evenings spent with our families in company with one another has made the two of us friends.”

Oh, good heavens.Several nearby guests were openly staring.

“I do not have friends,” the duke said calmly. “Those who believe otherwise are delusional.” He shot a glare at those eavesdropping on the uncomfortable encounter, sending every last one of them scurrying away, excepting James and his father.

“I understand,” Father said, giving the duke a conspiratorial look. “You wish to keep the connection between our families something of a secret until things are more settled. You needn’t worry on that account. I’ll not make anything public until the boy, here, comes up to scratch. And he will. I can promise you that, Your Grace.”

If it were possible to die of horrified embarrassment, James would have in that moment.

The duke’s gaze was captured by something a bit off to the side. “It seems I have an annoyance to deal with.” His eyes darted to Father. “Anotherone. You”—he skewered Father with a look—“stay here. And you”—his gaze moved to James—“walk with me.”

One did not ignore a dictate from the Dastardly Duke. One also did not annoy him with impunity. Once again James was left to protect his family from the stupidity of his father. He walked beside the duke, growing ever more unnerved as he watched the gathered attendees part at his approach with expressions bordering on terrified.

“I am sorry for my father’s presumptuousness,” he said. “He is—”

“I know full well what your father is.” Clearly the duke didn’t consider the acquaintance a pleasant one. “You are the one I am still attempting to sort out.”

James’s liver shouted out for help in that moment, the duke’s well-remembered promise about eating that vital organ still fresh in James’s mind.

A small cluster of guests didn’t move out of the duke’s path as quickly as the others. His Grace eyed them only a fraction of a moment, long enough for his message to be clear. They scurried away with the speed of birds on the wind.

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