Page 93 of His Duchess of Scandal
“I do not think I will be a lion today,” he told her. “You have displayed the Branmere prowess more than enough for all of us. Come on, I believe there are goats somewhere in a farm enclosure.”
“Farm?” Phoebe perked up again. “Withchickens, too!”
“Yes, yes, with chickens.” Charles laughed, extending his hand towards her.
Phoebe didn’t take it. Instead, she tore off down the path, squealing about goats and chickens, leaving him and Hermia to hurry after her.
Hermia bit her lip, wanting to tell him that he was doing well, but she had the sense that he already knew it.
He had already recognized his past mistakes and was making up for them.
Gunter’s Tea Shop was a place Hermia had passed by many times, but she had not been to it since her mother took her and Isabella there during Isabella’s debut.
Although it was a tea shop, it was also a common place for suitors to walk by, peering in through the window to see which eligible lady might be enjoying a sweet treat within. It was precisely why Hermia had been taken there during her debut, and then Isabella.
But today, Charles had arranged their visit, it seemed, for as soon as they entered the shop, they were shown to a table near the back. Private, comfortable, away from the window and thus prying eyes. Away from curious eyes at the front of the tea shop, too.
A menu was placed before them, and Phoebe’s eyes went wide.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Ices,” Charles told her simply.
Phoebe’s face scrunched up.
Hermia rolled her eyes. “It is flavored ice,” she explained. “Not like ice in the winter, or even the cube we often put in lemonade. It is soft, and you can pick any flavor you want.”
“Will it not hurt my teeth?” Phoebe frowned.
“It is certainly cold enough to, but the flavor very much makes it worth it.”
“Is that true, Papa? Have you had ices before?”
“I have,” he said.
“With Mama?”
“No,” he answered slowly. “With my mother.”
Hermia detected something in his voice—something quite soft but pained. A tightness. She wondered if that was why he had brought Phoebe here. A way of recreating a memory that may have turned sour with time.
Charles met her gaze for a brief moment, offering a tight smile, before he pointedly looked down at the menu.
“I will have lemon,” he announced barely a second later.
“You must look properly.” Hermia laughed. “Lemon is good, but?—”
“But nothing.” He smirked at her. “You have turned my world upside down enough, Hermia. Let me have my simple pleasures.”
The look in his eyes said enough: she was not a simple pleasure. As a matter of fact, she was perhaps his most complicated,deeppleasure.
Hermia flushed, suddenly finding the menu very interesting. “I shall have the rosewater ice, then. If Charles wishes to be simple, I shall go for adventurous.”
“And I will go for all of them!” Phoebe stated with the utmost confidence, drawing some looks from the nearby tables.
“You will pick one,” Charles said lightly, his smile never wavering.
Hermia had grown more used to it, yet it never failed to make her heart speed up, pounding faster and harder such that she had to avert her gaze once more.
