Page 28 of Anything But a Duke
The Honorable Miss Diana Ashby.
He ran his finger over letters as elegantly shaped as the lady herself. Then he tore the envelope open and unfolded her note.
Mr. Iverson,
I know you regret our collision at the Lyon’s Den and the resulting damage to my model. Rather than bill you for the cost of materials, I will allow you to rectify the matter by visiting my workshop so that I may show you a working model of my design.
Sincerely,
D. Ashby
33 Cadogan Square
Chapter Nine
“Is it supposed to look... like that?” Grace Grinstead pointed at the various pieces of Diana’s scale model that were laid out on a table in her workshop.
“No, it most decidedly is not.” Diana handed her friend a smock to cover the delicate lace and fine satin of the striped day dress she wore. “Put one of these on. This space can get rather messy.”
“Get? I’m afraid messy has been achieved.” Grace smiled, slid her arms into the plain cotton garment, and secured it with a loose knot around her waist. “I recall that you were prone to messiness at Bexley too.”
“I was not.” Diana pointed at the poor broken parts of her pneumatic device. “For goodness’ sakes, my greatest invention is a machine intended to make cleaning easier.”
“Shall we start with this conservatory?” Grace lifted a rag from the workbench with two fingers, inspected a few of its stains, and then cast the oily fabric away. “I know you don’t employ many staff, but surely one of the maids could tidy for you.”
Diana sat on one of the wooden stools she’d placed out for each of them and smiled at her former boarding school roommate. “What’s become of you, Grace? I remember how you used to love to ride horseback in the rain and dig your hands in the dirt during lessons in the garden. Being filthy never bothered you before.”
Her friend let out a dismissive huff. “We haven’t been at Bexley in years, Diana.” She reached out to pick up one of the broken pieces of the model and spun it nervously in her fingers. “I’ve changed since then. My goals. My activities. My family has high expectations.”
“Marriage?”
“Yes, of course.” That she had even asked seemed to surprise Grace. “But not just any match. They wish for a fortuitous one. Mama admonishes us never to speak of finances, but the truth is ours are grim.”
“I understand.” Diana never spoke of her family’s struggles with money either, but she suspected Grace’s father, Viscount Holcomb, would be horrified to know it had been a topic of conversation.
“Do you?” Grace took in the cluttered corner of the back-garden conservatory that Diana had transformed into her workshop and smiled. “It seems that you’re well occupied in pursuits beyond husband hunting.”
“For now, yes.” Diana took two pieces of broken metal cylinder into her hands. “My mother is losing patience.”
“My father is the same.” Grace moved closer and settled onto the stool beside Diana. “But I’m impatient too. Do you not wish to leave home? To have a household of your own to manage?”
“I can’t say that I do.” Diana craved independence, but would marriage bring that? “I appreciate having a space of my own.”
Her mother did allow her more autonomy than she sometimes appreciated. Not all unmarried young ladies would get away with commandeering the family conservatory.
“What about the rest?” Grace ran her finger around a whorl in the polished wooden tabletop. “There’s more than independence from one’s family to make a young woman wish to marry.”
“There must be.” Diana glanced to her left and indicated a list that had been distributed to all the young ladies of Bexley, including the name of each student in their graduating class. She’d placed a checkmark next to the name of each friend whose marriage had been announced since they’d departed school four years ago.
“Goodness, are there truly so few of us who’ve not yet found a match?” Grace sounded bereft. “Now I feel like even more of a spinster.”
She and Diana exchanged a glance and chuckled.
“What I meant was love.”
“Ah.” Diana sighed and reached for a small hammer to alter the shape of her cylinder.
“Don’t tell me you don’t believe in love.” Grace leaned so far into the table, she shifted a few pieces of Diana’s model.
