Page 24 of A Chance to Dance with the Duke
Carver swallowed hard and nodded. He was only just getting used to these new sensations, but it wouldn’t do to question them now when he needed his friends to know how sincere he was.
“Carver, you know we’d always do anything for you,” Albright said. “But if Miss Taylor is pressured?—”
“I will make sure she is not.”
His friends exchanged a long look.
“Very well,” Kal said with a sigh. “We will do our part.”
Albright gave him a crooked smile. “Come tomorrow evening, everyone will know that Miss Taylor has caught the eye of the Duke of Carver?—”
“And that he’s made a blasted fool of himself trying to win her,” Kal finished. His gaze was mocking as he added under hisbreath, “That much will be simple enough to sell. After all, it’s the truth.”
Carver pretended not to hear. But it wasn’t as though he could deny it.
He wasn’t entirely sure at what point Miss Taylor had captured his heart—maybe it was that very first moment when their eyes had met and she’d gazed up at him in shock when he’d asked her to dance.
Or no…the moment when she’d looked so very brave when she’d salvaged her pride…
Whatever it was, as he walked out the door to pay a call at her home, he knew that Kal had spoken the truth.
The oh-so-charming Duke of Carver had lost his heart to a sweet, underestimated slip of a girl.
8
Everywhere Meg looked there were flowers.
Flowers on the mantel, flowers on the tables, flowers in the entry, flowers along the drive.
“Perhaps someone ought to tell that lovely Duke that flowers give you hay fever,” her mother mused.
Meg sniffled. But it was as much from an effort to hold back tears as it was from the flowers.
Even her father’s study was filled with the brightly colored bouquets. But they did nothing to cheer her as she faced her father’s censure.
“You will visit with that gentleman the next time he comes to call,” her father said.
His tone was one she knew well. She and Charlie called it theEarl voice.
He wasn’t the Earl yet—her grandfather was still clinging to life, God bless him. But when her father used this tone, it meant he would not budge.
She swallowed hard, and when she made no attempt to protest, she saw her father’s features soften ever so slightly. “This is a boon, child. You should be pleased.”
Her mother’s expression brightened at the change in his tone. “Oh yes. Just think of how many young ladies would be delighted to receive such attention from His Grace.”
Meg had to take a moment to breathe deeply before she trusted herself to speak. When she did, she tried her best to sound as mature and reasonable as she was able…with a runny nose and teary eyes. “I understand that. And I am…grateful.”
Oof.That word did not come out easily. But it seemed to appease her parents, so she continued in the same vein. “It is merely that I do not believe His Grace is bestowing this attention for the reason you might think. He’s merely…”
She trailed off as she tried to find the right word.
But honestly, she was flummoxed. Was it guilt? Or was this some new game he was playing? Was he even now trying to make sport of her?
Doubt flickered in her belly and she found herself unwillingly picturing the look in his eyes when he’d held her, the way he’d only seemed to be aware of her. Not the crowds, not the ramifications, just…her.
For a moment there, she’d been fooled into thinking they were alone and that he’d been…
Kind.
