Page 57 of A Spinster to Heal the Duke
"This was the room my parents would stay in when we visited when I was a child," Anne admitted. "It is tended and cleaned as often as the others, but no one has stayed in here since. I would say it is the nicest room in the house, next to Grandfather's room."
Diana looked like she didn't know whether to offer a kind word or continue in her more judgmental tone.
Rather than doing either, she only repeated, "Well, it shall do. Thank you."
"Would you like me to send Peggy to assist you?" Anne asked.
"I will be fine for now, but she can assist me as I dress for dinner," Lady Diana instructed.
With a nod, Anne took her leave. Then, as quickly as Anne stepped out of the room, Lady Diana closed the door.
Anne walked quickly and quietly back down the stairs and to the parlor where she found her grandfather sitting and smoking his pipe outside his usual times while Charles was bending Noah's ear with questions about his sister.
"And she's your younger sister?" he asked.
"Twenty-three," Noah replied.
"Probably wouldn't turn her head at me, but she is lovely," Charles said wistfully.
"Thank you, but do not feel down. Her head rarely turns for anyone, and never yet for someone I would approve of. In a few years, you will likely meet someone you prefer much more, especially once you get to know Diana," the Duke replied without a laugh though Jeremy laughed heartily.
"I suppose I have just never seen anyone so elegant and poised," Charles observed. "She's so different from everyone I have met."
"Keep living. Meet a few more people from London," Noah replied.
When he realized Anne had reentered the room, Noah's attention was solely on her, and he crossed the room quickly to be at her side. He had to refrain from holding her hand or touching her cheek.
"I know my sister was ill-mannered toward you," he noted.
He looked concerned and prepared to be angry on Anne's behalf.
"She made a few more comments about the house but nothing terrible," Anne admitted. "I will be honest, I'm not fond of her, but you and I did not get along immediately."
"I was blinded with pain and frustration. Diana is being her usual, charming self," Noah said, sitting with his elbow resting on the arm of the couch as he rubbed his temple.
"I still say she's lovely," Charles replied. "Maybe we just aren't used to such grace and etiquette."
"Maybe you aren't used to a woman over sixteen from a large city, my boy," Jeremy teased, smiling and exhaling smoke from his pipe. "Perhaps our outing will relax her. She has been travelling and worried for you, Grandon. She is your sister, but she is also our guest."
Anne sat down between Noah and her grandfather.
"I had hoped she would leave when I told her I needed to stay longer," Noah confessed. "I hoped she would see me, know I was okay, and leave since I intend to stay for the banquet. Really, I hoped she wouldn't come or ask about me at all."
"Then at least she has the merit of being a sister who worries about her brother," Anne said, trying to find something good to say about the woman she had left upstairs.
"If she is here and choosing to stay, it has little to do with concern for me," Noah considered thoughtfully.
Then, he looked at Anne once more. She looked at him as well. They shared a disappointed smile and similar concerns of his sister affecting their budding romance, moments alone, and now, causing a hasty departure after the banquet.
CHAPTER 16
"Lady Diana should be downstairs soon. I will prepare the carriage, so we can leave as soon as she's ready," said Charles excitedly before rushing out of the house.
Anne looked at her grandfather, and he was sleeping. She turned her attention to the Duke, and he looked unhappy as ever.
"Noah, is there anything I can do for you? I promise not to be rude to the Lady or make any unnecessary remarks, but you seem terribly stressed by her arrival. Do you have such pressing business in London? Should you return home?"
"No, things there will be fine. I suppose I just know that how she arrived is how she is, and it has been nice having a break from that," he said.
