Page 68 of Daisy and the Duke
“You’re a baroness, first and foremost,” the magistrate said, clearly shaken at the results of the makeshift trial. “To think that woman tried such a thing!”
“Monstrous,” Lord Dallmire declared.
Daisy could see how the titled guests closed ranks around her, horrified by this transgression more than any other. If one person’s title could be successfully stolen, why, any of them could be at risk. The rightful baroness must be supported at all costs!
And the rightful baroness was Daisy.
She was still trying to understand everything, not least that when the other observers came up to her and addressed her asmy ladyandLady Rutherford, they were referring toher, Daisy, and no one else.
Then Poppy stepped up, and Daisy flung her arms about her old schoolmate. “Oh, Poppy,” she gasped. “It was you! You sent the dress!”
“And started quite the circus!” Poppy added. “I am glad it has ended well, but my goodness, you must have had a time.”
“You’ve no idea,” said Daisy. “But I shall tell you every last detail. How long are you here? Where are you staying? I’m at Lady Weatherby’s now, and I’m sure she’ll be glad to have you.”
But Poppy shook her head. “I have a room at Rampant House on the main street of Lyonton. Mr. Kemble arranged it all when he contacted me and asked me to come and give evidence for you. However, I’m afraid I must leave first thing tomorrow morning, for Rose needs me in London. She was glad for me to come, of course, but it is difficult for her without a full-time companion.”
“Oh, of course,” Daisy said, disappointed but understanding. “You’ll both have to come and visit me soon though.”
“As if I could keep Rose away, after she hears what occurred—”
Interrupting the girls’ talk, the duke raised his voice once more, commanding the attention of the room. “Attention, everyone! Thank you for coming, but I’m quite done with you now.”
The stunned guests filed out of the ballroom, whispering among themselves. Rumors would rage through the whole area by teatime.
Daisy slipped out of the room when Tristan turned away to speak to Kemble. She didn’t intend to leave—not exactly—but the thought of actually speaking to him as though nothing had happened was inconceivable. She remembered the very first time she saw him, his eyes studying her with such interest. She had felt so shy then, and she felt the same shyness returning. She needed a moment alone. So she left.
Or rather, she tried to leave. Daisy passed through the front doors and had got about twenty steps when she heard Tristan calling her name.
She turned. “I shouldn’t be here.” She didn’t mean to say that—she had no idea what to say—but that was what came out. She took a few more steps away from Lyondale.
Tristan was distraught at the words. “You can’t mean to run away,again.”
“No,” Daisy said, stopping. She looked everywhere but at him. “I don’t know what I mean to do.”
“Come back inside. It’s getting cold. And I need to talk to you. With you, I mean.”
“About what?”
“About everything.”
“No, we needn’t talk about anything, Tristan,” she said, thinking that he’d been through far too much today to discuss a topic as fraught as their relationship. “Please understand that I’m not upset at you. I know you are my true friend, no matter what happened.”
Tristan’s unhappy sigh clouded the air. “Friend? That’s how you think of me?”
Daisy looked down at the ground, her emotions fluttering nervously in her chest. “I…I’m not certain how to think of you.”
“How about as a suitor?” he asked. “I thought I made my interest fairly plain. Or have you forgotten our night already?”
“I have forgotten nothing,” she said, with a slow flush.
“Because I meant it.” Tristan took her hand. “Please come back inside.”
She let him hold her hand, but didn’t step back toward the house. “You never believed that I was a thief?”
He actually laughed. “Not for a moment. Your personality is defined by what you give, not what you take. It’s one of the reasons I love you.”
Daisy looked up, surprise taking her breath away for a second.
