The Wallflower Duchess. Liz Tyner
would devastate my sister.’ She sighed. ‘She notes every little detail about him.’
‘Fox encourages such nonsense.’
Her brows rose and her chin tilted down, and her lips turned up the merest amount. ‘I asked her about you.’ Again she watched for the divot or a clue to show inside the immovable stone.
He leaned his head forward, but she sensed only a mild curiosity about her sister’s opinions. In fact, Lily felt he studied her report of her sister’s talk to judge her view of it, not to form an opinion of Abigail. ‘She thought you have nice teeth, too, but she wasn’t certain.’
Brows flicked the words away. ‘Nice enough.’
She could sense he found the moment humorous, but she couldn’t see a smile.
‘And I asked her about your hair since she noticed Foxworthy’s hair turns up in darling little curls when it gets wet.’ The words tumbled over each other. ‘She said she once saw him come in from the rain.’
‘So he comes in from the rain. That shows he is more intelligent than I thought.’
‘You can’t let him near my sister.’
‘They would make a good match.’
This time she heard decision. She gasped. ‘No.’
‘I believe Foxworthy is ready to settle in to marriage. Your sister could keep his attention.’
‘No one is that enchanting.’
‘Marriage will settle him.’
‘You’re willing to ruin my sister’s future.’ She wanted her words to jar him, yet he didn’t move.
‘Underneath it all, Fox is a good sort.’
Edge would just dig those boot heels tighter into the ground if she kept mentioning his cousin’s flaws. But she couldn’t stop. ‘I don’t believe that. Underneath his heart, lungs and liver, there’s a part lower down that is not virtuous. He’s a scoundrel. But I suppose if you are talking about his knees and his toes, he has quite an amount of quality. Those are not the parts which cause trouble.’ She grimaced. ‘I must correct myself. They are the parts which lead him to trouble as he dances from one woman to the next.’
‘He is maturing.’
‘And in twenty years he’ll surely make some woman the best of husbands. But I’m worried about tomorrow. Before she left to visit my aunt, Abigail said Father has asked you and Fox to our house to discuss an investment. It is a thinly disguised attempt at matchmaking.’
His eyes widened. ‘I am so shocked.’
‘Sarcasm? Your Grace?’
‘I sent my man of affairs over to ask your father if he knew of any business ventures Fox or I might invest in. A simple query.’
‘Oh, my.’ She put a hand to her cheek. ‘You cannot get his hopes up like that. To have a duke and the son of an earl at his home to discuss business.’
‘He is very knowledgeable about investments.’
‘Yes. And he will be considering a very long-term one for his daughters.’
‘What is so wrong with that?’
‘It’s Abigail I’m concerned about. She’s the one interested in marriage.’ She levelled a gaze at him. ‘And Foxworthy is interested in an entirely different arrangement.’
His face became bland again. He stepped aside, putting a foot on the bench, adding more distance between them, yet not. He leaned her way, one arm on his propped leg and his fingers clasped. Almost subservient. Except, not. A lion taking a step away, yawning, pretending not to see the prey, letting it get closer and closer. ‘So tell me. What exactly would it take for you to risk a long-term investment?’
‘I don’t have to take any risks and see no need to. I am able to live my life as I wish, without upheaval.’
‘A life without upheaval might not suit you for ever.’
‘Then I will worry about it when that time arrives.’
‘I have arrived at that time in my life. As I won’t live for ever, I’ve decided I might wish to marry some day.’
‘You only have to say you’re a duke.’ She increased the distance between them and could tell by the barest flick of his head that he noticed.
‘Not worked so far.’ His voice fell, fading into nothingness. A low rumble.
She didn’t move closer.
‘Describe a suitor’s best qualities. Knowing them might help me impress someone.’
She caught the emphasis he put on the word someone and the subtle lightness that appeared in his eyes as he looked at her, and her heart beat bird-like. She clasped her skirt in her hand, clenching her fingers on the cloth. ‘It would not do you any good to be putting on a pretence while courting a future wife.’ She pushed forward, moving close, her body directly aligned with his face. ‘You must be true to who you are.’
‘I agree.’ His words affirmed in a way that said no one should doubt it. ‘Tell me about what it would take for a man to interest you as a husband.’
‘I have never given it thought because the nature of marriage seems false to me. I have no pressing need to carry on the lineage as you do.’
‘It’s a shame because you would make a good mother. You watched over your sister so closely.’
‘I had no choice.’
‘No one would have faulted you for not.’
‘But she is my sister and I could do it. I would have faulted myself. And now I fear I can’t keep her from that rake Foxworthy and he will break her heart or ruin her.’
‘You cannot manage someone’s life for them. And they may be good for each other.’
‘Will you help keep Foxworthy away from Abigail?’ she asked.
‘No. It’s their lives.’
‘But she’s my sister and I don’t want her being—’ Miserable. Miserable like their mother had been. Separated from her husband and society. Locked in an unhappy marriage.
‘Let the romance finish on its own. You can’t keep them apart.’
‘I thought you would help me.’
‘I am. Let it be and Fox will tire of her soon, and if he doesn’t then it may be a good match.’ He took his foot from the bench.
Edge no longer stood in front of her. His Grace watched her. But it was the Duke she wanted to question. ‘Why did you notice me?’
He moved his palm only slightly, indicating her house. ‘You live—’
‘So does Abigail.’
‘So she does.’
She tried to pull every memory of him to the forefront of her mind. ‘Do you remember shouting at me?’
‘I did not shout.’
‘You told me you had to study and for me to play in my garden. Not yours.’
‘I had to be top in my studies. I couldn’t grasp the Greek language. It was hard to concentrate with you asking me what each word I said meant.’
‘I had to go back to my mother’s house that day and my grandmother had been telling me that Mother didn’t love us or she would have stayed at the estate. It was a very bad day.’ Lily had been almost ten when her mother moved into a nearby house. But the separation was as failed as the marriage in many ways. Her parents hadn’t truly been able to stay away from each other until Lily’s late teens when they’d had one quiet argument—a courteous one—and something had turned bleak