Page 87 of A Mother for the Blind Duke’s Orphans

The friendly banter left Hector with no immediate defense.

Jasper sighed. “Very well. If not a ball, then perhaps some presents will do? Women enjoy those as well.”

Hector did not know what his wife liked, and that troubled him even further.

What do I truly know about Poppy?

“Your expertise overwhelms me.” He glared in his friend’s direction. “But I am afraid that you are making sense.”

Jasper mockingly bowed his head before him.

“It is always a pleasure correcting you. But jokes aside, you should gift her some jewels, perhaps. A necklace, earrings, or something excessive enough to make other women furious.”

“No.”

“A pony?”

“No.”

“A pianoforte plated in gold?”

Hector’s jaw ticked, but he stopped himself from cracking a smile because that would just encourage him more. “That is not a thing.”

“It could be if you were sufficiently devoted.” He pointed a finger at Hector.

Hector smiled, then lost it just as quickly as it appeared. “Poppy is not—” He searched for the right refusal. “She is not a woman who measures care by expense. She would sleep on the floor beside a frightened child without telling anyone the next morning that her back ached. She thanks people for practical kindness as if it is treasure, and she notices what is missing before she asks for what she wants.”

Jasper was quiet, and Hector realized too late how much he had revealed.

Then his friend asked, “What does your wife value?”

The question settled differently from the others. It did not prod at Hector’s feelings. It turned him toward her.

What did Poppy value?

The answer came at once.

“The girls,” he said.

“Good, and what else?”

“Music.”

He remembered the song and dance she performed for Princess. The memory made his lips twitch into a small smile. There were days when he even heard her singing lullabies through walls before he had meant to listen. Poppy’s voice was the sweetest, and it always soothed Princess, but most surprisingly, it always soothed him too. Her music had entered the house and changed the atmosphere.

“Surely she must like more than that?” Jasper continued to ask him, and Hector completely forgot that he was with his friend.

His thoughts needed to be controlled, or he would spiral. He steadied his pulse and suddenly realized what Poppy liked most.

Jasper noticed the change immediately. “There it is.”

Hector reached for his cane and rose.

“You have a plan already?” his friend asked, wide-eyed with astonishment.

“Yes, thank you.”

“You are most welcome, good sir. Is it romantic?”