Page 18 of Winning Her Duke

Still excited by her ride and her time with Hale, she set up her paints in the morning room since everyone had finished their breakfast and the light was still coming in brightly through the large windows.

She painted Godspell, running in the park. The light had moved to the other side of the house, but she didn’t bother to move. She was just putting on the finishing touches when the butler entered.

“A caller for you, Miss Gia.”

“Is it Ha—His Grace?” she asked, her voice tinged with hope.

“Yes. I took him to the drawing room and offered refreshments, so you have time to change.”

Gia looked down at the brown smock she wore for painting. Different colored speckles covered the front, but she didn’t have the patience to go through the ministrations Lydia and the maids put her through the day before.

“I’ll see him like this. He is a friend, not a suitor.”

“Very well,” Luther said with amusement. “If Lady Tomison takes issue, you’ll be sure to tell her I suggested you change.”

“Of course.” She laughed and hurried to the drawing room carrying her latest painting to share with her friend.

*

Hale settled in to wait for Gia, remembering how long he’d waited the day before. He wasn’t sure he should have come during visiting hours since he’d come the day before and had seen her in the park that morning, but he couldn’t stay away.

He didn’t have to wait very long at all. She rushed into the room wearing a hideous brown dress; her hair was pulled back in a braid as it had been that morning but like her dress there were splatters of paint here and there. Despite the state of her appearance, he’d never seen anyone more beautiful.

Perhaps it was the smile she graced him with when she entered as if he was the most important person in the world and she was as pleased to see him as he was to see her.

He held out his unconventional bouquet and watched her smile bloom into open laughter.

“A bouquet of carrots. How perfect for sharing with my friends in the stable.”

“I thought they might be better received than roses.”

“They are wonderful, and I don’t have to worry about putting them in a vase.” She took the carrots and put her nose to them like one would do to breathe in the scent of flowers. “Mmm… Lovely.”

She sat across from where he’d been sitting and fluffed out her ratty gown as if she were wearing silk. “I hope you don’t mind I didn’t change for your visit. It would have taken so long, and I haven’t the patience for all the primping now when I know I’ll be faced with it again later tonight for the Redmond Ball.”

“I don’t mind at all. I am beginning to see that you will be a constant surprise.”

She frowned slightly and he was quick to put her at ease.

“I rather like surprises,” he added. He’d never been friends with a woman before, especially not one so lovely as Gia; he should be careful not to forget she was female before he found himself inadvertently compromising her and ending up dangling from the parson’s noose.

But his inner warnings were forgotten when her eyes lit. He felt like a king to have not only noticed her distress but to have acted appropriately to remedy the situation. He thought he knew his way around women, but Gia was not like usual women of the ton.

She was so much better.

“I made something for you. It is not a bouquet of carrots, and you will need to take care until it has fully dried, but…” she held out her offering with a shy smile.

He looked down at the wavy page and the painting of his horse running.

“It is lovely. You’ve captured him beautifully. The power and…” He struggled to find the word. He should have known Gia would supply it as if she shared his very thoughts.

“Delight.”

“Aye. ’Tis that exactly.”

“For not having many facial expressions, you can certainly tell what a horse is thinking and feeling if you pay attention and listen.”

“Listen?”