Page 223 of Courting the Wrong Duke

“You may find yourself terribly outnumbered.”

“I expect I shall survive.”

“I make no promises.”

Gabriel smiled. “Neither would I expect you to.”

Isabella’s mouth twitched before she turned back to William. “I should return to Rosalind before she decides I have abandoned her.”

“Tell her I am waiting patiently.”

“I will tell her you are waiting.”

“That is not quite the same thing.”

“No,” Isabella agreed. “It is considerably more believable.”

She walked away before William could answer.

Gabriel watched her go with an expression William had begun to recognize. “I am going to marry that woman.”

William glanced at him. “If she lets you.”

“She will.”

“You sound very certain.”

“I am an optimist.”

“You are a fool.”

“The two are not mutually exclusive.”

William clapped him on the shoulder. “On that, we agree.”

Before Gabriel could answer, Nelly appeared and pressed a small sprig of greenery into William’s hand.

“For luck, Your Grace.”

William examined it. “Do I require luck?”

Nelly gave him a pointed look. “With Lady Rosalind?”

“An excellent point.”

He tucked the sprig carefully into his coat, and her expression softened.

“Mind my lady.”

The words brought back Edmund’s parting advice from earlier that morning.

Take care of one another.

“I will,” William promised. “Though I expect she will do a fair amount of minding me in return.”

Nelly snorted. “Someone ought to.”

William was still smiling when the first notes of music drifted through the room.