Page 37 of Courting the Wrong Duke

The warmth in her voice was enough to loosen something unexpectedly tight inside Rosalind.

“Your Grace.”

“My dear, will you join us?”

Rosalind accepted the offered glass more for something to occupy her hands than from any real thirst.

“I hope you are finding the exhibition agreeable.”

“It is beautiful,” Rosalind answered honestly.

The dowager studied her for a moment, her experienced eyes seeing rather more than Rosalind wished them to. “You need not pretend with me.”

Rosalind looked down at the untouched lemonade. “I confess it has not been the easiest of evenings.”

“No,” the dowager said gently. “I imagine it has not.”

For a moment, neither woman spoke.

“I admired your father greatly,” the Dowager Duchess said at last. “He was an honorable gentleman. Steady. Dependable. Never one to seek unnecessary attention.”

Rosalind looked up.

“I find it impossible to believe he simply abandoned his family.”

The words caught Rosalind by surprise. “You truly think so?”

“I do.”

Hope stirred, fragile enough that she scarcely dared acknowledge it.

“But,” she continued, “belief alone is not enough to quiet society.”

Rosalind's shoulders sank slightly. “No.”

“Your mother is wise to concern herself with appearances.” Her voice remained kind, though practical. “Scandal has a habit of filling every silence with its own explanation. If respectable people do not continue to see you, they will begin deciding for themselves why.”

Rosalind thought of Sophronia.

Of the ladies at Madame Fournier's. Of every conversation that stopped when she entered a room.

“I know.”

“The cruelest rumors often flourish in absence.”

Rosalind managed a faint smile. “Then I suppose I ought to continue presenting myself for inspection.”

A flicker of amusement crossed the dowager's face. “I fear that is one way of describing it.”

Rosalind hesitated before speaking again. “I wished to thank you.”

“For what, my dear?”

“For restoring our invitation.”

The dowager waved the gratitude aside almost immediately. “It should never have been withdrawn.”

“Perhaps not.” Rosalind lowered her eyes briefly. “But everyone knows it was restored. I think... I think it has softened matters, if only a little.”