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“You can’t possibly replace Vermeer with my work.”
“It’s my bedchamber. I’ll do as I please. Now I’ll think of you whenever I look up.”
Lily turned around and kissed his cheek. “You are sweet. How on earth did you get them framed so quickly?”
“We keep a carpenter on the estate. When I returned from our ride and found the watercolors, I summoned him and asked if he could frame them by this evening, and he assured me he could. And there they are.”
“But the Vermeer…”
“Don’t worry about the Vermeer, Lily. It will be well enjoyed.”
“Where are you going to put it?”
“I haven’t quite decided yet.” His eyes sparkled. “But you’ll be the first to know, I promise.” He touched her cheek and smoothed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I wanted to thank you for the paintings when I saw you at dinner, but you went into a tirade about the seating, and then it slipped my mind. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about that. You’ve thanked me more than enough by displaying them in such a touching way. But now that you mention it, what was going on with the seating?”
“I don’t know. As I said, I told Aunt Lucy to keep the seating the same as it was last night.”
“It’s that Amelia Gregory.” Lily seethed, her pulse jumping. “She wanted to sit next to Thomas so she changed her place card with Emma’s. But when did she do it?”
“I don’t know. Could we drop the subject now, Lily? I promise you it won’t happen again, and I really don’t want to talk about Lady Gregory and her—”
“I spoke to Emma,” Lily interrupted. “She said Ludley did brush her thigh more often than she thought necessary.”
“I’ll see that he leaves on the morrow.”
“No, you needn’t. She said she was fine, and she didn’t want him forced to leave. He is a lech, though.
“So you’ve told me.” Daniel placed his hands on her shoulders. “Lily, if he so much as comes within ten feet of you, I want you to tell me.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can handle Ludley. I’m rather good at it, as I’ve had lots of practice.”
“I’m serious. I want to know.”
“Of course. My, do I have another protector now? As if my father and Thomas aren’t enough.”
“Your father and Thomas haven’t been doing their job, if Ludley touched you when you were a child of fourteen.”
“Good Lord, Daniel, I never told them, and neither did Rose. It’s not something one talks about.”
“You told me.”
“Well, yes.” Lily fidgeting with her skirt. Why had she told him? “I-I wanted you to understand the position Emma was in. She’s an innocent girl.”
“So were you, especially at fourteen. I really would like to strangle that man.”
Lily smiled up at him, lacing her fingers through his gorgeous locks. “I can’t say I wouldn’t like to see him strangled myself. But I’m fine, really. He never got anywhere, I promise. No one ever touched me beneath my clothes…until you, that is. Besides, I don’t want to see one little bruise on your beautiful body.”
“I assure you, he would be the one bloodied and bruised.”
“I don’t doubt it.” She pushed his velvet topcoat over his shoulders until it fell to the ground and slid her hands over his muscled arms. “I wouldn’t want to be on your bad side.”
“You never could be, love. But he is. He’ll never get another invitation to Laurel Ridge as long as I’m the duke.”
“Hush, now.” Lily untied his cravat and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt. She leaned up to kiss his throat. “Forget about Ludley. Everything is fine. Now, are you going to tell me what that magnificent aroma on the table is?”
Daniel led her to the table, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap. Two small pots on the table were heated by candles underneath them. A platter of cubed bread and a platter of fresh fruit accompanied them, along with two glasses of red wine.
