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Leah wasn’t used to making herself the center of attention. She rarely spoke unless spoken to because that was what was expected of her. It was the ladylike thing to do. She recalled Lord Munro’s words from the night before. This was her turn to be the center of attention. All she had to do was take it.
“Your Grace?” she said, turning to the Duke.
“Yes, My Lady?” he asked, the duke’s eyes still on Selina.
“Did you stay out of the rain?” she asked.
“Yes, quite.” He was speaking absent-mindedly. She could have said anything. She could have told him that she’d run naked across the fields, and his answer would be the same. He was caught in Selina’s spell.
Leah bit her lip. The Duke glanced over at her and smiled. Perhaps she was imagining things.
* * *
Jasper could barely take his eyes off of Lady Selina. Her golden hair shone in the light from the candles. In her soft pink dress, she seemed out of place in Kirby Hall’s grand early-Baroque style dining room, with its massive dark wood dining table and its blood-red walls. It was as though she’d stepped out of a soft spring Rococo scene—like the maiden on the swing in Fragonard’s painting.
Not that he had to look away. She kept everyone entertained with stories over dinner. She was well-traveled, even for an aristocratic lady. Her parents had taken her to the continent, and often.
“What’s the farthest South you’ve been, My Lady?” Stephen asked her. Jasper noted that his friend was warming up to the lady.
“The very toe of the Italian boot,” she replied, taking a delicate sip of her wine, then setting the glass down on the table. “I stood on the sands of the beach and looked out upon the Mediterranean itself.”
“I’ve never been to Italy,” Jasper said.
“None of us have,” Reuben added jovially.
“You must go,” Lady Selina told him. “The food is unlike anything we eat here. Garlic and tomatoes and olives.” She beamed. “And the art! It’s all so vibrant. So alive.”
“Don’t tell me that you don’t like England, My Lady,” Stephen said good-naturedly.
“England is my home, My Lord,” Lady Selina stated firmly. “And I love her very much. But when comparing her to other places, she’s very calm and staid.”
“I tried to get your aunt to travel,” Lord Kirby said.
“Oh, but we’re so comfortable here,” Lady Kirby replied. They beamed at each other.
“That’s the whole point of traveling, though,” Lady Selina said excitedly, “is to not be comfortable.”
“You give your opinions very freely,” the Dowager Duchess said, smiling.
“Indeed, Your Grace,” Lady Selina said. “My father always told me that if my brother gets the family estate, then I should be the one to get the brains.”
Everyone laughed at that. Jasper found himself even more intrigued by her. She was intelligent, witty, confident. When he glanced at Lady Leah, she was sulking. He could see why she appeared to dislike Lady Selina—she commanded the center of attention.
He regretted, just a little, that he felt entranced by the very person that she seemed to dislike so much. He’d spent the entirety of the day, agonizing over what todo, for he knew that he must dosomething.
* * *
After dinner, the party retired into the parlor. Selina seated herself by the window, where she could watch the rain. It pelted against the glass, dripping down.
Footsteps approached, and she was surprised to find that Lord Munro, the Duke’s younger brother, was joining her.
“Lord Munro,” she greeted him. He looked so much like the Duke, yet there were subtle differences— Lord Munro’s face was wider. His nose crooked—as though it had been broken. He smiled at her, baring his long front teeth. “You did not ask me to dance last night. That was very bad of you, My Lord.”
“For that, I apologize, My Lady,” he replied good-naturedly. “I’m often told that I have two left feet when dancing, but I do have a very good singing voice.”
“Will you give me the pleasure of hearing you sing, then, My Lord?”
“Of course, My Lady.” He bowed gallantly.
