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No, that is not possible! Not after what we just shared.
“Has he ever professed to love you?” Annie whispered breathily.
“No, but I love him, and it is only a matter of time before he declares it.” The Duchess seemed far too confident. It made Annie step back, forcing the Duchess to release her arm.
“Luke and I understand each other. We are like-minded in every way. We both have experience of this world, and we have the same humour.Thatis what he needs in the lady he is to marry. She must understand exactly who he is. Heed my warning, Miss Storey. That lady is not you. It is I.”
The Duchess of Bannerman stepped away before Annie could even summon words as a retort. Instead of uttering anything at all, Annie watched, open-mouthed, as the Duchess retreated across the room to the card table. Annie stared, aware that Peggy was looking back in her direction, her eyes wide in silent question, asking what on earth was happening.
Annie turned away from the cards and returned her focus to the table filled with carafes. She topped up her port glass and took a hearty swig, needing that hit of liquor to dislodge the sudden envy that was swimming within her.
The Duchess cannot change what has happened between us. I must remember that.
Yet there was a small voice inside of Annie that was beginning to question everything. She certainly cared for Luke, and he had declared to care for her, but the Duchess had stated how alike she was to Luke and how much she could understand him.
Do I understand him completely?
Annie thought of all the times she had seen Luke sat beside the Duchess at parties, how much they would laugh and smile together. It was plain they enjoyed each other’s company, very much.
What if the Duchess of Bannerman is right?
“Annie, is all well?” Peggy’s voice made Annie jump and spin round. Peggy had hastened toward her with worry in her expression. “You look startled. What could the Duchess of Bannerman have to say to you that has frightened you so?”
“I….” Annie struggled for words. She wished to tell Peggy everything. There had never been a time when she had not shared all her secrets with Peggy, but this was different. If she revealed to Peggy all that had happened, she would be confessing to an illicit act outside of marriage. She was not sure she was brave enough to admit to it, even to Peggy. “It does not matter. She can simply be rather unsettling at times, can she not?”
“Hmm, I know what you mean.” Peggy reached for Annie’s arm and began to draw her back across the room, whispering in her ear. “Mr Barton spoke of her this evening. He said he had no reason to believe her an honourable or even good-hearted woman.”
Could such a woman really be Luke’s future bride?
***
Luke couldn’t stand watching Annie dance with Mr Knight. It had been three days since he had last seen her at the dinner party, where they had indulged in each other’s arms. The mere sight of her at this assembly had his blood boiling with heat. Coupled with the envy he felt for Mr Knight, he could barely stand still.
“Be still, would you?” Adam cried at his side. “People are staring at the two of us.”
Luke couldn’t adhere to his friend’s wishes. They were standing at the far edge of the assembly rooms, with people frequently looking in their direction.
“They look because they are gossiping, not because I am fidgeting,” Luke said as he fidgeted once again, placing down his glass on a nearby table and fiddling with the cuffs of his tailcoat.
“Perhaps,” Adam accepted after a few seconds with a nod. “Is it me they whisper of, do you think? Or is it you?”
“I rather think it could be you tonight.” Luke turned his attention fully on Adam. “I have heard many people talking of how you are giving your attention completely to a certain young lady.” He gestured in the direction of where Miss Grove was dancing with another gentleman on the dance floor.
“It is not all the time,” Adam said quickly, hastily taking a drink from his glass.
“It near enough is.” Luke laughed and motioned toward Miss Grove again. “The moment she finishes that dance, tell me, who will ask her to dance next?”
Adam placed down his glass, too, and straightened his jacket a little.
“I will.”
“Ha! Confess now, old friend, what is passing between you and Miss Grove is hardly your usual flattery and charm, is it? Something tells me there is more to this.”
“Perhaps there is.” Adam was the one to fidget now, adjusting the cuffs of his jacket. “But I do not quite understand it yet, so talking of it hardly does any good. Let us talk of something else instead.”
“Of what?”
“Of you and Miss Storey,” Adam said with a sudden smile. “If I’m not much mistaken, you have barely taken your eyes off her since we arrived tonight.”
