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“Different doesn’t begin to cover the half of it.” Anne sighed. “I miss my friend.”

“I have learned one thing to be true over the years. You can’t ever change the past, but you can always make new friends.” Letty’s eyes were warm and shining, and Anne felt a weight lift off her shoulders as she gazed into them.

“New friendships can be so very interesting,” she managed to say, her heart thumping in her chest.

But friendship was what she had once had with Hawthorne, and it hadn’t stopped him from leaving her as soon as it was convenient to him. She was afraid that she was starting to want something different with Letty. Something more…permanent.

Letty held her tight for a moment, then drew back. “This has been a lovely interlude, but I have a meeting with the furniture maker soon. I have to get back to work.”

She pulled on her chemise and stays and started to button her gown.

Anne cleared her throat and shifted in the bed. “I don’t think Mrs. MacInnes mentioned it to you yet, but now that you have beenspending so much time here, I arranged a workroom for you. It’s not grand, but it’s for your use as long as you like.”

Letty’s smile was unexpectedly shy. “You did that for me? That’s so thoughtful. I would love to have my own space for my materials. Thank you.”

“It’s the little sitting room near the front of the house, so I thought it would be convenient for your meetings with the vendors and suppliers. I noticed you storing some of your supplies in the servants’ quarters and thought it easier and more practical if you had your own space. I had the footmen move a desk and some shelving there already.”

Letty strode back to the bed and cupped her face in her hands. “You are wonderful for doing this. Thank you.” She kissed her, tender and sweet, and Anne felt like swooning beneath its spell, but all too soon Letty pulled away and left the room for her meeting.

Anne lay in the bed alone, lost in thought, after Letty left. She wished she could be sure that she meant more to Letty than the house did. That this was more than an easy opportunity to satisfy sexual desire.

If Letty felt friendship for her and nothing more, then maybe all she wanted was to complete the job as fast as she could so she could make her name for herself. And then move on.

Anne didn’t want her to move on.

These new intimacies were all very terrifying.

Oh, but they were alsothrilling.

Her heartbeat felt almost painful, full of impossible emotion.

How could she want a relationship with someone who couldn’t begin to understand the pressures and demands of the duchy? How could she yearn for permanence with someone who, outside of the walls of the estate, was as casual as Hawthorne about her romantic inclinations? Letty hid nothing of herself and had a blithe disregard for public opinion, and Anne admired that about her. But it wasn’t something she could afford to have for herself.

She couldn’t bear to watch the same thing play out as the last time she had felt so close to someone.

Last time, it had been hard enough to lose a friend.

This time, she couldn’t bear to lose her heart.

* * *

Letty laid the plans for the estate flat on the table and moved her reference books to the shelf in the little parlor that Anne had set aside for her. It was starting to look likehers, with a box of fabric swatches and trims beside the desk and color swatches fanned out on top of it.

She tried to ignore the sting of disappointment that she felt when she looked around the parlor. It was luxury indeed to have her own space. It was twice as large as her workshop beside Fraser’s at home, and it was thoughtful of Anne to think about what she needed.

Letty had been working in the same rooms as the workers as they removed sideboards and installed new chandeliers and painted the walls. It was how she was accustomed to working for the businessmen of Holborn. She felt it was important to keep an eye on the crew, to direct where it was needed, and to pitch in when someone needed a hand. She had always liked the camaraderie of it.

The quiet was nice, and it looked more professional to greet the vendors in her own parlor. It lent more prestige to her name. Not quite as if she had her own showroom and office, like Fraser had. But it helped associate her name with a little more polish. A little grandeur.

But although she was grateful, she couldn’t help but feel that Anne was pushing her into a corner of her life. Could she have made it any clearer that this was where Letty belonged? Not as a friend. Not as a lover. She wasn’t to be given any personal space. Only a space to work.

To be fair, she knew Anne had invited her to stay at the estate for a few weeks. But that offer had beenworse. She couldn’t bear to feel like a kept woman, set up in a little room for Her Grace’s pleasure. How was that any different from the townhouse that John had paid for?

She had been forced out of too many homes to be casual about where she laid her head these days.

A footman rapped on the door and told her that she had a visitor.

“It must be the carpet merchant again,” she said, brushing dust from her hands. “Could you please show him up here?”