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“Do not oversell it,” he chuckled.

She scoffed. “Your daughter is a wonder. Truly. She is smart, capable,fun,”she said with emphasis. “But she is also kind and caring and empathetic…” Her mind drifted slightly, a smile working up her face as she thought of the young girl. “She knows what is expected of her and does not begrudge it; if anything, she feels guilty more often than she should.”

He frowned at that. “Guilty? What for?”

She grimaced. “I should not have said anything.”

“Please…” He reached for her but hesitated. “It might seem that I am somewhat harsh with Isabella, but I only ever want what is best for her. For her entire life, that is all…” He cleared his throat. “She is everything to me.”

“I know she is,” Caroline said, knowing it to be true. She met His Grace’s eyes and saw the need behind them and the worry. “She lives to please you is what I meant. And when she thinks that she has failed in doing so, it breaks her.” He winced. “You say that your entire life is for her; well, I think she feels the same way about her life and you. She loves you,” Caroline made sure to emphasize, “but love like that is never an easy thing to live with. Especially when it is not known whether or not it is returned.”

His Grace could not have looked more upset by her words. Truly, she could see the pain behind his eyes, and she thought to hurriedly explain that Isabella was aware of his love for her and that he should not take this as some sort of slight. The fact that she felt the need to placate the Duke! A most shocking revelation.

“I will remember that,” he said finally, smiling to himself. “And Miss Dowding…” He hesitated, seemingly nervous. “… thank you.”

“For?”

“For one, being honest with me,” he chuckled. “You might be surprised to learn that it is a rare thing.”

“Not at all,” she laughed. “I do not know if you are aware of this, but you are somewhat intimidating. It is just lucky that I am not so easily intimidated.”

“I have noticed,” he smirked. “When you first agreed to be my daughter’s governess?—”

“Forced, you mean?” she winked.

He scoffed. “I sense that forcing you to do anything you did not really want to do would be an impossibility.” He raised an eyebrow at her, and she could not stop herself from grinning. “The point I am trying to make is that I was against the idea. But now…” He shrugged as he took a final sip of wine, finishing theglass. “Well, I cannot help but think it might have been one of my better decisions.”

“I think you have your daughter to thank for that,” she pointed out, taking a final sip of her own wine, also draining it.

“I will make sure to thank her,” he agreed.

A silence fell between them, but it was not at all awkward. Tense, perhaps, but for reasons that they both seemed to understand. His Grace stood over her, looking down to meet her eyes as a smile grew behind them. And she matched his stare, smiling the same as she came to accept that all she had felt for His Grace up until this point had nothing to do with hate or dislike. Not even a little bit.

And for a moment, they seemed happy to watch one another, as if both coming to the same realization at the exact same time. His eyes flicked down her body. She did not shy away. They were not alone in the garden, but for a moment there, it felt as if they were… more than that, it felt as if they both wished that they were.

“Say…” His Grace began slowly, as if worried he might overstep, “would you care for a dance?” He indicated across the garden to the dance floor positioned in front of the orchestra.

She frowned. “I did not take you for a dancer?”

He shrugged. “I am a duke, remember? I have little choice in the matter.”

She hesitated, even if she wished to accept. Flirting was one thing, but a dance? In front of all these people? Speaking with His Grace like this had been dangerous. But dancing with him was positively irresponsible.

“My daughter is here, yes?” he asked suddenly.

She leaned back. “Yes, she is playing with some girls her age—appropriately,” she made sure to add with a grin. “Funny that most girls Isabella’s age do not like to climb trees as she does.”

He chuckled. “My meaning is, as her governess, teaching her to dance is one of the many lessons that she is to partake in. No?”

Caroline tilted her head and pushed her lips together. “I believe you are right in that.”

“So, it would behoove us both to show her how, do you not think? For the sake of her education…” He held out his hand for her to take.

Caroline eyed the hand, knowing that once she accepted it, she could not be held responsible for what happened next. A dance was one thing, but it spoke too so much more. And while her instincts told her to deny him as was smart… the wine she had drunk dulled her instincts just enough that she was able to ignore them.

“Well, if it is for her education…” She took his hand, a pulse running through her body at his touch. And as he led her across the party, as she felt the eyes watch them walk together, her heart fluttered, and her body flushed bright pink.

This was dangerous, she knew. But she also knew that she did not care.