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“Your husband.” Beatrice’s eyes flicked to Danni with amused disdain. “Or should I say, wife? I’m not sure of the proper vocabulary under these circumstances.”

Eleanor tensed. “This is Danni—” she began, determined to make a proper introduction.

Beatrice didn’t let her finish. “Quite the change of taste, isn’t it? One might even say… desperate.”

Eleanor felt her jaw clench. She took a breath, searching for the proper, polite response that wouldn’t start a scene in front of all these people, but before she came up with anything, Danni spoke.

“Interesting,” Danni drawled, voice dripping with false innocence.

“Interesting?” Beatrice said, eyes alight with wicked amusement.

“Well, such a fascinating way to say, ‘Congratulations, Eleanor, I hope you’re happy.’ I wouldn’t have put it that way myself. You have quite the way with words, don’t you?”

Beatrice blinked, clearly taken aback.

Danni leaned in, lowering her voice just enough that only the three of them could hear. “Here’s the thing, Duchess. See, Eleanor’s got class. She’s got poise. Which means she’s far too well-bred to tell you what she really thinks of you. Luckily, I’m not well-bred at all. I think you’re an insufferable little woman who has so little to do she picks on others. A bully, if you will. And I think that if Eleanor had wanted to marry a pretentious snob, she’d have picked someone like you. But instead, she picked me. So what does that tell you?”

Beatrice opened her mouth, closed it again, then backed off, almost tripping over her dress as she did so.

Eleanor stared at Danni, utterly stunned. “Did you just…?”

Danni grinned. “Yep. Absolutely did.”

And to Eleanor’s horror, she felt herself start to grin back.

It wasn’t until the drive home that Eleanor really had timeto take in what Danni had done. It wasn’t so much the words, though they helped, it was more the springing to her defense that took her by surprise.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, Eleanor turning over Beatrice’s words, and Danni’s response, in her head.

And finally, she said, “Thank you. For earlier.”

She’d been expecting Danni to pretend not to know what she was talking about, to drag things out somehow, to want more praise. But she just waved a hand. “Eh, can’t have people talking to my wife like that, can I?”

Eleanor rolled her eyes. “It was still appreciated.”

“Just don’t expect it to happen too often,” Danni said, with a tired sigh. “I do have a reputation to maintain if I’m going to be your bit of rough.”

Eleanor shook her head, smiling despite herself. There was something about Danni being her ‘bit of rough’ that made her feel… better. Something about Danni being hers, however temporarily, that made things just a little nicer, warmer. They fell into a more comfortable silence, the hum of the road lulling them into a truce.

Then, just as they pulled into the bumpy drive, Danni gave another sigh. This time of relief. “Well, at least we don’t have to do that again anytime soon.”

“Not until Saturday, at least,” Eleanor said, slowing down and watching out for foxes.

Danni’s head snapped toward her. “What’s happening on Saturday?”

“Dinner with my grandmother,” Eleanor said airily.

Danni let out a strangled groan. “Oh, fantastic.”

Eleanor couldn’t help but laugh as she stepped out of the car. Danni took her elbow to steady her up the stairs, and then turned to unlock the front door. And Eleanor had a feeling that Saturday’s dinner was going to be very interesting indeed.

Chapter Eleven

If Danni ever had a day off, she wasn’t sure what she’d do with it. She’d literally never had a day of holiday in her adult life. She’d been to Blackpool once as a child with her aunt and uncle, but she’d woken up at five every morning anyway, primed and ready for work.

Farmers didn’t do days off. Even Sundays. So she was up at the normal time, out into the sweet summer sun, taking care of business and working up an appetite. After doing the most pressing chores, she headed back to the kitchen for some caffeine, and to her surprise, found Eleanor already sitting at the kitchen table. She was furrowing her eyebrows over a neatly written list of renovation supplies.

“You’re up early,” Danni said suspiciously as she filled the kettle.