Page 23 of Corrupting his Duchess

But the pulse at the base of his throat beat faster.

Because Anna had just looked up.

Not at him, not yet, but her eyes were searching the lawn, as though some part of her hoped to be interrupted. Rescued. And for a brief, raw second, he wanted to be that.

He didn’t move. Isaac was still muttering something about Henry being distracted.

She didn’t belong beside Matthew. Not like that. Not as some pawn in one of his calculated alliances. She deserved more than whatever he offered.

She deserved someone who saw her.

Henry dragged his gaze away and forced his voice even. “I’ll consider it. But I’m not giving you an answer today.”

The sun was warm on her shoulders, filtered through the soft lace of her parasol, but Anna barely felt it. Plates of berries and slices of cake circled between hands, and conversation buzzed around Anna like bees to jam.

Anna sat cross-legged on a soft tartan blanket by the rose hedges, biting into a sugared strawberry and trying not to stare at Henry.

She was laughing—at least, she thought she was. Natalie had said something about Nathaniel’s dreadful poetry recital that morning, and everyone had burst into giggles. But Anna’s laugh was distracted, a beat too late.

She felt it again. That gaze. Her skin prickled, though there was no breeze. She didn’t have to look to know it was Henry.

She kept her eyes on Julia, who was now impersonating a fussy matron with dramatic flair, waving her teacup like a battle flag. Gretchen rolled her eyes fondly and muttered something about “devolving,” and even Sophia chuckled.

But Anna’s mind wandered. Her heart wouldn’t behave.

“Do you think we’ve lost her?” Julia asked, teasingly nudging Anna’s arm.

Anna blinked. “What?”

“Gone off into one of your daydreams,” Natalie chimed in, grinning. “If a poet wrote you a sonnet right now, I swear you wouldn’t hear it.”

Anna forced a smile. “I’m sorry. I was… thinking.”

“Of Lord Vaun?” Julia asked, waggling her brows. “He’s looking particularly eligible today.”

Anna opened her mouth, closed it. “No. I…”

She felt the gaze again. Daring herself, she glanced across the lawn.

There he was-Standing with Isaac, politely nodding to her cousin whose gesturing hands and persistent tone suggested yet another attempt to corner him on business. His hair was tousled by the wind, the sun glinting off his cufflink. But Henry wasn’t listening. Not really. His eyes were on her. A heat climbed up her neck.Oh no.

She reached for her lemonade, pretending to be terribly interested in its contents. If anyone noticed, they didn’t say.

But Anna felt it, the tension blooming in her chest, the echo of his voice in her memory. She turned, fast, willing the heat in her cheeks to cool. Matthew would not approve. Not that she cared.

She glanced across the lawn. Matthew was a few feet away, under the trees with Lord Templeton, perfectly at ease, perfectly unbothered. Anna’s stomach twisted. For all his arrogance, Matthew was her only serious suitor. Her only proper chance at security. This was her season. She didn’t have time to entertain...this, whatever this was.

“Did you see Mrs. Bradleigh’s new fashion bonnet?” Julia said suddenly, her tone scandalized. “It looked like a cornered peacock.”

“I thought itwasa peacock,” Natalie murmured, half-buried in her copy of Persuasion. “Maybe it wandered in and got stuck.”

“I think it tried to escape,” Gretchen added, lifting her cup with a smirk. “And failed.”

The group burst into giggles.

Nathaniel, within hearing distance, walked over and took a seat beside Julia. “Ladies, what did that poor bird ever do to you?”

“Exist,” Gretchen said sweetly. “Intrusively and obnoxiously.” She fixed Nathaniel with a pointed glance.