Page 31 of The Duke of My Heart

It appeared that his desire to ‘break the rules’ only went sofar.

She gave him a pleading, desperate look which he returned. Iris could tell that Ewan wanted to communicate a million things with her through his eyes, but he couldn’t. It was an impossiblesituation.

“Ah, Ir... Daisy!” Daisy caught herself at the last moment as she saw that her friend was not alone. There was a strange electrical tension to the air, which she instantly put down to her silly faux pas, so she decided to talk at a million miles an hour in an attempt to cover up the mistake. “It is good to see you again, I require your... your help with something. May I have your attention for themoment?

Daisy glanced towards the very handsome man, suddenly feeling out of her depth. Should she introduce herself? Was it right for her to make herself known despite the fact that they were almost alone, or would another silly high-born rule dictate that was somehowwrong?

She had already made enough mistakes tonight. The last thing she wanted to do was add tothat.

“Thank you, Miss.” Ewan faced only Iris and he gave her a nod of the head. “I really appreciate you indicating the way out tome. “

"Y... yes," Iris panted and she curtsied. "Anytime."

As soon as he turned the corner, Daisy burst into near hysterical giggles. “Who was that?” she enquired without much thought. “He seems a bit of abore.”

“Oh... I do notknow.”

Daisy felt her shoulders hunching up. Iris appeared to be hiding something from her. Had that man said something to her to make her uncomfortable? Daisy wanted to charge after him, to demand answers, but she knew it would upsetIris.

Also, she had more important things to sort tonight. They had the very challenging conversation of what to do tomorrow to discuss. It should have been easy, the Duke should want nothing more to do with Iris Warwick, but Daisy had failed. She felt terrible for that, but she did not wish todwell.

If anything, Daisy was a very practical person, and she knew that the only way to resolve things was to take action. Now they just needed to decide what thatmeant.

“Your uncle is ending the evening now.” She smiled at Iris and linked her arm through hers. She needed to keep breezy and casual for now, to prevent Iris from falling apart in public. In private, she could resolve it, out here she had no hope. “Shall we go to my bedroom, there is much we need todiscuss.”

Mybedroom? Iris wanted to ask, but she didn't. She was far too stunned to disagree with such petty points tonight. Ewan had left a lasting impression on her. To be honest, all she wanted to do was be alone with the feelings, but of course, Daisy had apoint.

They really needed totalk.

“Yes, of course, we must go now.” Iris shook her head, trying to get her head away from Ewan and into the present moment – at least for the time being. “We do have a lot to talkabout.”

The only question was how did they get a solution that suited themboth?