Page 34 of A Temporary Bride for the Duke

“Papa and I catch fish and then cook them over the fire,” he said to Daisy, pointing at the fireplace.

“Is that so? You cook it all by yourselves?” Daisy prompted. Even though the Duke had mentioned this detail already, she did not wish to squash young Lord Harry’s felicity.

Harry nodded. “Well…Papa cooks. He doesn’t let me near the fire.”

“I wager you cannot wait to grow up and cook your own fish.”

Harry jumped up and down in excitement. “Yes. Papa said when I’m twelve, he’ll let me.”

Daisy looked up, meeting the Duke’s eyes. “You have a good father, Harry.”

“Oh, yes,” Lord Harry agreed readily. “Papa is the best.”

While the others chuckled at Harry’s pronouncement, the Duke leaned towards Daisy and lightly nudged her elbow with his own. “Did you hear that, my dear? I am thebest.” He fluttered his thick eyelashes at her. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

Daisy’s heart skipped a beat when she thought of how his touch had impacted her just a moment before, but then she recovered her senses and volleyed back, “It means I have found myself a wonderful partner…one who will surely help me to win Lady Archworth’s Games.”

Chapter Eight

Edmund didn’t know what he was thinking, suckling on Lady Daisy’s finger like that. He’d done it without thinking because it was what he would have done had the thorn pricked his own skin. But then again, he and Lady Daisy were not quite the same. For instance, she was far more sensitive.

He hadn’t missed her reaction to his touch.

She’s likely never been touched by a man before, and to have me do something like that while we were walking through the garden…

He didn’t know if he should apologize or not, and so he decided to distract her with conversation. Yet, there was still something about her demeanor that told him she remained shaken.

When they sat down at the gazebo, Harry took over her attention, and Edmund did not know if he was relieved ordisappointed. Winston sat next to him and leaned close to whisper in his ear. “You were saying something before about pretending, but I seem to have forgotten what you…”

Edmund turned to him. “Nothing has changed.” He aimed to keep his voice bland and devoid of emotion, but from the way Winston’s eyes glinted with mischief and merriment, Edmund knew that he was failing abysmally.

“Is that so? I saw you rescue her hand from that bad thorn. Did you really suckle her finger or did my eyes deceive me?”

“Have you nothing better to do than pay attention to us?”

“No, I actually do not have anything better to do.”

Edmund harrumphed in annoyance. Winston was enjoying all this a little too much.

“Lady Daisy, you should come by one early morning, and we can all go fishing, and then His Grace here can cook our fish for us. What do you say?” Winston made this offer to Lady Daisy as if this were his townhouse and he had the right to invite guests at any time of day.

Edmund narrowed his eyes at Winston, trying to get him to behave. His friend ignored him.

“I don’t know if that would be appropriate,” Lady Daisy said uncertainly.

“Oh, it would be fine.” His aunt chimed in. “And what a lovely idea, Winston! Harry, what do you think?”

“Yes! Let’s!” he said.

Lady Daisy giggled, then shook her head, flicking shy glances at Edmund. “We’ll see,” she murmured.

Edmund said nothing, just got to his feet. “It’s time for your session with Mr. Oswalt, Harry. We should go back.”

The rest of the group stood slowly, and they walked back to the house. All the while, Winston kept nudging Edmund closer to Lady Daisy.

Edmund ground his teeth, cursing inwardly how juvenile Winston could be. As soon as they arrived back at the house, Lady Daisy turned to face him.

“Well, my father and I should take our leave. It has been a lovely afternoon. Thank you for inviting us.”