She always responded the same way: “Rumors often are.”

It had been enough, even without his portrait on her desk.

The sound of a carriage stopping outside her office pricked her ears, but she didn’t look up. She had stopped looking up the day before. It made her feel too hopeful. Why was she hoping Lord Bryant would come by, anyway? He was certain to distract her from her work in more ways than one. The carriage was probably stopping at one of the nearby shops.

The jingle of the bell told her otherwise. Mrs. Oliver’s sharp intake of breath should have been all the hint Diana needed. She finished writing out the sentence she was working on before allowing herself to look up.

It was Lord Bryant. He stood leaning against the frame of the door, looking much too relaxed for a man whose name was currently being bandied about with two different women.

“Did you miss me?” he asked when her eyes met his.

His question, after days of missing him or, at the very least, looking for him, made her laugh. “No salutations? Just questions as soon as you walk in the door?”

His eyes fell to her lips. “What type of salutation would you like? Should I ask Miss Oliver to get more candles?” Lord Bryant was being flippant, which was not unusual for him, but there was a hard edge to his smile. One she didn’t trust.

“We don’t need candles,” Mrs. Oliver said. Perhaps she had come to her senses and would be a better office chaperone. That was more than half the reason Diana had hired her. Then Mrs. Oliver smiled in such a way that Diana felt certain her chaperone had not—in fact—come to her senses. “But we could use more coal.” Mrs. Oliver’s voice was bouncing and flighty. Diana stifled a groan. She had never heard anyone sound so happy about the prospect of buying coal.

“It is quite warm outside.” Diana waved a hand. “We don’t need coal.”

“Which is why we are nearly out of it. Winter will be here before you know it.” Mrs. Oliver stood. “I had better get some just in case. Then you can have a word with Miss Barton in private, Lord Bryant.”

“No.” Diana didn’t shout, but neither did she speak calmly. The last thing she needed was for her assistant to try to orchestrate a proposal every time Lord Bryant came into the office. “Lord Bryant will be visiting more often. And I would much rather you stayed. We would hate to start rumors.”

“We would?” Lord Bryant raised an eyebrow. She glared at him. Mrs. Oliver didn’t know Diana had begged Lord Bryant to do just that. And she would rather keep it that way. Lord Bryant’s mouth formed an exaggerated O, and he nodded solemnly. “Miss Barton is correct, of course. Rumors would be devastating to my stellar reputation.”

It was hard to maintain a businesslike demeanor with him in her office. They were playing far too many games. Even with that hard look in his eye, Lord Bryant couldn’t act in a serious manner. “Yes, Mrs. Oliver, please stay and protect Lord Bryant’s reputation for him.”