“I think you only dislike that he makes you feel. If he were like the other gentlemen of the Ton, you would be safe, unthreatened. You could sleep snug in your lonely bed, knowing that he had no designs upon your person, and posed no risk to your heart.”
Her heart, that treacherous organ, gave a fierce beat in her chest as if in confirmation of Nora’s cruel words. “I’m not lonely,” she said defensively. “I like my life as it is. I do.”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t be so upset by the duke,” Nora chided. “You would simply rebuff him and move on. But you liked him, and that frightens you—perhaps because he could induce you not to rebuff him.” Nora nudged Jilly with her shoulder. “You’ve held yourself at a distance for so long. Don’t you think it’s time that you let yourself feel again? Let yourself love?”
“No.” The word was dragged out of her, wrenched from the part of her that was still raw and aching. It was colored with fear and pain, the keening cry of the woman she had once been, longing to retreat back into the shadows that she had been pulled from. “No—I can’t. I truly can’t, Nora.”
“You could, if you would only let yourself,” Nora said. “You deserve better, Jilly. You deserve more than to be standing at the edge of life, watching the world pass you by. I vow I’ve never seen a man look at any woman quite the way the duke looks at you. You could have him eating from the palm of your hand in a fortnight if you set your mind to it.”
“I don’t want him eating from my hand! I don’t want any part of him!” But the words sounded hollow even to her, and Nora’s light laugh stung with its gentle mockery. She scrubbed her gloved hands over her face, hoping to erase the traces of her anxiety. “I might be lonely,” she confessed in a low voice. “But that doesn’t mean I wish to encourage him.”
Nora shrugged, unconcerned. “There’s no reason you ought not enjoy his attention, either. I’m not saying you ought to marry him out of hand,” she said. “But there’s no harm in a bit of flirtation.”
“Nora!” Jilly said, shocked. “You cannot be suggesting such a thing!”
“I am an old married lady now; of course I could.” Her teasing smile held all the vivacity that had captured her a titled husband and held him in her thrall for the past two years. “You might surprise yourself and actually enjoy it. If a man that handsome—and a duke besides—wishes to pay court to you, my advice is to let him.”
“You are no help at all,” Jilly sniffled. “Some friend you turned out to be.”
“Dearest, I am your best friend,” Nora said. “And that means that I have earned the right to tell you when you are being foolish. And right now you are being foolish.”