Della winced at Nora’s question.

“I am not feeling as well as I could be, but I am feeling much better now that you are all visiting me,” he replied. “Do you like London? You’ve just arrived, haven’t you?” He addressed his question to the girls, since he already knew the answer.

“We came with my aunt Ida,” Nora said. “In a carriage, and it was crowded.”

Sarah smothered a laugh with her hand as Della met the duke’s gaze and offered him a wan smile. He grinned back, and she nodded to him in thanks.

“What do you like about London, Miss Emily?” the duke asked.

Emily looked instinctively at Nora, who was usually the one who answered questions. Nora nudged her in the shoulder.

“I like all the people who live with us,” Emily said in her soft voice. “Mama and Miss Della and Nora and Becky and all the other girls.”

“You live with an awful lot of people, then?” the duke replied.

“Mmm-hmm,” Emily murmured.

“I like ices and walking in the park,” Nora announced.

“Excellent things to like, Miss Nora,” the duke replied.

“Do you have a dog?” Nora asked.

Della was surprised at her daughter’s forbearance—it had taken her at least five minutes to ask the most pressing question in her mind.

“I do not,” the duke said. “But I believe there is a dog who lives in the stables, you could go see the horses and find him, if you want.”

Both girls were off the sofa before he finished speaking. Della got up also, but the door opened to reveal the butler holding a tray.

“Once you’ve set that down, can you take the ladies to the stables?”

The butler nodded as he placed the tea things on the table in front of the sofa.

“Come, ladies,” he said, sounding as though he were escorting the queen rather than two young girls.

“Can I serve, Your Grace?” Della asked.

The rest of the visit went well. Sarah and the duke discovered they had a mutual love of maths, so the duke brought out some of his accounting and the two of them pored over it as Della tried not to yawn. And stew about Griffith not showing up the night before.

When they went at last, the duke took pains to invite Sarah to visit again. Della was pleased that the duke was as thoughtful and kind as she’d suspected.

Griffith tensed in anticipation of seeing her. He had missed the party the night before, and he was expecting she would be angry.

She was glorious when she was angry.

He knocked at the door, which she flung open, a glare on her face.

“Where were you?”

He shrugged, knowing that would annoy her even more. “I was busy.”