Page 33 of The Perfect Rose

Miss Haybury’s turn took far too long and included far too many expressions of, “Oh my! I don’t know at all where I am!” Samuel caught Frederick’s gaze just before he stepped into her outstretched hands like a martyr. She guessed incorrectly that he was Mr. Quentin Redford and had to go again. Her next turn was much shorter. Miriam stepped up to her almost immediately and stammered, “Frederick, don’t push me.” So as to give herself away so thoroughly that Miss Haybury could not possibly get the guess incorrect. Although Frederick was standing next to her at the time, he hadn’t pushed his sister, although saying so was a good idea. She must have been as thoroughly annoyed by the lady’s performance as he was.

Miriam asked Lady Rose to do her blindfold, the two women laughing the whole time. The moment wasn’t long, but it was long enough that Frederick had the image burned into his mind of his sister and Lady Rose, almost hugging each other, smiles on each of their faces, and his heart hammered in his chest. What he wouldn’t give to see those two women as the best of friends. They were clearly good for each other.

Frederick still thought of Rose as a dragon at times, but now, it was a name that had become a compliment instead of an insult. Miriam with her dramatic flair and Rose with her regal presentation would send all of London either running away or gathered around to see what magical scene would take place next. For surely there would never be a dull moment, never a division of duties. He could see them, thick as thieves, running circles around their peers.

These were the thoughts that held him frozen as Miriam grabbed at his shoulders. He’d not been in the right mind to maneuver out of her way.

“Frederick, that cannot possibly be you, can it? But it is. I’m certain.” She pulled off her blindfold with a flourish and looked him up and down quizzically. She saw far too much and yet too little for her understanding. It was obvious they would talk over his countenance later.

“I was caught thinking about something else entirely. I’m sorry, Miriam. It seems I might need to liven the game up. Would you tie my blindfold for me? And then watch out, everyone. I’m prepared to pounce like a tiger upon its prey.”

Laughter sounded all around him before the blindfold was secured and his vision went dark. He spun so wildly he truly lost his sense of direction in the room. He began running small circles, slowly making the circles larger and larger, covering more area with each turn. Or at least that was what he was intending to do; he wasn’t entirely certain he was achieving his purposes. But he was distracted by the yelling and laughing and scraping until he found himself falling over what could only be the arm of the settee. He twisted to land on his back only to find that his head had landed in the lap of a lady.

He put a hand out and grabbed onto a piece of her skirt as he righted himself and came to sit next to whoever it was he had so unceremoniously landed on. “I hope I have not injured you, miss,” he said, trying to draw a word from his prey.

“She’s well.” Samuel offered from the other side of the room.

That gave Frederick’s mind the freedom from worry that he had knocked into her too hard, and he put it to work on solving who the lady was. He let go of the dress and moved his fingers to her gloved hand. He ran his hand up her arm and noted her soft skin just before it broke out in small bumps beneath his fingers. The tingling sensation was contagious and he felt the hairs on his own arms rise with chills. He quickly found the shoulder of her dress and pinched the fabric between his fingers, there was embroidery on the edge of the sleeves and then the scent of roses filled him to the brim. Lady Rose.

As much as he wanted to make himself guess her identity and move on with the game, he swiftly brushed his hand up her neck even as fire endeavored to consume his soul. The movement was quick, he didn’t want to embarrass her or himself; but he would never have this chance again, to feel her like he was, and he couldn’t quite make himself waste it. When he came to her hair, he patted her head like a child, the voluminous curls atop her head bouncing back up to meet his hand with each pat. He wanted to dig his fingers through her hair and remove her pins, but he only just resisted: he had an audience. He forced his voice into a laugh. “This hair reminds me of my dog, Dragon. Could that be you, Lady Rose?”

She swatted his hand away and pulled away. “You awful man. How dare you compare me to your dog again?”

He ripped the blindfold off in time to see her stamp her foot and place her hands on her hips.

It was Samuel who stepped up to his friend’s defense. “As he loves his dog; it’s really a compliment, Lady Rose.”

Miriam burst into the conversation. “Oh for heaven’s sake, you can say the most terrible things when you aren’t thinking.” She glared daggers at Frederick, and he knew he deserved it. “Not again, do you hear me?”

He bowed his head. “Of course, Miriam. I am sorry Lady Rose.” He stood and bowed to her, a pleading in his heart that she would understand and laugh at his joke.

She didn’t.

“I accept your apology.” She held herself with all the dignity of the Queen, but he read in her eyes that the apology was only accepted because there was a crowd to witness it. He was in deeper trouble than he’d projected. To be fair, he’d not told her that he quite enjoyed her dragon side, yet. She held out her hand to him and he reached to take it. She pulled back sharply. “The blindfold, if you please.”

He dropped the cloth into her hand, to be sure not to make contact.

Then she turned to Miriam and nodded her head in some sort of understanding. “Your Grace, would you be so good as to put my blindfold on?”

It was as if Frederick had been slapped across the face. So she preferred Samuel. Of course she did. He was a duke, for heaven’s sake, and a good man besides. Samuel was everything her mother wanted for her, and she deserved no less than to be a duchess. Frederick looked to see Miriam’s reaction, but she was laughing with Miss Trenton.

Either she had missed the exchange, or she was taking it far better than he’d expected her to. For the past few days, he’d thought she’d formed an attachment to Samuel. But maybe it was as it always had been. Samuel was an old family friend: a familiar face, and good company. Which meant, if Miriam did not have feelings for him, that the duke was bound to come to his senses and come to love Lady Rose.

It would be the end of their friendship. Maybe not as completely as the way his friendship had severed with Mr. Williams, but Frederick knew he could not watch Samuel marry this woman he was quickly coming to care deeply for, no matter how far out of Frederick’s reach she was. He would not be able to bear it. Which also meant that if Miriam and Lady Rose had formed a bond as strong as he suspected they had, that Frederick would need to leave his own house when the couple was bound to come and visit.

Lady Rose caught and correctly guessed Miss Trenton and the game ended, to Frederick’s great relief. Everyone mingled as if the game had been a great success. Frederick excused himself when he saw Samuel take Lady Rose aside in conversation. Watching them, he realized something. He knew as surely as he had known anything that it would not do to see her happy with someone besides himself. But it was also not in his power to change her mind. She’d set her cap at a duke, who was falling at her feet, as was natural.

And so Frederick resumed his distrust of beautiful women.

Chapter Twenty-three

Rose stood arm in arm with Miriam, listening to His Grace talk about the game as if it interested her. But all she could think about was the feel of Mr. Hastings’s fingers running up her arm, along her neck and into her hair. The more she thought about her reaction to him, the more she revolted. It was such a cruel trick of fate that her heart had reacted so intensely to him. Mr. Hastings, the one man who would not consider marriage, yet the only man that she had any feelings for. He seemed to see her in a way that no one else did. But it did no good to wish for something that couldn’t be. It was far better to think practically.

The duke touched her elbow. “Have you heard a word I’ve said, Lady Rose?”

She blushed with embarrassment. “Am I that transparent? I do apologize, Your Grace.”

He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Do not be concerned over me. Miriam has told me everything. You can trust me.” He flicked his gaze to the door.