Page 43 of The Duke’s Matchmaker

Nathaniel’s eyes lingered on her for a very long moment before he turned to Agnes. “Lady Agnes,” he said.

“Oh, Nathaniel, you don’t need to be so formal,” Agnes said. “It’s good to see you. I know Gabriel was looking forward to talking to you, if you have the chance to get around to him at some point tonight.”

“Naturally.” Nathaniel’s gaze had returned to Dorothy. “That’s a beautiful gown.”

“Thank you.” She tried to imbue her words with meaning and hoped he understood that she was thanking him for the gown as well as the compliment.

He held out his hand to her. “Would you like to dance?”

She didn’t want to. Dancing was the worst part of coming to a ball. She hated feeling as if she was on display. But how could she tell him no? After the gift he’d sent her, it felt as if she owed him a favor, and this was a harmless enough one to ask for. And then, too, there was the fact that the two of them did need to have a conversation. On the dance floor, they would be able to speak quietly and not be overheard.

She took his hand. The moment she did, she was reminded once more of what it had been like to try to teach him to flirt. The moment when that hand had been on her face. She let go at once. It had been a mistake to touch him like that anyway, here where people could see.

She heard a huff of air—he was laughing.

I’m sure it’s very funny to him. Irritation spiked up in her again. Perhaps he’d sent this gown as some sort of joke, some way of teasing her. If that was the case, she had played right into his hands by wearing it tonight.

Suddenly, she couldn’t take the uncertainty anymore. She stopped where she stood. He took a few more steps before he realized what she’d done and turned to face her, one eyebrow raised.

“I want to know what you were thinking,” she said.

“What I was thinking when?”

Dorothy paused. She wasn’t completely sure of the answer. There was more than one occasion with Nathaniel that had left her asking questions.

“Sending me this gown,” she said. Might as well start there.

In answer, he held out his arms, inviting her into the dance.

Dorothy went, a little begrudgingly. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself, and standing in the middle of the dance floor not dancing would be a surefire way to do that.

They fell into the easy, familiar steps. For several moments, Nathaniel said nothing, though, and Dorothy worried that perhaps he wasn’t going to answer her question. She was just about to ask again when he spoke at last.

“The gown reminded me of you,” he said.

“You mentioned that in your note. The color, I assume?”

“Not the color,” Nathaniel said. “Although it does look very good on you. No, it was the stitching. The embroidery. It’s a pattern of roses.”

It was. “What does that have to do with me, though?”

“Well…there’s a rose garden by my house,” Nathaniel said. “And I was noticing the other day that the flowers are the same shade as your cheeks when you blush.”

He held eye contact with her as he said it.

Now she couldn’t help her mind going to the thought of his hand on her cheek. This must be the reason he’d done that. He was captivated by the color in her face.

Hasn’t he ever seen someone blush before? I don’t understand what the fixation is about.

But her heart was beating too quickly, and she was aware of the heat rising to her face as if he had summoned it there. She cleared her throat. “That was very kind of you,” she said. “Very thoughtful. Thank you for the gift.”

“It was my pleasure. It’s lovely to see you in it, I’m very glad you wore it,” Nathaniel said.

She nodded. “But, Nathaniel, you know you can’t be sending me things like this, don’t you? Not more than once.”

“Why not? You don’t like it?”

“It’s not about what I think of it,” she told him. “It’s what other people will think. If you’re to begin a courtship with someone, she needs to feel as if she’s the most important person to you and not have to worry that you have an interest in someone else. You should be saving these gestures for the lady you want to be your wife.”