Chapter Nine #2
“He has invited us to have dinner with his family.” Adam could not have looked less pleased if he’d been invited to be the guest of honor at a hanging.
Daphne likely looked almost as horrified but for entirely different reasons.
Dinner with James’s family seemed like a much larger step in the direction of courtship than she’d expected.
He had sent her flowers along with a very personal note, but she still couldn’t help thinking he acted more like a friendly acquaintance when they were together than he did a suitor.
“When is this dinner party?” Persephone asked.
“Three days, Persephone. The Almighty took seven days to create the world; we have three to prepare for the end of it.”
Persephone shook her head, though whether at his exaggerated objections or Lord Techney’s invitation, Daphne wasn’t sure. “What could have inspired Lord Techney to invite us to a family dinner? Certainly your reputation would be enough to convince him of the inadvisable nature of such a thing.”
“You were apparently not listening when I explained that Lord Techney is an idiot.”
“An imbecile, dear,” Persephone corrected. “A dinner party, though poorly thought through when the invitation is directed toward the Dangerous Duke, isn’t entirely an unreasonable thing. I assume there is some other bit of logic behind your dismissal of poor Lord Techney’s mental acuity.”
“He delivered the invitation to me at Lords, despite having not spent more than a moment there on any given day these past weeks and not often before that.” Adam’s censure was apparent.
“We are on the brink of war with the Former Colonies, whilst already deep into war on the continent, and are seeing rioting in the north and in the midlands. A gentleman with any degree of responsibility would have done everything in his power to take up his duties in Lords this session. Techney, however, feels his duty there does not extend beyond irritating people with presumptuous invitations.”
Did Adam intend to refuse the invitation? Daphne could not say how exactly she felt about that possibility.
“And,” Adam continued, “Linus makes port the morning of this dinner and will arrive in London the next day. We cannot very well welcome him back into the bosom of his family”—Adam’s sarcastic tone brought a smile to Persephone’s face and very nearly to Daphne’s as well—“if that family is off prancing about London.”
“I would give a year’s pin money to see you prance, Adam.”
He laughed, something only Persephone had ever managed to make him do.
“This is one invitation, dearest,” Persephone said, “and one to a single dinner being held before Linus can possibly reach Town. You cannot use him as an excuse to avoid it.”
“When have I ever required an excuse to avoid anything I didn’t wish to do?”
Persephone only smiled. “The solution to this difficulty is quite simple. I will accompany Daphne to the dinner party, and you can sulk here at Falstone House.”
“You will be spending much of the Season at balls and musicales whilst I am home, and you wish to add another evening apart to our already ridiculous schedule of them. This is your perfect solution?” He eyed Persephone with patent disapproval.
“Then you shall simply have to come to the dinner with us.”
“How fortunate for me,” he drawled.
“Do you mean to accept the invitation, then?” Daphne asked.
The flash of surprise that crossed both Adam’s and Persephone’s faces clearly indicated they had forgotten her presence in the room. That happened far more often than it ought.
“I believe we should,” Persephone said. “Lord Tilburn has been attentive. His father clearly wishes to deepen the connection. An intimate dinner would be the best opportunity to come to know Lord Tilburn better.”
“That is likely their purpose, after all.” Daphne tried to convince herself that she was living the smallest fulfillment of her hopes where James was concerned. She wanted to believe it. She truly did. She also didn’t want to be disappointed if nothing came of these dreams.
Persephone pulled away from Adam and leaned toward Daphne, her brow pulled with concern. “What is it that has you so worried, dearest?”
“What if—” Personal confessions never had come easily to her. And yet this undertaking was so new and unfamiliar that she needed some guidance. “What if he comes to know me, then decides he doesn’t care for what he has found?”
“Then the whelp is a fool,” Adam declared.
Persephone stopped him with a gentle hand on his leg without ever looking away from Daphne.
“You always have been wont to worry. But being courted—and I do believe this is the beginning of exactly that—ought to be a wonderful and enjoyable experience. Please try to simply enjoy it. Allow Adam and me to worry and watch.”
“And I most certainly will be watching him, Daphne,” Adam declared in his very sternest duke voice. “I offered my approval of his first visit to this house, but I made no promise beyond. I will keep a very close eye on Lord Tilburn, make no mistake about that.”