“I am merely fulfilling my duties as their chaperone,” he reminded her. “And with you getting distracted like this, it appears that I will have to chaperone you as well.”
Deborah smiled, her plan of stalling the Duke enough so that Emma and Peter were out of earshot working perfectly well. “Your Grace, have you ever heard the phrase ‘stop and smell the flowers?’ I am merely doing that.”
If Deborah’s laidback attitude got on the Duke’s nerves, he did not let it show. Instead, he just pursed his lips, giving her a small nod before walking behind the couple once again.
Deborah noticed that he had gotten far too close, and the couple, who had been previously walking close together, split awkwardly.
Deborah groaned internally and followed him. “Your Grace, perhaps it would be better if you do not walk so close to the couple.”
The Duke shot her a look. “I am merely doing what I came here to do, which is to chaperone the two of them.”
“Yes, but when you walk so close to them, you are also intruding on their private moment. Would it not be a better idea to give them some space?” Deborah suggested.
But her words seem to fall on deaf ears.
“It is a large garden, and if I do not trail behind them closely, it is possible that we will lose sight of them entirely.”
“And what is so wrong about that?” Deborah challenged, her brows furrowing as a result of his stubbornness.
“It is my duty to chaperone them,” the Duke reminded her firmly, in no mood to argue with her.
“It is one thing to follow your duty, but it is another to follow them around so closely that they think they are under a watchful gaze,” Deborah said. “For a few moments, it would be best if you forget this duty and let them enjoy their moment from afar.”
“I do not have to explain myself,” the Duke dismissed her, going back to trailing behind the couple.
“You are suffocating them by being so strict,” Deborah protested, stopping in her tracks. “Can you please let people enjoy themselves for once?”
She seemed to have hit a nerve with him.
"Emma is my sister, and I need to protect her image. If she is seen walking with a man like this in public, then her reputation will suffer.”
“Look around you, Your Grace,” Deborah argued back, feeling charged up. “There is no one else around in this garden except us. The only person who is judging her is you.”
“You have no business telling me what to do,” the Duke snapped, furious at Deborah’s audacity.
“And you have no business following them so closely like this,” Deborah shot back. “But of course, you do not see anything wrong with what you are doing because you are far too self-centered to do so.”
“Self-centered? How dare you speak to me this way?”
“It is true, and you need to accept it.” Deborah refused to back down. “You think that propriety is far more important than your sister’s happiness, when in reality, she is not even doing anything that warrants a scandal. She is engaged to Peter, and they will marry soon. It is best if we let them have this moment to themselves.”
“My Lady, you really have some nerve telling me about what is or what is not a scandal,” the Duke said. “Your behaviors have shown to me that you know nothing about propriety.”
“You can believe that if you may,” Deborah fired back. “But I believe what matters most is the person you are on the inside, not the appearances one puts up for show.”
The two were standing face to face now, arguing between the thick trees of the garden. Even though their voices were raised, Emma and Peter had already gone too far ahead to know what was going on.
“Tell me, My Lady,” the Duke said, “do you derive some sort of pleasure from always resorting to an argument? Why can you not, for once in your life, agree with what the other person is saying?”
“I agree with people plenty,” Deborah replied. “It is just you that I seem to clash with. You believe that you always know what is best for others, but you seem to be unaware of what impact your actions seem to have on them.”
“And what about yourself and your constant need to prove that you have all of the answers?”
Without even knowing, the two had gotten very close to each other mid-argument. The Duke’s hot breath fanned across Deborah’s face, and the two were suddenly made aware of how close in proximity they really were.
The passion from their argument suddenly transformed into another thing altogether. A flicker of something else began to emerge between the two.
Deborah felt her breath hitch in her throat, her gaze locking with the Duke’s stormy eyes. Her heart filled up with affection for him. The air between them cracked with tension, and they were rendered immobile.
