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To his surprise, she smiled slightly.

“What is it?” he asked. “What has you smiling right now?”

“Oh,” she said. “Nothing much. Only that I think your father would be quite pleased if he could see you now.”

“I thought you believed he would be disappointed in me.”

“You’ve made me happy today, Nicholas. No, I know it’s difficult for you to believe that. But the things you’ve said…I do appreciate them. I know that you spoke the truth of what was in your heart. That is all a mother wants from her son. I’m pleased to see you finding happiness.”

She smiled again and turned away.

Nicholas had never been more confused in all his life. He knew that his mother realized she had been corrected. She couldn’t have missed that. Why had she responded to it so easily? He wasglad she had. He’d expected a quarrel. But it didn’t make sense to him. After all this time, after all the instances of her telling him that he was making the wrong choices, now she had decided to listen to him. He didn’t think she would try to push Lady Hannah on him again. That was likely at an end.

What on Earth could have happened today to make her realize how serious he was—and to make her finally accept it?

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“Iwonder if I ought to try on my wedding gown again,” Marina mused. “I mean, I know I’ve tried it on several times. But now that most people have retired for the evening and you and I have this time alone…I want to make sure it looks perfect for the ceremony. Oh, I feel silly! I’m going to marry Jacob, after all, so what difference does it really make what I look like? I would marry him in old rags. And yet, Idowant to look my best. Would you help me, Eleanor?”

Eleanor had been sitting on the window seat in her sister’s room and staring out at the grounds. She looked up at the sound of her own name. “What?”

“Have you heard a word I’ve said?” Marina asked. “Really Eleanor, you seem miles away tonight. What ails you?”

“I’m all right,” Eleanor murmured.

“I don’t think you are. You really haven’t been yourself since we returned from our outing earlier. What is it—did Mother say something to you? Did she chastise you for going out of the house, as I feared she might?”

“No,” Eleanor said. “I don’t know if Mother knows I left the house to tell you the truth. I mean, I suppose shemustknow, because she knows you did, and I’m sure she’s aware of who made up that party. But she hasn’t said anything to me about it.”

“Then what has you so out of sorts?”

Eleanor sighed. “I’m afraid of what you’ll say to me if I tell you.”

“Eleanor. You can tell me anything, can’t you? You and I have always been able to confide in one another. What is there that you can’t say tome?”

“I suppose that’s right,” Eleanor said. “But please try not to judge me harshly when you’ve heard it. I’m doing plenty of judging myself for now.”

“I’ll keep an open mind,” Marina promised.

“It’s the duke,” Eleanor admitted. “I know that you told me I should keep my mind off of him, and when he joined our outing today, I had every intention of doing exactly that. I was going to keep my distance from him. I tried to, at first.”

“You didn’t succeed at that for long,” Marina said gently.

“No, but my reasons really were good,” Eleanor said. “I saw that Lady Hannah was plaguing him. I was trying to be helpful by separating them.”

“Wait a moment.” Marina held up both hands. “Lady Hannah and the duke are intended to marry one another. You were trying to behelpfulby coming between them? I don’t know that I can believe that, Eleanor. You must have seen that there was nothing helpful in that at all. What were you thinking? We agreed on this. You said that you were going to keep your distance from the duke from now on. You agreed that I was right to suggest it.”

“I know,” Eleanor said. “I know what I said when last we spoke. But the situation has changed, Marina.”

“I really don’t see how.”

“He doesn’t wish to marry her.”

“Spoken like a lady who wants to end the engagement of another,” Marina said. “Eleanor, I don’t judge you. I know you asked me not to, and I won’t. But are you hearing what you’re saying? You sound to me as if you’ve let yourself fall in love with the duke, in spite of all my advice to the contrary, and now you are trying to convince yourself that he has no affection for Lady Hannah so that you can justify trying to come between them. But even if what you said were true, it would still be wrong of you to try to meddle in an engagement. The affair is none of your concern, can’t you see that? If someone did to me what you’re doing to Lady Hannah, tried to separate me from Jacob, it would destroy me.”

“Everything you’re saying is true,” Eleanor sighed. “It’s not the whole story, Marina, and I think the rest of the story does alleviate the guilt I bear at least a little. But nothing you’ve said is wrong. I should not meddle in their affairs, and I can’t seem to help myself because Ihavegrown feelings for him. I feel very attached to him.” She buried her face in her hands.

“Oh, Eleanor,” Marina said softly.