Page 20 of Her Infuriating Duke

She couldn’t help but picture the pair of them, making their way into ballrooms, dance cards full to bursting. They would spend the evening dazzling possible suitors then the next afternoon having tea and giggling about the men they had met and their future prospects.

It wouldn’t be long between the two of them that both of them were able to make happy matches and settle into the lives they both so rightly deserved, but of course, it was just a fantasy.

“You must tell me more about yourself!” Felicity said. “What are your hobbies? How do you spend your time.”

Amber shrugged, looking away. “I’m afraid I’m not very interesting.”

“Oh, you should be so hard on yourself! Even if it doesn’t sound exciting to you doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to hear about it.”

“All right, if you’re sure.”

“I am.”

“Then I would say my biggest passion is embroidery. I know it isn’t the most interesting and almost every young woman learns it, but I could spend all day working on it and still want to do more.”

Felicity smiled. “That’s wonderful. Do you have any particular motifs that you like to work on?”

Amber hesitated.

“You do! Oh, you have to tell me! Go on, please!”

“I really like to work on uncommon motifs. Some of my favorites are fish. I think they are a wonderful challenge.”

“Oh!” Felicity exclaimed. “You must show me some of your work sometime! I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone do a fish before! What else do you do?”

“Fish are my favorite like I said, but I also do a lot of birds and animals in general. Sometimes I do full landscapes, and I’ve even tried my hand at embroidered portraits though those didn’t turn out very well.”

“I doubt that. I would love to see them sometime. I didn’t know embroidery could be used that way. It's almost like you’re painting.”

“That is actually what I try to go for. I never had any talent with a brush, but a needle on the other hand…” she trailed off.

“That really is incredible! I hope you know that.”

“That’s very kind of you to say.”

“It isn’t kind. It’s simply true.”

Amber looked away. “Regardless, thank you.”

Felicity smiled. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything you made here with you, would you?”

“I would have to look through the things I brought to be sure, but I think I brought the piece I’m working on if nothing else.”

“Would you be willing to show me? Perhaps some time tomorrow?”

“If you’d like, I can absolutely do that.”

“I would love that! Thank you so much!”

“It’s nothing, really. I’ll also see if I have anything with me that’s finished, so you can see what my work looks like rather than just a work in progress.”

“I’d hate for you to go to all that trouble.”

“It’s no trouble, I assure you. I turn most of my finished projects into accessories. I’m sure I have a fan or a reticule that I made; I might even have a dress with some of my own work on it, considering most of the ones I own are finished by me.”

“That’s incredible! I don’t think I’ve ever made any of my own accessories, let alone clothing!”

“To be clear, I didn’t make the clothing. I only embellished them.”

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