Page 51 of Romancing Daphne

“The tonics you have provided my mother have done wonders. I know I mentioned it before but feel I must again,” James said.“Though you seemdetermined to be humble about it, I am certain you worked very hard tolearn as much as you have.”

Daphne nodded, pleased at the praise.“I enjoy it enough that it never has felt like work.” She smiled at the memory of her eager childhood self.“I used to save every coin I came across so I could buy herbs. My fondest dream at the time was to one day have myrrh.”

“Why myrrh?”

“Myrrh has astounding healing properties, but it comes very dear. I never had the means of purchasing any.”

They walked a moment in silence before he spoke again.“I suspect there is a great deal I do not know about you.”

“We have not had much opportunity to know each other.” She looked quickly up at him, hoping to gauge whether he’d taken her comment as overly forward.

“I shall have to badger you for information, then.” He creased his forehead as if in thought.“Do you throw out spots when you eat berries or have heart palpitations when reading gothic novels?”

Daphne smiled.“No to the first question.”

“And the second?”

“I have not ever read any of the offerings of the Minerva press, so I could not say how my heart would react.”

James nodded with exaggerated thoughtfulness. The puppy ran off ahead only to return again, yelping as enthusiastically as ever.“I am very nearly certain you are not afraid of dogs.”

Daphne laughed, something that pulled James’s eyes to her at once. A smile spread slowly across his face.“Did you think this ferocious beast of yours would frighten me when I have lived the past six years in a forest inhabited by wolves?”

“Wolves?” A disbelieving chuckle colored James’s tone.“There are no wolves in England.”

“Oh, but there are.” Artemis would have been proud of the theatricality of Daphne’s response.

James looked doubtful but amused.

“To be completely accurate, the pack in Falstone Forest is descended from both wolves and feral dogs. But they look like wolves, they sound likewolves, and they hunt like wolves, so we think of them that way.”

James made a noise of pondering.“It seems very fitting, does it not, thatthe Dangerous Duke should have a pack of wolves when no one else does?”

“Extremely fitting.”

James’s puppy ran several quick circles around her, its tail wagging happily. Daphne enjoyed watching it play, unaccountably pleased that the tiny animal liked her enough to include her in its excitement.

She was struck by how easy being with James could be. Some uncertainty about his feelings remained, but his company was not a drain on her.She didn’t need to force herself to talk to him. Few people were like that.

“Now, let us see. What else can I ask you?” He maneuvered them both around a puddle left in the path from the light morning rain.“Other thanconcocting lifesaving tonics, what did you enjoy as a child?”

What had she enjoyed? Her childhood had been spent under the heavy weight of loss and poverty. Happier moments were not always easy to recall.“My brother Evander wrote to me while away at sea. I always enjoyed receiving his letters.”

“Yes.” James rested his hand over hers where it sat on his arm.“Youhave mentioned him before. I believe you were particularly close to him.”

“I was.” The subject did not bring with it the usual level of sadness,something she likely owed to James’s comforting empathy. Still, she preferred a change of topic.“We also undertook the occasional picnic.”

“A favorite pastime from my childhood as well,” he said.

“Was it?” She liked knowing they had that in common.

“Ben and I discovered a meadow just far enough distant from the house to feel rather secluded. We would nip a few sweets from the kitchens and wile away a peaceful afternoon there.”

“Our exploits were similar. Persephone and Athena packed a meal, andwe escaped at a run. Those were amongst our happiest times. We seldomhad picnics after the boys joined the navy. There was too much work to bedone with fewer of us there to accomplish it.”

“Have you had any at Falstone Castle?” he asked.

“We haven’t.”Daphne hadn’t ever thought of the possibility. She had arrived at Adam and Persephone’s home with those lighter times pushed far to the back of her memory.

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