Page 97 of Romancing Daphne

She dropped her gaze to the floor, mortification sweeping over her. How could he ask such a thing?

No sooner had her head lowered than she felt his fingers lightly press her chin upward once more.

“Tell me what you see.” He made the request once more, speaking with greater emphasis.

She stood very still. What did she see? A person should never be madeto admit such a thing.“I am not very tall,” she answered tentatively, picking her most innocuous feature.“I know I am a bit plain, but that is preferable to being homely, I suppose.” Tears stung the backs of her eyes. She blinked several times to keep them at bay. She took a wavering breath but pressed on.“I do like to read, so I would consider myself well informed. I did not particularly take this Season, but I am welcomed by all theton’smatrons, whichis something of an accomplishment, I suppose.”

James watched her, his expression unreadable.

She diverted her gaze and lowered her voice to a level just hovering abovea whisper.“That was likely not what you meant. One cannot ‘see’ thosethings.”

James laid his hands on her upper arms, moving close enough that she heard his very quiet words.“Would you like to know what I see?”

Would she? Surely he would not make the offer if his impressions wereunflattering. Calling once more on her determination to be courageous,Daphne nodded, though she could not bring herself to look at him.

“You have the thickest hair I think I have ever seen on a lady and of such a pure shade of brown. I am certain that many of the ladies in Society are secretly quite envious of it. Likewise, not a soul who is privileged enough to see it could fail to notice your lovely smile, though I truly hopeIam the only one who finds that one lone dimple so distractingly fascinating.”

Daphne looked up at the mirror. He stood very close, his eyes fixed on her reflection.

“But it is your eyes, Daphne, that draw one in. They glow with unmistakable intelligence, especially when you speak of your herbs, and you have the remarkable ability to see the world for what it truly is, even if you do not see yourself quite so clearly.”

He moved closer still, his breath rustling her hair as he spoke. Neverin the course of their acquaintance had he stood so near. She dared notlook up at him lest he see more in her eyes than she was yet ready for him to know. That she still loved him, she could no longer deny. Trusting him, however, was coming by inches, and slowly at that. A part of her knew that were he to stand so breathtakingly close to her on a regular basis, she would forgive him almost anything.

“Society is rife with empty-headed misses,” he said.“A gentleman with any sense whatsoever wishes for so much more than that. He wants that rarecombination of goodness and intelligence. He counts himself most fortunate if those essential qualities accompany a pretty face. That, my dear,” helowered his voice to a whisper, “is whatIsee.”

Only when he brushed moisture from her cheek with the pad of his thumb did she realize a tear had escaped her eyes. He tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear.

“Why don’t you see that, Daphne?”

She closed her eyes against the pain of that question.“Because that isn’t me. I am just Daphne, the plain, unnecessary sister. The nymph among the goddesses. The one who is forgotten in a heartbeat.”

“I assure you, that is not true in the least, for I tried valiantly. A great many heartbeats passed after the disastrous picnic, and I found myself entirely unable to forget you.”

Daphne opened her eyes, though she did not look up at him nor at his reflection before her.“You forgot me within moments of our first meeting. Given time, you would easily do so again.”

“Would I have returned after that first tea if I had immediately forgotten you?”

“Of course you would have,” she said, pain piercing her anew. “You were required to return. You were forced to remember me.”

“Things may have begun that way,” he said, “but as I came to know you better, I continued my courtship, not because I was required to but because I wished to. I returned eagerly, willingly.”

“But not honestly.” She was not certain he was being entirely honest with her now.

“I can make no justification for my lack of integrity,” he said, “nor will Itry. I might have been cajoled into that first meeting, but I was not coercedinto all of them.”

Into all of them. That was not at all comforting; neither was the realization that he had no recollection of a moment that had altered her life.“The call you paid at our at-home all those weeks ago was not our first meeting.” She saw confusion in his eyes. Confession seemed the best course of action.“We first met six years ago,” she told him.“I was hiding on the terrace during my sister’s come-out ball, spying on the festivities through the windows. You caught me there but kept my secret. Your kindness to a terribly timid little girl stayed with me long after that night. But on the few occasions afterward when our paths crossed, the complete lack of recognition in your expression told me as nothing else could that you had utterly forgotten me, just as everyone else does. Just as everyonealwaysdoes.”

What had possessed her to confess so much to him? Daphne had toldno one of her encounter with James Tilburn on the Falstone House terrace. If James did not already think her entirely pathetic, he most certainly would after hearing her history.

It was not pity, however, that she saw enter his eyes. His gaze as it reflectedback at her from the mirror appeared very nearly amazed.“Your hair hungin two long braids, and you wore the frilliest nightdress I could possibly haveimagined.”

Daphne’s breathing came to a sudden halt. Did he actually remember?

“You were a study in contradictions.” James watched her intently.“Youwere so tiny, no larger, I thought at the time, than a girl of eight or nine,yet you acted older despite your timidity. You seemed terrified to so much as speak, yet you were defying the Dangerous Duke’s demandsin order to snatch apeek at the ball.”

Good heavens, hedidremember.

“I never could be entirely sure of your age, which is likely one reason I did not recognize you in the light of day, but I assure you I recall that meeting. I told my brother about you, and I thought of that little girl often over the years.”

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