Page 34 of A Deal with the Broken Duke
Juliet couldn’t help laughing. The whole idea was ridiculous, and yet, at the same time, there was something so playful about the way Harry was approaching things. Had he always been this way? She didn’t remember this about him from their youth, but then, he had always been Daniel’s friend, not hers. He hadn’t spent that much time around her, except in passing.
Maybe she had never gotten to know what his true character was like.
She was glad she was getting the chance to know him now. Even though their courtship wasn’t real, it was nice to know him better.
“What are you two laughing about?” Matilda had fallen back to speak to the two of them now. “What’s so funny?”
Juliet found herself helpless to explain. She looked at Harry for help, but he was laughing too and merely shook his head.
“Harry is going to buy me a hat,” she replied.
Matilda looked thoroughly confused. “Oh. That’s nice of you, Harry.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Juliet found herself laughing again.
Matilda gave her a puzzled look. “Why is it funny?”
“Oh, I don’t know, it’s just…” It wouldn’t be funny in the retelling. She wouldn’t be able to explain to Matilda the joke about how a new hat would make their ruse suddenly believable to everyone.
Matilda smiled. “It’s so good to see the two of you suddenly getting along.”
“We’ve always gotten along,” Harry said. “I’ve always been very fond of both of you.”
Matilda’s smile slipped ever so slightly.
Don’t you say anything about it, Matilda!
Juliet knew exactly what her sister was thinking, and she didn’t want it brought up. There was no reason to drag up the past when things were going so well between them in the present. She had absolutely no desire to shame Harry for the things he had said and done when they were young.
That wasn’t who he was anymore. Juliet was ready to let it go.
They had reached town now. People were bustling up and down Main Street, and Daniel had stopped to wait for the rest of them. They caught up to him and looked around, each of them clearly ponderingwhere they ought to go first.
“The milliner’s shop,” Harry decided.
“The best one is just this way,” Matilda said firmly, taking the lead.
Juliet followed without question. Her sister had always been the one with the most interest in fashion. If she said the place she was taking them was the best place to get a hat, Juliet was willing to believe that.
Sure enough, the display window was packed with some of the most beautiful, elaborate hats Juliet had ever seen. They stood looking at them, Harry obviously appraising them.
Then he turned to Juliet. “Well? Which one do you like best?”
“You really don’t have to do this for me, Harry,” Juliet said.
“I know I don’t have to. Go on.”
She blushed. “I don’t want to make you buy something expensive,” she murmured. “And I don’t know how much any of these things cost. What if I choose the most expensive one they have without realizing what I’ve done?”
“You’re to let me worry about that,” he said, mock sternly. “I’m sure I can afford anything in this shop.”
“But I wouldn’t want to take advantage of your generosity,” she protested.
“You choose the thing you want. If you don’t, I’m going to pick the most costly thing myself! And if you let me choose, you might not like it, and then it wouldn’t be worth the money, would it?”
Juliet nodded.When he put it that way, it did make sense to simply allow him to give her this gift. “All right,” she agreed, smiling. “That one, then.”
The hat she had selected was pale yellow with a purple ribbon and a flower.
