Page 70 of Rescued from Betrayal
“Did you not find anything you liked?” he asked.
She smiled. “It is fine work, but I am not in need of any headwear.”
Curious. Melior had not purchased a single thing even though they had been to multiple shops. Had she not received her pin money? He did not think he’d been remiss there.
John cleared his throat and shuffled a step closer.
Nathaniel glanced at him and noticed the subject of his upset. There, gliding toward them, was Miss Wayland and her mother. John’s gaze remained locked on the approaching lady and his throat bobbed.
“Who is the young woman that has John so mesmerized?” Melior whispered as she took his arm.
“That is Miss Wayland. She lives on the small estate to the south of Havencrest.”
Melior looked up at him. “You mean that is our nearest neighbor?”
“Not quite. The widow Peabody and her derelict son are closer, but the Waylands are probably the closest ones worth knowing.”
Her lips quirked. “Is that disdain for those beneath your station I am detecting?”
“No, it is pure dislike of gossips and drunkards.” He would have liked to continue staring into Melior’s smiling face, but there were introductions to be made.
“Mrs. Wayland, Miss Wayland, what a pleasure to see you.”
“And you as well, Sir Nathaniel,” Mrs. Wayland murmured softly.
Introductions were made and the ladies curtsied to one another. Nathaniel noted how thin Mrs. Wayland had become. The poor woman. Her health had been excessively poor of late.
“I had heard you had taken a wife, but I did not believe it,” Miss Wayland said to him, then turned to Melior. “Is it true that your uncle is the Duke of Bedford?” Her wide-eyed innocent interest was consistent with the sweet nature Nathaniel had come to expect from her.
“It is. Would you like to meet him?”
Miss Wayland beamed. “Is he to visit you soon?”
“He is visiting now. In fact, he is inside the millinery shop.”
The young woman’s pretty pink lips made an oh shape as she slipped a hand nonchalantly around John’s arm. She peeked up at him. “You did not tell me you were acquainted with a duke. Are they as regal as everyone says?”
John opened his mouth, but no words came out. He stared down at her, and she smiled back.
“Of course they must be,” she replied for him. Turning back to Melior she said, “I would love to meet him.”
So that was how the young lady got past John’s lack of conversation.
The door to the shop opened and several of their group exited.
“Eddie, will you tell Uncle that he is needed outside?”
“Certainly.”
The introduction between the Waylands and His Grace went exactly as Nathaniel had expected, with Miss Wayland doing the majority of the speaking and John nodding in all the right places. The duke, she declared, was far less intimidating than she’d expected, but just as handsome.
When they parted ways, Melior pulled him to the back of the group.
“Am I to gather that Lord Newhurst has a tendre for that sweet girl?”
“Yes, but an obsession would be a more suitable definition. However, he will never admit it.”
“And why not?”
