She Hid Under a Table to Escape a Matchmaker — The Duke Was Already There
Chapter 6
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"It appears determined to."She moved it to the floor. Gilbert offered a hand to steady her as the carriage started, and she kept hold a moment longer than the movement required."Your sister seems very certain," he said, "about the roses.""About my brother, she is. It is most inconvenient when one is trying to give her the benefit of one's experience.""Have you much experience of marriage?""None. I have been observing other people's. It is far less expensive."He laughed. "I have been offering Osric similar assistance.""Has he welcomed it?""He asked me yesterday to discuss duty less frequently—a very impertinent request of a man about to acquire some."The road curved between hedges bright with summer leaves. Daphne had spent the morning thinking about chair covers. It was pleasant to sit beside someone who did not wish to know whether they would match the curtains."Do you mind her marrying?" Gilbert asked.She looked at him. "I shall miss having her at home. I do not object to her being happy somewhere else.""People have asked you that badly, haven't they?""Several have assured me that my turn will come, as though I were waiting outside the dentist."He smiled. "I've been told that Osric's example ought to settle me.""Has it?""It has made me want to see whom I am supposed to be settled with before the arrangements are complete."She looked towards the hedges so he would not see the pleasure that answer gave her.The florist greeted Daphne with recognition and Gilbert with surprise. His Grace had never before come personally to discuss whether a room contained too much foliage.Daphne explained the change. The hired ferns could remain at the house, where they would be used in the hall and on the terrace. She would pay the agreed charge. The yellow roses were still wanted in smaller arrangements than the one she had enlarged without asking her sister.The florist considered the revised plan. "I can do that."There was no catastrophe. Daphne felt both relieved and a little foolish. She had spent half the journey constructing an explanation of why her original instructions had been reasonable. The man simply wanted to know what the bride wished to have tomorrow.He showed them the roses in the cool room behind the shop. Gilbert bent over a bucket and caught his hat on a shelf. It tipped into the flowers. He retrieved it, inspected the damp brim, and looked up to find Daphne watching with dangerous composure."Say it," he told her."I was wondering whether the roses ought to keep it. They have been rather sparsely dressed."The florist coughed.Gilbert put the hat under his arm. "We shall require a small arrangement for the bride's sister. Something that will prevent her speaking.""A whole fern might do it," she said.The florist abandoned his effort not to smile.