She Hid Under a Table to Escape a Matchmaker — The Duke Was Already There
Chapter 7
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They left with a sample of the ribbon, an agreed delivery time, and three roses the man had cut to demonstrate the intended arrangement. Daphne carried them carefully. Gilbert carried the basket, which now appeared a ridiculous precaution for so few flowers.Outside, he held it up. "Shall we tell your sister they have become much smaller?""Only if you wish to be excluded from the wedding."They stopped at another shop to collect the ribbons Osric had sent for. The parcel was waiting. Gilbert gave the young assistant his name, watched recognition arrive, and felt the conversation change from a practical exchange into a performance of deference.Daphne saw it, too. When they were outside, she said, "You could have sent me.""I know.""You looked rather disappointed."He considered denying it. "He had been telling me something about the delivery cart before he discovered he ought not to. What was it? I don't know.""He began apologizing." She looked at him more thoughtfully.Beneath the table, he had been simply a man who could not move his knee. She was beginning to understand why he might have enjoyed remaining there.On the journey home, the basket took the place beside the driver. Daphne and Gilbert sat without a barrier between them. He asked whether she liked the country. She told him which parts she liked, and which parts appeared to consist almost entirely of people inquiring when she meant to leave it. He told her about a small room at the back of his house where nobody thought to look for him because the chairs were ugly."Is it more comfortable than the table?""Considerably.""Then you have been very foolish.""I was hungry."She laughed and turned towards him, holding the roses against her lap. A loose curl had caught beside her cheek. He wanted to move it, and then wanted to find out whether she would mind. The carriage reached the house before he did either.Winifred approved the roses. Osric received the ribbons with an expression of gratitude that suggested the rest of his life might now be expected to follow smoothly."You should keep those," Winnie told her sister."They are your wedding flowers.""There will be others.""Put them in your room."Daphne did. She placed them in a little vase by the window, then found that the room looked agreeable from several angles.At luncheon, everybody was in good humor. The dowager had discovered that Lady Marcia would not be marrying Gilbert—a disappointment she bore with a composure he found slightly insulting. Mrs. Selwood had accepted Mr. Dunford's interest in the library. Winnie was enjoying herself. Osric had produced the correct ribbon at exactly the right moment and was receiving more admiration for it than Gilbert had ever earned by reading an estate report.Daphne was seated near the duke with three other guests between them. Somebody mentioned the difficulty of finding a quiet place during a large gathering. She thought of the plate and the footman's face."One gentleman has found an original solution," she said. "He has taken to dining beneath the furniture."