Or care, for that matter. My mother and Aunt Lucy approved the seating arrangement after you and I both improved it. You’re the daughter of the Earl of Ashford. It’s perfectly proper for you to sit at my table.”
“But…”
He pulled out her chair. She looked around the room before she sat down. He was right. No one glanced their way. Except for one person seated at the outer table. Lady Amelia Gregory was glaring at her. Lily smiled tersely in Amelia’s direction and sat down to the right of Daniel’s place at the head of the table. On her other side was the Earl of Madison, his wife, and then her own parents. Madison was well known to be hopelessly devoted to his wife, so he would likely pay no attention to Lily. Seated on Daniel’s other side was the dowager Countess of Bourough, an elderly woman who was hard of hearing, and next to her was her companion, Viscount Pomeroy, a widower ten years her junior who acted as her escort in return for her generously lavishing her fortune on him. Interesting choices. If Lily hadn’t known otherwise, she would have thought Daniel had arranged the seating so that he would have no choice but to focus his attention on her.
Appetizers of pâté de campagne and foie gras were followed by a clear beef consommé, which was light but tasty. As Lily ate her soup quietly, the Earl of Madison spoke over her to Daniel.
“We missed you on the hunt today, Your Grace.”
“I’m sorry to have missed it,” Daniel replied. “I was otherwise engaged.”
“Business, I suppose?”
“Yes, but after my business concluded early in the afternoon, I took Midnight out on a ride. It was a most pleasant excursion. I saw some splendid rare wildlife.”
Lily swallowed a spoonful of soup and nervously choked back a giggle. She reached for her napkin.
“Are you quite all right?” Madison asked her.
“Yes, thank you, my lord,” Lily said into her napkin. She reached for her goblet of claret, took a sip, and looked sideways at Daniel. His beautiful eyes gleamed at her, and his full lips were curved into a puckish grin. Madison had turned his attention back to his wife
She couldn’t help herself. “Tell me, Your Grace, could you describe the wildlife?”
“Such rare and exotic creatures are seldom seen in these parts, my lady,” Daniel said. “Had I a sketchbook on my person, I would have stopped and tried to put the beauty to paper.”
Lily nearly jumped out of her seat. “You sketch, Dan—Your Grace?”
“I do indeed, my lady. Do you?”
“Yes. But I prefer painting.”
“So you are interested in art, then?”
“I’m utterly passionate about it, Your Grace.”
“Then it would be my honor to show you the art here at Laurel Ridge. We have a marvelous collection. Would you care to accompany me after dinner?”
She smiled. “You know I would.”
“Fine then. I’ll come fetch you after my cigar and port.”
Lily started on her second course, a poached salmon with a creamy dill sauce, and looked around the table. Daniel had been right. No one seemed to notice their conversation. Daniel engaged her, asking about her life in London and at the Ashford estate in Hampshire. The subject somehow came to the previous Christmas, and the kiss Wentworth had stolen.
“It was awful, really,” Lily said. “I didn’t think I wanted to kiss anyone again after that.”
“Have you changed your mind?” he asked, his voice low.
She nodded, smiling. “Tell me a little about your family, Your Grace.”
“Well, you know my father and brother are gone now.”
“Yes, I’m so sorry about that. It must have been very hard on you and your mother. Were you close to either of them?”
“Not especially. I was closer to my mother. My father spent most of his time with Morgan, because he was the heir. Morgan was completely educated in the management of the estate and the affairs of the House of Lords and would have made a fine duke. Now the title has been thrust upon me, and I’m wholly unprepared for it.”
Lily stared at Daniel’s handsome face. Worry lines creased his forehead. Odd that she hadn’t noticed them before. How could such a formidable man sound so unsure of himself?
“You seem to know what you’re doing,” she said.
“At least my bankers and stockbrokers do, and that’s encouraging. And my mother is very intelligent and was always involved in the affairs of the estate. I’ve learned quite a bit from her. You remind me of her, actually.”
“Do I?”
“Yes, she defied