“His Grace would like to invite you to join him for dinner in the dining room, Your Grace,” he said.
“Oh. Am I no longer persona non grata?” she asked, smiling. Jennings smiled back.
“It would seem not.”
Anna came to help her get ready.
“You really will have to get some new clothes, Your Grace. You haven’t had anything new for a year at least.”
“It would take me a hundred years to wear out all the gowns I currently have,” Rose laughed. “One can’t just keep adding to one’s wardrobe eternally.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have something you had never worn before?” Anna asked.
“I don’t think I have ever really thought about it. I was never one for dresses when I was young.”
Anna selected a dress that Rose had barely worn, a rose pink blush silk sheath with a cross-over bodice that was most unusual. It revealed her décolletage but not in a way that was showy or inappropriate. It had puffed shoulders and the sleeves extended to the elbow. She had completely forgotten about it, but as Anna slipped it on her, she found it pleasing.
“No gloves tonight,” she told Anna. “It is only Ernest and me, so there is no need to be so showy.”
Anna scrutinized her in the mirror as she put her hair up into a twisted chignon bun.
“Are you feeling alright about it all now, Your Grace? About the Duke?”
“He is certainly easier of temper,” Rose said.
“But wouldn’t you prefer a younger man, like Mr. Browning perhaps?”
Rose’s eyes flew to Anna’s, wondering if this was her way of saying she knew something about her and Will. But Anna did not appear to be speaking from any malice as she twisted Rose’s long hair up behind her neck.
“Don’t you think he is so dashing?” Anna asked.
“We knew each other as children, so I suppose I don’t look at him that way,” Rose lied.
“I don’t know how you could look at him any other way,” Anna smiled. “I would take him over the old Duke any day.”
Rose didn’t answer.
She descended to the ground floor precisely at seven, the slight train of her pink gown trailing behind her. She went straight to the dining room, where Ernest was already waiting. This time she looked around the room to ensure there were no surprise guests. The chamber was empty except for him.
“On time, as usual, my dear,” Ernest said. “I like that.”
“As are you, Your Grace,” Rose smiled. “You look as if London agreed with you.”
“I accomplished a lot,” he confirmed, “and spent a bit more time outside.”
There was indeed more color in his cheeks.
“I came to visit you earlier, but Jennings told me I couldn’t come in.”
Ernest smiled, revealing his increasingly white teeth. She had not seen any evidence of cigars or snuff box since he rose from his sick bed.
“I was busy. I asked him to keep everyone at bay.”
“Very well, Your Grace.”
“I have also brought Mr. Browning back from London.”
Rose had just taken an inward breath. She didn’t let it go. She stood looking at him, waiting for him to say more, feeling the pressure building in her chest. Will was here!