Page 103 of The Duke’s Hidden Duchess

Nathaniel looked at his sister.

“No,” he said. “That is not the same thing at all.”

She put the final letter into the grate. The flame took longer this time. It caught the edge, went out, caught again. Georgiana reached for the poker and shifted the paper until the fire found it properly.

Neither of them spoke until it was gone.

Then Georgiana laid the poker aside.

“That is all?”

“That is all.”

She sat watching the ashes for another moment.

“I expected to feel something larger.”

“So did I.”

“What do you feel?”

Nathaniel considered it.

“Relieved.”

“That is disappointingly ordinary.”

“I am discovering some affection for ordinary things.”

Georgiana rose and brushed her skirt. “I am hungry.”

“You have just eaten luncheon.”

“That was some time ago.”

“It was less than an hour.”

She considered this.

“I was under considerable strain.”

“Of course.”

“I believe cake is indicated.”

“On medical grounds?”

“Strictly.”

Nathaniel opened the door for her.

At the threshold, Georgiana stopped and looked back at the grate. Nothing remained there but blackened scraps collapsing quietly into ash.

She turned away first.

“Come on, then,” she said. “If Selina is in the library, she may know where Bassett has hidden the cake.”

Nathaniel followed her out and closed the door behind them.