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“Eleanor?” Charlotte questioned. “Did you hear a word I just said?”

Eleanor came out of the daydream and tried to compose herself before her friend and mother. They strode through Hyde Park together, three parasols floating through the air as they balanced on pastel shoulders of pink, lavender, and blue.

“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Eleanor asked, shifting the conversation. “Such a wonderful afternoon for our daily promenade.”

“Oh, it’s marvelous,” Margaret agreed. She spun her parasol in slow circles as she walked.

Eleanor tried her best not to think about the kiss from the previous night, but no matter what she tried, her mind wandered back to the tingle that still tickled her lips.

“Is he still on your mind?” Charlotte teased.

“What?” Eleanor replied immediately, looking down to watch her step as her half-boots brushed against each other. “No, I’m not thinking about him. I’m not thinking about anyone. I don’t even know who you’re talking about.”

“Mmm,” Charlotte said knowingly.

Eleanor looked away from her friend when she felt her cheeks growing warm. She dared not bring a hand to her skin and draw attention to the embarrassment she felt.

“He is very handsome, isn’t he?” Margaret stated.

There was something off with the tone in which Margaret made the statement, but Eleanor didn’t take much notice. She had her own feelings to worry about. Then she suddenly realized why her mother’s tone had shifted.

Margaret wasn’t imagining the duke in all his handsomeness; she was staring at him as he approached the three women.

On seeing the man she had been kissed by only hours ago, Eleanor wanted to place her hand over her mouth to stop any gasps from escaping. As soon as the duke caught her gaze, Eleanor averted her eyes.

The duke was flanked on both sides, but Eleanor recognized only one of Gabriel’s companions. Atlas kept pace with the duke, never leaving his side. An older gentleman walked on the other side of him.

A lot of words flew through Eleanor’s mind as the duke and his entourage headed for them. She knew that the right thing to say was to bid him good afternoon or make some other greeting, but all she could think about were his lips, and each time she imagined opening her own mouth, the threat of mentioning the kiss was imprinted on the tip of her tongue.

Eleanor tried to compose herself, but when she looked at the duke and his intense stare, her composure was wiped from her face and replaced with a streak of blush across her cheeks. Her tongue darted out very quickly to wet her lips.

No, stop it! Stop it, Eleanor! That can’t happen again.

He was almost upon her, and everything was letting her down. Not only had her words flown the coop, but her knees had lost all strength, and she was quickly deciding who she would grab hold of. Her mother or her friend?

He’ll scoop me up in his arms to help me, and that’ll only make things worse.

Atlas broke from the group of three and took three bounds to close the gap between them.

Margaret gasped in remembrance of what had happened when they had visited the duke at his home, but Atlas didn’t go near her. He ran straight to Eleanor and sat by her side, looking up expectantly.

She put her hand on his head, and it steadied her.

“Thank you, Atlas,” she whispered.

The strength suddenly surged back to her.

Is this what I become after one mistaken kiss?

“Good morning, Lady Eleanor,” Gabriel boomed as he arrived before them. He shot a quick glance toward Atlas before he turned to the man with him. “Allow me to introduce my uncle, Lord Richard Devereux.”

Richard bowed his head as Eleanor curtsied.

Introductions were made all round between the two men and three ladies.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Richard told Eleanor. “Yet, I have not heard about this.” He nodded at Atlas with a smile.

“Atlas is a fine dog,” Eleanor replied.