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And then it hit her. She had seen the lust in his eyes when he had stood so close that she could almost taste him, and he must have thought she would have backed down, but she had no intention of giving him the pleasure. And what had come before the almost-kiss, just as it had before?

An argument.

That was what he was afraid of. That, for some reason, was what made him want to kiss her, whether it was to quieten her or for other reasons. He was being nice to her so they wouldn’t argue, and so he wouldn’t end up kissing her.

Well, good! The less we argue, and the less we kiss, the better. I don’t need that complication in my life.

“I made a plan for the entire afternoon,” Gabriel told them. “If we start in this direction” —he pointed to the path that ran straight from the main entrance— “we can make our way around the park, seeing everything by mid-afternoon.”

“Well, that sounds as boring as turnips,” Eleanor said. “Where is your sense of adventure? Did you really plan a walking route around the gardens?”

“I see nothing wrong with that,” Gabriel shot back.

“We don’t need a plan!” Eleanor exclaimed. “Let’s go,” she spun around in a circle before pointing to the right, “this way.”

“You want to go that way?” Gabriel asked.

“It’s as good a way as any,” she claimed. “You didn’t really spend a long time making a plan, did you?”

The duke’s jaw tightened. He pushed his lips into a tight smile.

“Lead the way,” he told her.

Oh, this could be fun. You really don’t want to argue with me, do you? You really are scared that you might kiss me again!

Eleanor smiled and skipped off ahead of Gabriel and her mother. Perhaps this wouldn’t be a bad day after all. And now that she knew his little secret, she might even have some fun with it. She wouldn’t go out of her way to provoke him, but she could poke him a little and see how far she could go before he was tempted to argue with her.

Eleanor walked the path for a little while, but quickly turned onto the soft grass, being careful not to walk on any areas where the grass had just been seeded. She looked over her shoulder every now and then to make sure her mother and the duke were still following.

They were, but Gabriel made no effort to close the gap, and he conversed with her mother, who was either smiling or laughing when Eleanor looked around. She couldn’t move too fast, or she risked losing them, and then she would look like the obstinate one.

A few musicians played in the park, and Eleanor made sure they stopped to listen to each of them. When she asked to buy bonbons from one of the street vendors, Gabriel agreed, and he even suggested some candied nuts, which Eleanor begrudgingly agreed to. Both were delicious.

They stood together, the three of them, eating the candied nuts and listening to a woman playing a haunting melody on the harp. Eleanor had considered pushing the duke to see if she could get him worked up, but all she managed was to have a good time.

And that irked her. The duke had claimed he wanted her to enjoy the Season; this was part of it, and he was being proven right.

I don’t understand why, but it feels as if His Grace and I are in a great battle, and I must win.

“Oh, Eleanor, look!” Margaret explained. “Do you see?”

Eleanor looked to where her mother was pointing and saw nothing remarkable. She shrugged.

“Eleanor, you must remember,” Margaret scolded.

Eleanor kept looking as various people wandered through the park, but still saw nothing remarkable, nor did she recognize anyone. She widened her eyes to drive home the point this time and shrugged again.

“Admiral Kirk!” Margaret exclaimed as if that should explain it. “The retired admiral I spoke to at length at the garden party. He was ever so charming, and very handsome, to boot. I wonder if he will let me ride on his boat.”

“Mother, I don’t think⁠—”

“I must talk with him,” Margaret claimed. “I won’t be a moment.”

Margaret almost ran from Eleanor and the duke toward a small group of older gentlemen, and she began talking with one of them. Eleanor didn’t recognize the man at all, but he clearly knew her mother and spoke to her freely, with a broad smile.

Eleanor half watched the harpist while keeping one eye on her mother. She slowly ate the candied nuts, aware that she was now alone with the duke again, and the last two times that had happened, they had kissed and almost kissed.

And the almost kiss was unbearable. It might have been better if he had kissed me a second time so I didn’t dwell on what could have been. I could have had a second kiss.