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bedroom doors and windows open, we were blessed with a little breeze.
    “Both our rooms have sea chests,” Emma whispered, “where our clothes from Madame Leclerc’s are packed. Give me a hand in unpacking.”
    We did, while Phyllida kept a watch out for any servants. One of the toughest things I’d face was hiding my lifelong habit of jumping in and helping at whatever task needed to be done.
    I couldn’t resist running my fingers over the dresses Madame Leclerc had made. The fabrics, silk and satin, taffeta and thin cotton, cashmere and lace, whispered against my skin. Emma and I held them to ourselves and swung around, the colors flashing in the sunlight, before we hung them in the wardrobe.
    One part of this investigation would be a pleasure. I’d had neither the money nor the reason to dress in finery before.
    Before we were half finished, carters arrived with two more sea chests, one carried up to Phyllida’s room and one to mine. I tipped the two men, and a maid showed them out. We opened them to find more silks, more colors, and new shifts and petticoats and nightgowns in soft, cool cotton. My hands slid over everything, reveling in the freshness while the rest of London felt stale.
    We’d almost finished when we heard a jangle like my shop doorbell. A moment later, we heard male voices and then footsteps on the stairs. A maid stood in the doorway to my room, a silver tray in her hands.
    Phyllida reached out and picked up the calling card on its shiny surface. “Well, well. The Duke of Blackford has come to call.”

CHAPTER FIVE

    P HYLLIDA and I walked downstairs to find Blackford waiting for us in the parlor. He rose when we walked into the room decorated in dark purple and light blue. I curtsied and then walked over to the first window and shoved the draperies back as far as possible to get more light into the room. Then I opened the window.
    “You don’t like the house?” Blackford asked.
    “It’s by far the nicest leased house I’ve ever seen. Right now, I hope to get a breeze through the room.” I opened the draperies in the second window and tugged until the sash rose a few inches.
    “What have you learned so far?”
    “I have customers who will cheat me if they deal with Sir Broderick in my absence.” I shoved the third window drapes back and tugged on the wooden frame. It was stuck. “I also learned this afternoon
I’m going to Lord and Lady Francis’s musical evening tonight.”
    “You sound upset.”
    “I wish you would tell me things before the last moment.” I yanked on the window. Still stuck. “Is Phyllida also invited?”
    “Yes. But you’re the one who needs to flirt with me so we can begin our affair in record time.”
    Affair? Record time?
I jerked on the window and it flew up. I set the lace curtains to rights and turned to face the duke. “Aren’t you supposed to flirt with me?”
    “I will, Mrs. Monthalf, but you have to flirt back. From the look on your face, I’d say that won’t happen.”
    “What kind of a woman do you think I am?” I didn’t think wealthy Mrs. Monthalf would fall for a duke so quickly.
    Phyllida looked from one to the other of us and slipped from the room.
    The duke walked over to me and cupped my face in his hand. He didn’t squeeze my cheeks or hurt me in any way, but I couldn’t have moved if I tried. And I didn’t want to try. Standing so close to him I could smell old leather and older whiskey. “I think you’re a woman who was in love with me when we were younger, but I failed to ask for your hand and Mr. Monthalf did. You left and I never saw you again. You’re back in my life now, and I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
    He held my gaze with his dark, mesmerizing eyes, and I felt the power of his declaration. For an instant, I thought he was talking to me. My heart soared. Then I remembered I was middle-class, he was a duke, and he was talking about the woman I was pretending to be. The duke’s primary interest was the