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insistence of your guardian, not because I am a presumptuous, ill-mannered lout.”
    “Are you saying that you are a presumptuous, ill-mannered lout—just not in this particular instance?”
    He laughed at that show of wit, something Athena appreciated. Evander had always been her companion in jests and intellectual swordplay. How she’d missed him in the years since he’d gone to sea. And how deeply she’d mourned his death in battle only a year earlier. She’d never thought to find another who enjoyed the same type of interaction.
    “Perhaps you will be willing to forgive this ill-mannered lout when you consider the fact that I quite single-handedly secured Adam’s blessing for your come-out ball,” Mr. Windover said. “That was rather miraculous of me, don’t you think?”
    “I still do not understand how you managed that, Mr. Windover.” Athena shook her head at the recollection. It had seemed a lost cause before he had completely turned the situation around.
    “Please call me Harry when we are in private,” he replied. “I would hate for Adam to think we have ignored his dictate. He can be a little testy when he feels his authority is underestimated.”
    Athena laughed lightly, as she was sure Mr. Windover, Harry, intended her to.
    “Shall I explain to you the secret to Adam, then?” Harry smiled conspiratorially. “This is a great deal of power to trust to someone so young.”
    “I am nineteen years old, sir,” Athena informed him, her tone of indignation as obviously feigned as his exaggerated air of condescension.
    “An ancient, to be sure.”
    “If I am an ancient, you must be an artifact.”
    “I do have nine years more in my dish than you do,” Harry replied.
    “Decrepit.” Athena laughed.
    “I had better divulge my closely guarded secret before the effects of old age wipe it from my undependable memory,” Harry said. “Though you may not credit it, Adam and Persephone are almost disgustingly enamored of one another. For Adam’s part, he would do absolutely anything for his wife. Anything. But having lived his life dictating every facet of his existence and catering to no one’s whims or wishes, he struggles to allow himself to act on his desire to please her. The Infamous Duke of Kielder never gives an inch, never breaks from routine. The key to securing his cooperation lies in giving him a reason to change his plans or inclinations that does not compromise his formidable reputation.”
    “You invent menacing excuses for him to do completely ordinary things?”
    “They aren’t excuses,” Harry replied. “They are legitimate reasons why someone like Adam would do something generally considered out of character for him.”
    “Like allowing his wife to throw a ball?”
    “Precisely,” Harry answered. “He would never deny her anything she truly wished for. Adam loves her far too much to disappoint her if it is in his power to do otherwise. But he struggles with it still. So I regularly rack my brain composing sufficiently treacherous reasons for him to make his wife happy.”
    Athena shook her head as she thought through Harry’s explanation. “And an opportunity to discommode His Royal Highness is treacherous enough?”
    “Barely.”
    “Good heavens.” She laughed, partly out of amusement but mostly out of amazement.
    “The carriage is ready, Mr. Windover,” the butler informed them, holding open the front door as a maid slipped a heavy shawl around Athena’s shoulders.
    “Excellent.” Persephone’s voice rang behind them. She glided past, making her way outside, her cheeks flushed and a broad smile on her face.
    Following behind with her arm through Harry’s, Athena was quick to push from her mind the reason for her sister’s blush and grin. It was difficult to fathom the fearsome Duke of Kielder doing something as emotional and tender as kissing his wife.
    “Your curiosity is sadly lacking, Athena,” Harry said.
    “Curiosity?” About Their Graces’ private