He remembered where the governess's bedroom was, and he knocked softly on the door.Meriel opened it a crack and stared up at him. "May I help you, Your Grace?"He rolled his eyes. "You know why I'm here."She let him in, then closed the door. She was wearing the same dressing gown again, buttoned up to her throat, belted at her waist, falling in smooth lines over each curve of her body. By candlelight, her hair shone in its loose braid, and her spectacles were nowhere in sight, letting him see the glistening blue of her eyes.She waited patiently for him to begin."Meriel, almost every servant saw you in that red dress, and those who didn't surely heard about it from someone else."She inclined her head as regally as a queen. "I saw the way everyone looked at us when we came out of the woods. I simply took it a step further."She was a proud woman; this could not sit easily on her. Why didn't she yell at him?"But Meriel, flirting would have been enough. They were all betting on whether I'd win.""Or how long I'd resist," she said.
