Still, there was the height. The hair. The eyes. The delicate build. Livia looked at her again.
Seraphina smiled. "I am the English you. Is that not sad?"
"You are making it terribly difficult to despise you, Lady Seraphina," Livia said.
Seraphina's mouth curved. "You will be the first to say that. My mother says I should have been born a man."
"That may be a compliment."
"She does not mean it as one."
"Look," Livia said, lowering her voice, "I promise to speak with the duke if you promise to make an effort for his attention."
"And look desperate? To a man staring at another woman? Why?"
"Can you get out of this marriage?" Livia asked.
"Unless either the duke or I miraculously drops dead, I do not see how."
Livia softened. "Then make an effort to win him over."
Seraphina's brow lifted.
"I know how that sounds," Livia said. "But the duke is an amazing man. He has merely had the worst luck."
"And yet you chose the king."
"Yes."
"Then he cannot have been that amazing."
