Making of a Duke

“Good grief.” Rising, Caitlyn took a step towards the windows and stretched her back, yawning. “Thick hair. Thin hair. Curly hair. Straight hair. Long hair. Short hair. No hair. Brown. Blond. Black. Red. Who cares this much about hair?” she groaned. “I just want someone I can talk to and appreciate Italy with for sixteen days. How can the rest of this stuff possibly matter?”

Spying her through the glass wall, Rachel rose and came back to the room quickly. “Everything alright? Oh.” She did a double-take, glancing at the computer-generated composite image emerging agonizingly slow from the ceaseless stream of intrusive questions Caitlyn had been trying to answer since this morning. “Wow. You have impeccable taste.”

Caitlyn inhaled deeply. “You said to answer the questions truthfully. Th-the more truthful the answers, the—.”

“The better the match,” Rachel finished, repeating the instructions she’d given before lunch. “That’s true. What I didn’t expect is how quickly you’d finish them.”

“‘Quickly’? I’ve been working on this all day. It’s nearly time to go home and I’m not finished.”

“Most women take a week to get this far. You know yourself well—know your likes and dislikes.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she paced the few steps to stand directly before the wall monitor, studying the three-dimensional image resolving there as Caitlyn completed the questions. “Is this what your late husband looked like?” Rachel asked, glancing over her shoulder.

“Alex?” Caught off guard, Caitlyn’s brows rose. She glanced up at the monitor. “I—no. He was smaller. Not particularly athletic. A doctor—like me. But personable.”

Rachel smiled. “I’ve reviewed your personality profile, Caitlyn. You’re shy, sure, but you’re also ‘personable’. In fact, I think you have an incredible sense of humor and a charmingly dry wit. Your husband was a fortunate man. The same is true for the Duke who goes with you.”

Taking an awkward step forward, Caitlyn wrung her hands together. “A-about that. How will I—how will I know who—?”

“Who your Duke is? Well, aside from he should match as many of your physical characteristics as he can, I would hope there’d be an instant chemistry. We’re doing a lot of work to find you someone with a complementary temperament to yours.”

“So, he’ll know who I am? A-and introduce himself?”

Pouring herself a cup of coffee, Rachel took a step back to stare at the monitor again, an idea about which Duke to pair with Caitlyn already emerging in her head. “Yes, he’ll know who you are. Remember, the point of all this legwork in advance is to make as well-suited of a companion available for you. Once, we’ve determined the best possible attendant, then he’ll get some schooling in your needs and tastes and try to make his introduction as comfortable and organic-seeming as he can.”

“‘Organic’. Good grief, this is all so weird,” Caitlyn muttered.

Rachel pivoted immediately. “It’s definitely a non-traditional way to meet someone, but between the varying online pairing platforms, speed dating, chat groups and the like, I don’t think it’s any stranger. It’s definitely safer. And there’s no obligation on your part. The Duke Agency will find you someone to keep you company and make your trip enjoyable, and when it’s over, you go home happy. We guarantee it, or you get every penny back.”

“What—what about him? What if I suck? Or-or he doesn’t like me?”

Rachel laughed, a bright twinkly sound like crystal bells that Caitlyn, with her breathy whisper of a voice envied. “It’s his job to like you. And the entire point of all these questions. To find you someone who can make your trip special as naturally for you both as possible. If it’s any comfort at all, I’ve already got a few awesome Dukes in mind.”

Internally, Caitlyn groaned. It was not comforting. Not in the least.