The Scoundrel Duke of her Heart by Violet Hamers

Chapter Eleven

“Remind me again how I went from husband-hunting to attending my first ball as an engaged lady within two days.” Jenny raised a pearl earring to her ear, unable to decide if she should wear them tonight. She was not looking forward to this evening.

“You sound like you are complaining,” Daphne drawled, tucking a lace handkerchief in her bag.

“I’m not complaining,” Jenny returned, deciding to wear the pearls. She’d previously had no one to impress at balls but now there was Nicholas, even though she’d lost count of how many times she’d told herself that she did not need to impress him.

“You do sound as though you are already regretting accepting the duke’s proposal.”

Jenny sighed. “I am trapped between anticipation and regret.”

Daphne placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and turned her away from the mirror. “What do you mean?”

“Nicholas has no expectations but I do. I don’t want to have any expectations, yet I do.”

“As well you should. Expectations are part of a good marriage, Jenny.” Daphne, it would seem, did not understand Jenny’s qualms. But she did not blame her. She was yet to know the exact terms of the marriage. They had never kept things from each other and so Jenny was pricked by guilt for leaving her friend in the dark.

“I know how you feel about Nicholas,” she continued, “and after years of harboring such feelings for him, it is natural to have expectations. You are going to be his wife. I think you should celebrate.”

What good will celebrating do when I have no hope of my expectations ever being met?

Still, she managed a weak smile to show her friend that she appreciated her reassurance before turning to finish putting on her earrings. Through the mirror, she watched Daphne purse her lips in thought, then her eyes brightened.

“I am going to have a married friend!” She all but bounced on her feet. “You can tell me everything about married life that the married women are keeping hushed.”

Jenny’s cheeks warmed at the realization as to what her friend was referring. “Daph—”

“You can even mentor me. Show me what I should and should not do in—”

“Daphne! I can’t mentor you in anything.”

Daphne’s grin froze. “Is there some sort of married women code that you’re obligated to obey?”

Jenny shook her head and stood, picking up her beaded reticule from the vanity table. “No, that’s not it. My marriage is going to be one of mere convenience, and thus, I shall have nothing to tell you.”

There! The cat is out of the bag.

“Is that something you decided, Jenny?” Daphne’s forehead creased as her brows rose.

“Nicholas did,” Jenny answered, disliking the disappointed edge in her voice. “We marry, it secures the purpose for which we sought to marry, and we get out of each other’s way. I think that is convenient enough.”

Daphne surprised Jenny by bursting into laughter. “Do you truly believe that?” she asked after regaining enough composure to speak. “Nicholas is a man! You cannot expect nothing to happen while sharing a roof with an attractive young woman such as yourself.” She laughed again.

Jenny supposed there was some truth in her statement as she recalled the kiss they had shared on the night of his ball. She had felt the way his body had responded to her. Her cheeks began to grow warm again and she quickly pushed the thoughts away. “What do you know about men, Daphne?” The question was a murmur.

“More than you, apparently. I suppose I will have to continue to rely on what the maids tell me.”

Jenny gasped. “Do not tell me you ask the maids such questions.”

A mischievous smile touched her lips. “You would be surprised at what they are willing to divulge, especially with a little coin.”

Jenny shook her head. “You, my friend, would make a good politician if women were allowed.”

“Do you think society is doing us any service by keeping such intrinsic aspects of human existence and progression a secret until we are married?”

“It is to protect us,” Jenny said even though she knew that was not the case. Nicholas had proven that at the ball. Keeping such things hidden only worked to make young unmarried women curious, and the most foolish of them ended up getting themselves in trouble.

Mrs. Atwood bustled into the room in a flurry of cornflower blue silk. “Quickly now, ladies. We must leave lest we be late and not fashionably.”

A flutter began in Jenny’s stomach and she pressed her palm to the lower part of her belly. “What if we don’t leave at all?”

Mrs. Atwood raised her brows in a critical manner. “I have a responsibility to see that the two of you attend this ball. Now, come. We mustn’t keep the duke waiting.”

* * *

The first person her eyes landed on when she arrived at the ball was Nicholas. He was on the other side of the room, engrossed in conversation with a group of gentlemen. He appeared to be taking his ducal duties rather seriously. She proceeded into the ballroom, careful not to catch his eye as she was not ready for his company this evening. The heat in her cheeks and the flutters in her stomach apprised her of that much. She needed something to distract her before she found herself in his arms again.

“Is that not your friend, Sir Phineas?” Daphne asked, pointing with her fan.

A smile crept up her features when she saw him. The moment he spotted them, he made his way toward them. “Might I say you look radiant this evening, Lady Jennifer?” He bowed over her hand.

“Thank you, Sir Phineas.” She drew Daphne forward. “Do you remember my friend, Miss Daphne Bexley?”

“How can I forget another beauty?” He took Daphne’s hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. “May I have your first dance, Miss Bexley?”

“Yes, you may, Sir Phineas.” A slight blush touched her cheeks and Jenny smiled. She wouldn’t mind Phineas courting her friend and if she could do something to make it happen, she would.

Phineas turned to her. “And may I have your next dance? I know your first dance is promised to your betrothed.”

Jenny was expected to give Nicholas her first dance of the evening and her eyes moved to the group of men she had seen him with. He was not there and her brows furrowed as she searched the room for him. She might be avoiding him but she liked having him in the ballroom.

“I brought you this,” Phineas said, breaking into the bubble of her thoughts. “It has been collecting dust on my bookshelf for far too long and I think you will put it to better use than I did.”

She accepted the book from him and turned it over in her hand, examining the title in bold, gilt letters. Man and Stone: The Age-Old Chronicle of Rufus Caldwell’s Discoveries.

“This looks like a boring book,” Daphne remarked, craning her neck over Jenny’s shoulder to have a look at the book.

Jenny elbowed her gently. Phineas smiled. “I do appreciate an honest opinion. I take it you are not as keen on geology as Jenny.”

“Rocks have never interested me. Fabrics and colors, however, never fail to put a smile on my face.”

“You design?” Phineas asked, his brows shooting up and almost disappearing into his hairline.

“Yes, I dabble,” Daphne replied with a modest smile that she made to hide behind her fan.

“Pay that no mind, Sir Phineas. She has an entire room filled with sketches and fabric samples.”

“It is an unusual hobby for a genteel young woman.” Daphne seemed somewhat disconcerted by what Jenny had just said but she was confident that Phineas would not judge her. He was not that sort of person.

And he proved her right with his next remark. “I do hope you design for men. I am something of a sartorial connoisseur.” He absently ran a hand over his embroidered waistcoat.

Daphne laughed, seeming relieved. “Careful, Sir Phineas, lest I take this as your offer to be my model.”

“You should, Miss Bexley.”

Their interaction made Jenny smile. Now that she was engaged to be married, she wanted to help her friend find a husband and she hoped Daphne and Phineas would be interested in courtship. She looked around again for Nicholas, hoping to spot him this time. A new dance was about to start. When she couldn’t find him, she returned her attention to the book in her hand and remembered she had not thanked Phineas for it.

“This is a great book, Sir Phineas. Thank you.”

“I have more like that in my library.” He grinned down at her.

“I hope you will not empty your library for my sake.”

“If it means your face will be illuminated like this every time, then it is worth it. A beautiful smile is worth more than all the books in the world.”

Jenny had a feeling he was about to begin reciting a verse.

“Indeed, a beautiful smile is,” Nicholas drawled from behind her. Her body tensed, every fiber becoming aware of his presence. When she turned to behold him, she found him giving Phineas a cold stare.

Ever the jovial fellow, Phineas extended his hand in a gesture of peace. “Good evening, Your Grace.” Nicholas took his time before accepting the proffered hand, clasping it tightly and making Phineas frown.

Just what does Nicholas think he is doing?

“I believe this dance is mine,” he said to her, his tone possessive. Jenny did not like that but she allowed him to take her arm and lead her to the dance floor. “I made sure to claim a waltz.”

“I did not appreciate your behavior just now, Your Grace,” she said, trying to keep the expression on her face placid. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were on them.

Nicholas did not respond until they began to dance. “I don’t believe I understand your meaning.”

She rolled her eyes and glanced at the couple that swiveled past them. “You can feign innocence all you want, Your Grace.”

“You should not find any fault in my behavior. That dandy was flirting, very publicly if I might add, with an engaged woman. A woman that is engaged to me.”

“That dandy is my friend!” she almost snapped. “He was not flirting. He was conversing with me in the same manner he was conversing with Daphne.”

“He converses with everything in a skirt in the same manner, Jenny. Are you not wary of the eyes around you or how harshly the tongues would lash?”

An irritated laugh pushed past her lips. “For a man that courts scandal every day, you certainly seem concerned about it today. I do not recall having a problem with your public display of familiarity toward the trio of blushing women we encountered at the park earlier.”

Jenny had been jealous and had demanded he take her home, but that was not the point right now. She had not confronted him about it as he was confronting her about her interaction with Phineas.

Nicholas scoffed as though what she’d said was ridiculous. “What have they to do with this?”

“I see you are allowed to have friends but I am not,” she murmured.

His hand tightened at her waist and he drew her closer. “I never said that.”

That small movement was enough to awaken her senses once more and they defied every order she gave them to not respond to him. She was annoyed with him and her body ought to be, too.

“You don’t have to say it.”

The tension between them grew through the dance and she was filled with relief when the dance was concluded. She dropped into a courteous curtsy without a word before walking away from him.