How to Catch a Duke in Ten Days by Violet Hamers
Chapter Two
Jenny shrank into herself, ignominy stiffening her every joint.
“It’s the Earl of Garfield and Charlotte McAllister!” Daphne’s frenzied footsteps followed her declaration before stopping abruptly. “Oh, my goodness! Did I just interrupt a conversation?”
The book in Jenny’s hand fell with a loud thud, confirming her presence. She squeezed her eyes shut when she heard footsteps approaching in her direction. When they stopped, she opened her eyes to a pair of impeccably polished black Hessian boots that could only rival those of Beau Brummell.
“Jenny?” Nicholas’s surprised voice called. “Lady Jennifer Robshaw?”
Jenny’s eyes slowly traveled upward to his face, her cheeks afire. Then she gained her feet with as much dignity as she could muster. His gaze was on her bosom and he quirked a brow at the same time that his mouth slanted into a smile. Jenny almost covered her chest with her arms but that might keep his attention there instead of drawing it away, so she refrained.
“Your Graces,” she murmured in greeting to both the dowager and Nicholas, bobbing a small curtsy. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her if that would bring an end to the intense embarrassment she was feeling.
“Oh!” Daphne let out from the other side of the room, clumsily curtsying. “Pardon my manners.”
“What are you doing here?” Nicholas asked.
Jenny raised her gaze to his again. The awkward boy she had chased across the fields of the countryside was far from the tall, devilishly handsome man standing before now, oozing confidence and power. Looking at him now infuriated her as his words came back to her.
A trap, indeed, she thought to herself. Knowing him, she was certain he would do everything in his power to avoid marriage with her. She, too, would not allow herself to be shackled to him. A man who would blatantly reject her was not the man she should be marrying no matter how desperate she was. And she was desperate. Her father had mired himself in debt and her future needed to be secured. She did not think she still had a dowry.
Schooling her features into as placid a mask as possible, she responded with, “I did not mean to overhear your conversation.”
“But you did,” the dowager said with a raised brow.
“And I shall excuse myself now.” She took Daphne’s arm and began to draw her out of the room.
The dowager managed to look equal parts intrigued and annoyed, and her eyes followed Jenny out of the room.
“What happened in there?” Daphne asked in a loud whisper once they emerged in the hallway.
“You were saying something about Lord Garfield and Charlotte McAllister?” Jenny attempted to change the subject. She was not ready to tell her friend that her marriage was being arranged.
Daphne was quiet for a second, ostensibly from sensing her deliberate diversion before finally responding with, "I had just exited the retiring room when I ran into Amelia Banes who was standing staring agape into one of the salons. I was too curious not to take a peek.” She paused for effect and Jenny urged her on. “I saw Charlotte and Lord Garfield inside... looking very disheveled.”
Jenny stopped short and turned to face her friend. “Goodness! And you couldn’t keep quiet about it?” she admonished.
“Oh, I only told you.”
Jenny gave her a look. “If I recall correctly, the Duke and Dowager Duchess of Seaton were in the library when you mentioned the scandal of the century along with their names.”
Daphne waved a hand as if to dismiss Jenny’s words. “They won’t talk. And even if the secret is to get out, I will not be responsible. We both know that Amelia Banes has never been good at keeping secrets.”
Jenny had attended a seminary for girls with Amelia and she was positive the girl would spread the word. “What do you think they will do now?” Jenny drew her forward and they continued walking. She needed something to distract her from any and all thoughts of Nicholas.
“Why, they will have to marry, of course.” Daphne leaned closer and lowered her voice. “They did things in there. Things we aren’t allowed to speak of. I do not believe they can get out of this.”
Daphne turned to her, her countenance serious. “What happened in the library, Jenny?”
Jenny knew her friend enough to know she would not let the matter rest. So, she decided to tell her some of what had happened.
“The dowager duchess wants me to marry Nicholas.”
Her friend’s eyes widened. “That is wonderful!” Then Daphne’s smile turned into a frown. “It is, is it not?”
“No, it is not. I don’t want to marry him. I don’t even know him anymore.”
The man Nicholas had become had practically crushed the person that had once been her best friend. Yes, they had grown up and assumed their respective roles in life but that was not the cause of their distance. It was the rakish reputation he’d built over the years. If she were being honest with herself, she would admit that she did not like him despite occupying space in her heart that he had no right to.
“But he might be the better choice here. You are looking for a husband this season. Perhaps it is Nicholas.”
Jenny was not convinced. “We should return to the ballroom. We can talk about this later.”
Daphne smiled. “We could use a dance or two.” She pulled Jenny with her. In her haste to enter the ballroom and find a dance partner, Daphne ran into a man and the impact sent her falling backward. Jenny took hold of her from behind to break her fall.
“I beg your pardon,” the gentleman said and Jenny realized it was Ernest Brighton, Nicholas’s cousin. “I did not see you there.”
“Oh, think nothing of it,” Daphne replied in a good-natured manner.
Ernest glanced behind him once before turning back and extending a hand to Daphne while flashing her his most brilliant smile. “Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, Miss Bexley?”
Daphne looked positively surprised by the attention he was giving her.
Jenny’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him. She knew Ernest as well as she knew Nicholas and had seen more of him than his cousin in the past years as the latter had fled England at the first opportunity after concluding his studies at Oxford. Ernest would never ask a lady to dance unless…
Jenny craned her neck to look into the ballroom. Daphne did the same before folding her arms across her chest and regarding Ernest with suspicion. “You are trying to avoid the lady with the triplets, are you not?”
Ernest laughed. “Miss Daphne Jane Susanna Bexley, why would I need to dance with you to avoid someone? I simply seek the pleasure of your company.” He titled his head and smiled down at her. Jenny could see him unraveling the girl’s defenses with just that smile.
Daphne gasped. “How do you know my names?”
“Oh, your name is not the only thing I know about you.” He elected to use a wink from his arsenal now. The next thing that happened left Jenny blinking in surprise. Daphne practically floated away on his arm.
He glanced over his shoulder and winked at Jenny. She laughed. She disapproved of his behavior but she liked him, nevertheless. He was her only friend besides Daphne. She entered the ballroom and headed toward the refreshment table to quench her thirst with some lemonade.
“In its blazing beauty, it sets its beholder’s fancy aflame. A fierier curtain I am yet to behold,” came a voice from behind her, stopping her in her tracks.
She knew exactly who it was without turning.
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