An Unlikely Duchess Read online

  Then, she decided that he could easily assume that had been her plan, and now that he’d discovered it she was reverting to type. She rang for Maura immediately and instructed her to lay out her silver silk evening gown, one of her favourites and most eye catching. Then she sat down in preparation for Maura to dress her hair.

  She did not want him to think that she was dressing plainly because of him.

  But, if she did make too much of an effort, would he think she was trying to attract him? After all, hadn’t she screeched at him like a fishwife for not wanting to kiss her? She told Maura to leave again.

  Maura refused on the grounds that Rebecca would call for her again in a matter of moments.

  So she stayed.

  “There, my lady.” Maura leaned back having braided a silver ribbon through the intricate style piled on top of Rebecca’s head. It left her neck exposed apart from a few tendrils, which curled at the nape. “As pretty as a picture.”

  Rebecca smiled gratefully at Maura, pleased now that she had decided, or been forced by Maura really, to dress well. Stuff the arrogant Duke!

  She would be in London this Season proving to him that she had no interest in him.

  Ignoring the clenching in her heart at the thought, she gave herself one last looking over and, happy enough with the results of Maura’s ministrations, she swept downstairs.

  ****

  Edward had been worried about the reception he would get from both his mother and Lady Ranford but he found to his relief that the ladies treated him as warmly as ever. He had spoken to his mother earlier of course, and explained that he had met with both Lady Caroline and Ranford, and neither had seemed overly disappointed in his breaking the contract.

  The dowager had barely batted an eyelid. How strange. He’d been dragged all this way to marry the chit and now nobody seemed to give a damn!

  Now, he stood engaging in a lively discussion about the recent goings on in Parliament with Tom, the earl and the vicar, Mr. Davids, who had been invited along with his wife to dine this evening. The vicar was an intelligent man and Edward was quite enjoying the verbal sparring. As the conversation grew livelier, he noticed that Tom seemed suddenly distracted and that his eyes had glazed over slightly. Rebecca must be here.

  Preparing himself for the impact, he turned in the direction of Tom’s stare.

  She wasn’t here! Edward felt a moment of confusion before he realised that Lady Caroline had entered, looking resplendent in ice blue silk. He looked quickly back at Tom who still seemed quite starry eyed.

  Well, well, well. It seemed Edward would not have to shoot his cousin after all.

  He was about to turn away when a flash of silver caught his eye and now it was his turn to stare. For there she was, the woman who had made him feel more emotions in the last two days than he’d felt since being a hormonal lad.

  God, she was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. Her gown was a soft silk and, in the candlelight the silver colour made her look ethereal. Her dark hair was shot through with silver ribbon. Edward swallowed past the lump, which seemed to have taken up residence in his throat, as his eyes travelled the length of the gown.

  The neckline was low, though not obscenely so, showing just enough flesh to drive him mad for the entire evening. It skimmed her body, falling in soft folds but rather than completely hide what was underneath it hinted at it enough to keep a man guessing until he was driven to the brink of insanity.

  He needed a drink.

  Slowly he came round to the oddest, rasping sound. His brows drew together until he realised that the earl was coughing to gain his attention.

  He schooled his features into a mask of indifference but the earl did not seem fooled in the slightest. The vicar was smiling in great amusement. Edward noticed that Tom too looked decidedly uncomfortable. It seemed they’d both been caught.

  Fortunately they were saved from further embarrassment by the butler’s announcement that dinner was served. Glancing sheepishly at each other, they made their way to the ladies to escort them to dinner.

  Rebecca sat and prepared to make more conversation with Mr. Mrs. Davids than she ever had in her life. Anything to stop herself from being drawn into conversation with Hartridge. She still wanted to throw a platter at him and was currently eyeing up the silverware to pick her best weapon. Not too heavy, or it would not reach him.

  “My lady,” Mr. Crawdon’s voice brought her out of her less than innocent musings. She turned to him with a smile.

  “I wondered if you liked to play whist.”

  “I do indeed, when I am allowed to,” Rebecca answered mischievously.

  “What can you mean?”

  “Only that I have such a talent for the game, my father rarely allows me to play.” She leaned in to whisper, “he does not like being beaten by girls, you see.”

  Tom laughed loudly drawing the attention of the rest of the table.

  Rebecca looked up to see Caroline shooting daggers at her. What was that look for? What in God’s name had she done now? She hadn’t even spoken to the blasted duke.

  Her thoughts seemed to propel her gaze toward him, though she had told herself to ignore him completely. It seemed she could not help it.

  His expression made her throat catch. He was looking murderously at his cousin but when his eyes snapped to hers his expression changed. Rebecca did not know what to call it, but she felt the impact of it right down to her toes and a shocking heat pooled in her belly. She felt her face flush and looked away.

  “What can be so amusing, cousin?” Edward asked, all politeness. His tone was friendly enough but there was an underlying hardness to it. Rebecca wondered if anyone else noticed it.

  “Lady Rebecca and I were just discussing her prowess as a whist player. It is quite something to behold I hear,” Tom answered calmly, seemingly unfazed by the iron in the duke’s tone.

  “It seems the lady has many talents,” Edward replied.

  Rebecca’s eyes flew back to his. She did not like his tone.

  “Why earlier I found myself quite amazed with her horsemanship.”

  Oh no.

  “I was very impressed at her ability to jump the boundary hedge from your stables to the meadows, my lord,” this to her father.

  She hated him!

  The earl looked momentarily confused then, as realisation dawned he looked in horror at Rebecca. She wanted the ground to swallow her.

  “Rebecca,” his voice was low and controlled since they had guests, but she knew that had they been alone, he would have railed at her until he grew hoarse. “How could you take such a risk?”

  Rebecca looked again at the duke, feeling a stab of betrayal. Why would he say such a thing, knowing she would be in trouble? She only prayed that he was finished trying to humiliate her and that he would not mention Mr. Simons. Or anything else, for that matter.

  “It was fine, Father. I am quite capable of jumping the hedge. I did not even—”

  “And I have told you before,” the earl interrupted her, fury stamped on his expression, “that I will not have my daughter taking such ridiculous risks and acting like anything less than a lady.”

  Rebecca’s cheeks burned with humiliation. She dared not look at anyone else at the table, lest she see scorn, disappointment, or worse, pity on their faces.

  There was an uncomfortable silence at the table broken at last by the dowager duchess.

  “Well, I for one admire your energy Lady Rebecca, though I do urge you to take care. Beauty such as yours is so rare. I find myself quite excited about the impact you will make when you make your come out.”

  Rebecca smiled gratefully at the dowager. Not only had she broken the tension but had raised the subject of the upcoming Season, thus giving the ladies at the table a subject to discuss and allowing them to quite forget Rebecca’s set down.

  Mr. Crawford engaged her once again in a conversation about her card playing abilities and Rebecca forced herself to relax. It seemed her humiliation
was done for now. But she felt utterly heart sore.

  It was obvious to her that the duke still held her in as much contempt as he had displayed this afternoon.

  Edward allowed the conversation around the table to wash over him while he inwardly called himself every bad name he could think of. And since he spoke three languages, he had quite the repertoire. Had he really just gone out of his way to shame and humiliate the girl? Had he really sunk so low? And why? Because he was jealous that she was laughing with Tom?

  If ever there was proof that he needed to leave here at first light, this was it. Rebecca would hate him now, if she did not before. The damage done this afternoon had just been reinforced by his own jealous stupidity.

  “Is that not so, my dear?” His mother leaned across the table to gain his attention.

  “I am sorry Mother, I did not quite catch that.”

  “I was telling Mrs. Davids how sorry you are to have to leave tomorrow.”

  “Indeed. Very sorry. But urgent business calls me to Town I am afraid.”

  Rebecca, who had been chatting with Mr. Crawford heard the dowager announce Hartridge’s leaving. Her head snapped up. Leaving? She listened carefully to his answer. Tomorrow? He was leaving tomorrow? She felt a stab of disappointment, which was ridiculous. She hated him!.

  And, wasn’t Rebecca herself planning on leaving for London just as soon as her father could make arrangements? Though she did not want to clap eyes on him while she was there.

  London was filled with enough people that they could happily avoid each other, though they would attend much of the same functions.

  So it should not make a difference to her when he left. It did not make a difference.

  “Is your whole party to leave, your grace?” Caroline asked the dowager in a small voice. Rebecca felt Mr. Crawford tense beside her at Caroline’s question.

  The dowager answered, “No, my dear. I have so wished to visit you all for so long. Tom has been kind enough to offer to stay behind for the duration of my visit.”

  “How wonderful,” Caroline answered weakly. Rebecca frowned. Between Caroline’s reaction and Mr. Crawdon’s statue-like posture beside her when Caroline had spoken, she felt something very strange was going on here.

  “We shall be joining you in London this Season too, my lady,” the earl announced, his tone still not as jovial as before but sounding a little less angry.

  “Indeed?”

  “Yes, Rebecca has decided to hunt for a husband!”

  For Heaven’s sake! Her father was the least subtle man in the realm.

  The earl was cut short by the sound of choking to his right. It seemed the duke had swallowed something that did not agree with him.

  “Good heavens man! Are you alright?”

  Hartridge took a long drink of wine before apologising.

  “Pray forgive me sir, I must have bitten off more than I could chew.”

  This earned an unladylike snort from Rebecca, which in turned earned another angry glare from Caroline. And her father. Best she stayed quiet. She risked a quick glance at Hartridge and found his eyes boring into her. His face was rigid and his jaw clenched as if he was struggling to stay in control. He was probably disappointed that an ocean would not be separating them for long after all.

  “Do continue, Charles,” the dowager urged excitedly, “are you really to come to London for the Season?”

  “So it would seem,” the earl continued, “Rebecca has gotten it into her head to settle down, and now that Caroline and Edward have decided against each other, we may as well launch the both of them.” Her father had never exactly been renowned for his tact.

  “But this is wonderful,” the dowager exclaimed. “My dears, you will be the toast of the Town!”

  Caroline stared at Rebecca from across the table. Rebecca hadn’t had a chance to confide her wishes to her older sister. And judging from their father’s announcement Caroline was now to seek a husband, whether she wanted to or not.

  Rebecca leaned forward and spoke as low as possible, “I am sorry I did not get a chance to speak to you Caroline, I hadn’t thought that father would expect you to come too, unless you wanted to.”

  Caroline looked down at her lap and kept her head bowed for a moment and Rebecca wondered if she was truly terribly upset by the idea but then Caro’s head raised and she fixed a determined smile on her face.

  “I think it is a wonderful idea. We must both marry, mustn’t we? Why not go and see what London has to offer?”

  Rebecca could not help but feel that something else was going on in Caro’s head but now was not the time to question her. The dowager, her mother and Mrs. Davids were chattering excitedly about balls, soirees and London wardrobes; her father was discussing his plans to open up the Townhouse with the vicar and none of them seemed to be paying attention to the tension emanating from Rebecca, Hartridge, Caroline and, strangely, Mr. Crawford.

  The atmosphere was as untenable as it was confusing and Rebecca just wanted the night to be over.

  ****

  Edward listened to the buzz of conversation around the table but he could not drag his eyes from Rebecca’s face. She was coming to London, would be attending functions with him all Season. Well, perhaps not with him but in the same room as him!

  And she was on the hunt for a husband?

  He wanted to punch something.

  This was all his fault. He had antagonised her. Insulted her. And now he would have to watch her marry some dandy, no doubt.

  His jaw clenched even harder until he thought his teeth would disintegrate. Who amongst the ton would be good enough for Rebecca? Those with the right lineage would bore her to tears. And the ones who were not boring were downright dangerous.

  It was ridiculous! Rebecca no more wanted a husband than he did! What the hell was she going to do? Stifle all that personality by becoming a proper society wife? Or have her heart broken and fortune stolen by a rake?

  She would not even look at him.

  In total exasperation he looked across the table to Lady Caroline. Judging by the earl’s announcement, that lady had not even been consulted. Perhaps she would be able to disabuse her younger sister of the notion to marry. But Caroline looked as miserable as he felt, and decidedly caught up in her own thoughts.

  And hadn’t he heard her tell Rebecca that she liked the idea? Well, she would be no help!

  Help in what? Edward almost cursed aloud as that damned voice popped into his head yet again. It always appeared at the worst times and it never said anything he wanted to hear.

  Help in stopping Lady Rebecca from marrying? Why would he stop her from marrying someone else? Was he going to marry her himself?

  He hesitated as his mind threw up images of what it would be like having Lady Rebecca as a wife. But his mind wasn’t much use since the only images it was throwing up were not images he should be conjuring in front of her parents.

  He had no intentions of marrying her. She was unsuitable. She climbed statues for God’s sake. And he did not love her. He could not. No, Rebecca did not suit.

  So then, what was it that he wanted? Lady Rebecca to remain unattached because he did not want to see her married to someone else? Yet, having no intentions towards her, did he want her to be a spinster? Forever alone? No, he did not want that either. It was unfair. She deserved a life filled with love. And passion.

  Do not think about passion, he warned himself! Not in a room full of people.

  Dear God this Season would be excruciating. Standing idly by, watching men throw themselves at her until she picked one and walked out of his life forever? Perhaps they’d meet at social occasions, her on the arm of her husband and he forever lusting after someone unattainable?

  “No.”

  Oh wonderful. He’d just bellowed ‘no’ aloud. He’d finally taken leave of his senses.

  His outburst brought a shocked ending to the buzz of conversation. Edward needed to think of something fast.

  “No doubt,” he
recovered addressing the earl, though how he would finish the sentence he’d started was beyond him. Plus, since he’d started off shouting he felt the need to continue in an excruciatingly loud voice. “No doubt you — er — will be wanting someone to keep an eye on the ladies at the functions you are unable to attend, Ranford.”

  What in damnation was he saying?

  A quick glance down the table confirmed that everyone was mightily confused by this rather random statement.

  “Well,” began the earl hesitantly, “their mother will be there to sponsor them, naturally.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  There was a pause while Edward continued to rack his brain.

  “But, between you and me sir,” he leaned forward conspiratorially. The rest of the party leaned forward too.

  “You are a man of the world, as am I. I think we both know that there will be a certain type of gentleman most desirous of company with your daughters.”

  What was he saying?

  “What’s he saying?” hissed Rebecca to Mr. Crawford only to be shushed by his flapping hand.

  “I am listening,” he whispered.

  The earl looked gravely at the young duke.

  “Yes, yes I suppose you are right.”

  Edward inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. At least the older man thought he had genuinely meant to shout ‘No’ at him and hadn’t had some sort of episode at the dinner table.

  “I have no doubt your excellent wife is more than capable of bringing the girls out. However, I believe it would be prudent to have a gentleman escort the girls to functions and keep an eye on them, so to speak. When you are not attending functions yourself, that is.”

  Had he really just volunteered to be a nanny to the ladies Carrington?

  “A capitol idea, dear fellow,” the earl beamed. “I will feel much more comfortable knowing that you will be looking after the girls’ interests. Need to keep those who would take advantage of them in dark corners away, eh?”

  Edward decided not to dwell overly long on the fact that, to his knowledge, the only man who had accosted either of the earl’s daughters in a dark corner was him!