“Ashe!” Lady Winters greeted them warmly, her husband in tow. Galen was one of their father’s dearest friends and a member of the inner circle referred to as the Jaded. “Ladies, you look lovely! Just breathtaking!”
“So lovely I can already see why Ashe is looking like he’s swallowed a lemon over there,” Galen teased them.
“We’ll see how sweet you look when Alicia is out next spring. I expect to have Rutherford on hand to physically restrain you at every turn.” Ashe held his ground with a wry grin. “And I will gleefully be enjoying the show, old friend, from a comfortable distance.”
“Truce, please.” Starr interjected, ever the peace maker. “Don’t worry, Uncle Galen. Garrett wouldn’t allow his younger sister to suffer from a single insult and I can’t imagine a more diligent chaperone.”
Scarlett nodded. “We will take Alicia under our wings and we can navigate the Season together just the three of us.”
Galen gave Ashe a sidelong look, the men acknowledging that it was unlikely that his Beauties would be unmarried long enough to have the pleasure of accompanying their friend on her first Season.
Ashe scowled at him in return and Lady Winters smoothly intervened. “Is Caroline here? I do long to see her and sit together while we watch the fun.”
“She was not up for the outing tonight. But I know she would welcome a call from you and will be very happy to know that you are in Town again at last.”
“I’ll call on her tomorrow afternoon,” Lady Winters said.
“Is Alicia with you?”
“We left her home at Stamford Cross with Garrett, much to his consternation.” Lady Winters sighed. “She’s been a bit more quiet and out of sorts lately and begged to stay out of the city. Has she written to you lately, Starr? Any clues you might share with a concerned mother over the mysteries of a daughter?”
Starr shook her head, her eyes growing wide with anxiety. “No. But now I worry that I don’t have anything to tell you for Alicia has always written so regularly—so candidly. Her correspondence had slowed and I must be wretchedly selfish with all the goings on because I hadn’t thought of it really until this moment.”
Scarlett drew closer. “I’ve had nothing from her for quite some time. I assumed she and Starr were…oh, dear!”
“No, no, girls. I’ve alarmed you without cause. I was seeking gossip and secrets and it’s not my place. Alicia is fine. She has always been one to keep her own council and a mother should respect that.”
“And Lady Winters has long been one to see drama and dark shadows where none exist,” Galen teased his wife gently. “My practical angel.”
The twins politely said nothing but it was understood that they would both be writing a letter to their friend, Alicia, as soon as possible.
“Let’s leap into it, shall we, ladies?” Ashe said, redirecting all their eyes to the bright and colorful room of guests who milled about beginning to pair up for the quadrilles ahead. “Which of my Buttons will honor me with a dance?”
“Father! You will make us look like awkward children who must dance with their father and balance on his toes,” Scarlett said softly. “I adore you but—it simply isn’t done.”
“I’ll dance with you, Father, for I am already awkward and frankly don’t care what anyone thinks,” Starr said firmly and held out her hand. “Promise you won’t let me step on your toes.”
“Of course and you may damage mine as much as you wish,” Ashe said.
He led his daughter to the floor and when the music began, proved that his skills had not diminished with time. The pair elicited sighs at the sweet sight of a father and his daughter, but just as Scarlett had feared there were a few whispers of how unfortunate that no available bachelor had offered to take her out onto the floor thereby forcing her father to step in.
Scarlett sighed, envying her twin’s courage and ability to dismiss the world to be happy.
“Excuse me, Miss Blackwell. May I have this dance?”
Scarlett pivoted to face the Duke of Chesterton, happily surprised to find him there. He was elegantly attired as always, just as she remembered him—older, still handsome, with kind eyes. “Your Grace, may I first introduce you to Lord and Lady Winters? They have been as an aunt and uncle to me for as long as I can remember.”
“Then I am even happier to make their acquaintance. I am Elgin York, sixth Duke of Chesterton and a few more titles that make me feel ancient when I pompously list them out so I’ll leave it there.”
The men shook hands, courtesies exchanged. Galen looked impressed but nonplussed at the titles though he did manage to glance out to confirm that Ashe was oblivious to the development of dukes and dances.
“Are your parents here this evening?”
“My father is there,” Scarlett said. “Dancing with my sister. Do you see?”
“Then we should join them. Would you be amenable, Miss Blackwell?”
She nodded without looking to her chaperones, not trusting herself to betray that she was up to something. Aunt Haley knew her far too well.
“I would be delighted, Your Grace.”
He led her out to the edge of the dance floor as the music drew to a gentle close and the next dance began. They stepped out together and Scarlett knew her cheeks were as pink as peonies as people took note of the couple and she overheard the whispers saying “What a lucky girl!”.
Even so, she lifted the looped ribbon on her train to put her hand through it and off they went—one lucky girl and the bachelor duke.
“Is it hard to keep up the ruse?” he asked softly.
“No,” she said. “It is easy to dance and you…are a dear to even think you needed to ask again. My goodness! The gossips needed so little encouragement.”
“It never takes much. I’ve seen men’s reputations destroyed over something as unsubstantial as a misplaced card.”
Scarlett gasped. “Truly?”
“Well, there may have more to it than that if the card is in a deck and one is gambling, it is understandable, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “I thought you meant a calling card falling off a tray and I wasn’t sure if I should panic or not.”
“I think you are safe.”
Scarlett looked past his shoulder to see that indeed, all was calm. There was no mob pointing and staring at them and instead, she was a fortunate debutante enjoying the illustrious company of a duke. It was ridiculously heady stuff.
“What do you think, Miss Blackwell? Is it working?”
“Almost too well. Thank you.”
“Too well?”
“I think half of London paid me a call after we danced. And the other half is sure to do so now.” Scarlett smiled at him. His height was only slightly greater than hers so it was comfortable to look at him directly as they danced. “Even a dear friend of yours felt the need to drop in and ensure that I wasn’t a harpy set out to ruin you.”
“To ruin me? Who was it?”
Scarlett’s smile faded. “He meant only to look out for your best interests. You mustn’t be cross with him.”
“Ah! Talon Rush, then. The Duke of Stafford. My protégé is more protective than any mother I expect.” Elgin cleared his throat. “Did he scare you?”
“He tried,” she answered truthfully before realizing her error. “Of course, I was…He was…I think he is not as impressed with me as you had been.”
“Talon has his good qualities. He takes everything very seriously but underneath it all, I swear there is a soft heart there. We would not be such good friends if it were not so.”
Scarlett couldn’t think of a reply. The man she’d met had given no indication of possessing a single sentimental bone in his body and had made her feel like a scullery maid who had wandered into a fancy dress dinner.
“Was he rude to you, dearest?”
“No. No, I…” Scarlett sighed. “I do not bring out the best in him and that is my doing, not his. He is wary of your heart and happiness and I think he suspects that I am
not what I appear to be. I told you that I wasn’t an actress, Your Grace. But please. I shouldn’t have said anything. He is your friend and I will make more of an effort not to crumble under his intense study. I shall win him over or—” She laughed. “Or I won’t.”
“You could win over anyone but don’t worry about, Rush. He’s cynical by nature and cautious in his alliances but life has made him that way. I’m not revealing his secrets but he is a gentleman through and through and I trust him completely to act accordingly. Don’t let his opinions trouble you.”
“Ah, but as your pretend paramour, should I not do everything in my power to impress your friends?”
It was his turn to laugh. “Not at all. As my pretend paramour, you should be entirely uncaring of any other man’s opinion, beyond mine naturally.”
She agreed, some of the levity fleeing from the moment. “I’m a terrible pretend fiancé because I do care about Stafford’s opinion of me and I don’t know why. He thinks I’m a fortune hunter.”
Elgin shook his head. “Your father’s fortunes are too vast to make that possible. If anyone is a fortune hunter, it would be on the male side of the equation, Miss Blackwell. You must be careful not to forget that.”
Scarlett nodded then tipped her head to one side to study him. “You don’t have the look of a fortune hunter, Your Grace.”
“A fortune hunter never does but my accounts are solvent, Miss Blackwell. I tell you, it is another reason why our game is driving the gossips mad. They are confounded.”
“How goes our courtship? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I’m rusty and making almost no progress. I’ve informed Talon that you are an elusive girl and not so easily won.”
“Elusive? However did I manage that?”
“I don’t know but I loved the way it sounded when I said it.”
Scarlett laughed. “Then I will have to make a study of being elusive. Where does one start?”
“Good question. I think it best if you smile at me less. Perhaps look a little bored at an old man’s company?”
Scarlett shook her head. “I cannot. I knew you would have been better off in collusion with a less transparent person. Could you talk about something boring to give me a push?”
“Any suggestions?”
“Grain futures? The inner workings of a paper mill? Your last hunt in excruciating detail?”
He laughed, drawing several inquisitive glances from nearby dancers. “I love the way your mind works!”
“That is the highest compliment anyone can give a woman, Your Grace.”
“Pardon me, Chesterton.” Suddenly Talon was there and Scarlett’s senses were jarred at how young and vibrant he seemed next to Elgin. She didn’t want the man who had been so kind to suffer in the comparison and she wished she had the power to make it otherwise. But her heartbeat betrayed her as it sped up at the sight of Talon.
Elgin slowed with a smile to face his friend. “Yes, of course, Stafford.”
“May I cut in?”
“If the lady has no objections?” Chesterton looked to her and Scarlett’s voice failed her. Stafford was not an ally but she couldn’t construct an excuse to say no. She shook her head and the transfer into Stafford’s arms was accomplished before she took in another breath.
Chesterton stepped back. “Mind her toes, Stafford. She is priceless to me.”
Scarlett gasped. It was such an extraordinary thing for him to say but then the next dance began and she found herself in the surreal position of dancing with a second duke—and knew that every gossip in the room had taken note.
“Truce?” he asked.
“Were we at war?” Scarlett had to tip her head back to look up at him which only added to the dizzying sensation of being in Talon Rush’s arms. He was a masterful dancer, taking control of their progress effortlessly so that all she had to do was hang on. She had never given in to the physicality of a man before but there was no going back. “Was there a formal declaration of hostilities?”
“Not really. Though I did corner you a bit into declaring how no woman could refuse the friendship of so honorable and illustrious a man, did I not?” He gifted her with a wicked smile. “So that makes us friends by default, Miss Blackwell.”
“I said that?” She furrowed her brow, unhappily recalling that the words were hauntingly familiar, though she would have sworn in a court of law that she’d meant a bit of a sarcastic bite to them at the time. Scarlett couldn’t openly refuse armistice but she wasn’t sure that it wasn’t the greatest mistake of her existence to allow Talon Rush within twenty paces of her person. “How generous of me. Friends, then.”
She smiled, determined to make a good show of it and by the first turn around the room, Scarlett couldn’t stop smiling. The delicious irony of dancing with the devil was just too perfect.
* * *
Talon tried not to smile. Scarlett Blackwell was in his arms like a wild angel.
“What are you thinking, Miss Blackwell? You look so pleased.”
“I am thinking that you don’t like me, Your Grace, and yet we are dancing. How is that possible?”
Talon meant to answer her quickly, to say something wry or cutting but as she looked up at him his heart skipped a beat. Because she was right. It wasn’t possible. He was losing his sense of purpose. Whatever malice he’d held when he’d called on her home days before was lost as they moved together around the room, each step in rhythm, her grace buoyantly making him feel as if he could not put a foot wrong. It was ridiculous but he had no desire to argue with the beautiful woman in his arms. None.
“I cannot dislike you, Miss Blackwell, even if I wished to and I find that dancing with you is suddenly my fondest activity.”
“I cannot believe that. You are not being honest.”
“I am. It makes no sense but I find I would rather be doing nothing else. Let us make a pact, you and I, to always be honest with each other. What do you say to that?”
“I say it is an odd request coming from a man who has made it clear he thinks I’m an interloper.” Scarlett lifted her chin stubbornly. “I take my pacts very seriously.”
“I see your point. Well, then I will make a one-sided promise to be truthful—always.” He waited for her to either commend him for the offer or even reciprocate but instead she began to smile, a genuine sunny shift that sent his pulse racing.
“I will have to test you. You realize this?”
“I hadn’t actually expected it. I’m a man of my word and now apparently at your mercy.”
“What an interesting development!”
“Says the woman holding the reins,” Talon said softly. He deliberately spun her more dramatically on the turns subtly forcing her to cling to him a little tighter, to draw closer to him. It was a selfish maneuver but one that he relished. Scarlett Blackwell inspired a man to break the rules.
“Tell me honestly, Your Grace, which do you prefer? London or the quiet of the countryside?”
“It is unfashionable to say that I find hunting dull and tend to prefer the company of others and good conversation over the tedium of an estate’s routines. But there you have it.”
“How remarkable!”
“I should quickly add that I do not devalue my tenants or the lands that are in my charge but…when I am there, I am hardly expected to do much and it is tedious to sit and wait for dinner bells.”
“Do you always do what is expected of you?”
The question caught him off guard. “Naturally. Do you not?”
“Rarely.”
“I believe you since that was not what I expected you to say.” Her fingers tightened on his arm, her hold instantly telegraphing heat through his frame but she was innocently unaware as she looked up at him as sweetly as before. “Next question?” he prompted her.
“What is your favorite color?”
“And there is another example,” he said. “Very well. My favorite color is green.”
“A safe and sound choice.”<
br />
“Too safe? Are you saying you expected me to choose green?”
“It is a far happier preference than brown or black.”
He smiled grateful that he’d pleased her, then Talon sobered. Pleasing Scarlett Blackwell was not anything he had planned. “Have I passed the test then?”
“I suppose though I am still unsure of why you would go to such an effort.”
“Are you not worthy of a man’s efforts to impress?”
“That sounded like a trick question. If I insist that I am, you might say that I think too highly of myself but if I demur, you’ll accuse me of false modesty or start asking what faults I possess that prevent me from being worth a man’s esteem. Why don’t I just ask if you meant if I was worthy of a duke’s efforts?”
“God, this is like debating philosophy with a master of the Socratic method!”
“Was that another compliment?”
“No, more like a faint complaint against whoever charted your education.”
The shock on her face was genuine. “My education is a match to any man’s. What complaint is there in that?”
He shook his head slowly. “If you cannot see the answer in the question, then I’m not foolish enough to say it aloud.”
The color in her face drained and he knew he’d crossed some line with her. Instantly, he ended their steps and guided her from the floor, directly out through open French doors to an open balcony. His goal was to reach fresh air, to escape the crowds and sort out his misstep before it became a public scene and fodder for wagging tongues.
“Miss Blackwell, if you’ll allow me to—”
“I will allow nothing. Nothing!”
“Allow that I was honest. It would have been easy to flatter you. Would you have preferred it?”
“To some sly insult about my education? It is too close to call.”
“I do not wish to be at odds with you tonight.” He had to put his hands behind his back to quell the urge to touch her. “You are very intelligent, Miss Blackwell. I do not count it as a detriment. It is a credit to you.”
The Wild Duchess/The Willful Duchess (The Duchess Club Book 1) Page 7
