Sins of an Intoxicating Duchess: A Steamy Historical Regency Romance Novel

by Violet Hamers

  Everyone clapped, applauding them.

  Selina fanned herself as she stood beside her aunt and uncle. She’d danced for most of the night, and her slippers were beginning to pinch her toes.

  “Well, I suppose we should bid our farewells,” Uncle Latimer mused. “It’s been a good night, hasn’t it?”

  “The best, Uncle,” Selina agreed. She’d enjoyed herself. She slipped her hand into the elbow that her uncle offered her. Then, the three of them walked over to where the Dowager Duchess, Lady Leah, and the Duke of Gillingham all stood beside the door.

  “We’re ready to take you home, my dear,” Uncle Latimer announced to Leah. “Your cousin has exhausted herself entirely. She’s danced with nearly every gentleman here, and she’s quite tired.”

  Selina laughed.

  “Have you had a good time, Lady Selina?” the Duke asked, beaming at her.

  “I’ve very much enjoyed myself, Your Grace,” she said. “I kindly thank you for allowing me to come at last moment’s notice.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” the Duke said, bowing to her. She felt her face go hot as she curtsied to him. Their eyes locked for a moment.

  “I must say goodbye to Lady Morton,” Leah said. “Mother, you come, too.”

  “Selina and I will call for the carriage to be brought round,” Uncle Latimer said.

  Selina walked out of Gillingham Manor with her uncle, headed for their carriage.

  “Don’t they look good together?” her uncle asked as they waited for the carriage to be brought around.

  “Yes, very good,” Selina agreed, smiling. She knew that she felt a rush when she was near the attractive Duke, but she brushed it off as nothing more than mere fancy. With any luck, Lord Sandbourne would always be around. He was good for an interesting conversation, and nothing more.

  Jasper and his mother walked Lady Leah and her mother to the landau that waited to take them to Kirby Hall. He offered her his hand.

  “Thank you,” she said stiffly as he helped her up into the carriage. Something had happened at some point during the party, and she’d been bristly ever since. Jasper chalked it up to being tired.

  Lady Selina and her aunt and uncle were waiting in the landau. Lady Selina’s face was turned away. He wished that she would look at him. He wondered what had caught her eye.

  “Very soon, this will be all yours,” his mother told Lady Leah, taking both of her hands. “And I will get to go to my bed while you bid all of your guests goodnight.”

  Lady Leah smiled at her. “Thank you, Your Grace.”

  “You both must come to dine with us, tomorrow evening,” Lady Kirby said. “We can talk all about the party then.”

  “We would be delighted, My Lady,” Jasper replied, bowing low.

  “Good night, My Lady,” Jasper said to Lady Leah. He could hear the reserve in his own voice. He bowed, bringing her hand to his lips.

  “Good night, Your Grace,” Lady Leah replied. Jasper shut the door. At that moment, Lady Selina turned back around, and their eyes met. Again, he felt thunderstruck, as he had when he’d first laid eyes on her. She smiled softly, raising her gloved hand in farewell. Then, he and his mother stood back, watching as the carriage pulled away down the long drive.

  “That went very well,” his mother commented as they both waved. Lady Kirby and Lady Leah’s gloved hands were like small white birds, flapping its wings.

  “Yes, very.” Jasper felt exhausted. But at the same time, exhilarated. Thoughts of Lady Selina filled his mind. She was unlike anyone he’d ever met before.

  “I’m off to bed,” his mother said, leaving him at the front door.

  Jasper kissed the air beside her cheek. “Goodnight, Mother.” He watched as she walked up the stairs.

  Jasper had the strangest feeling that he’d been waiting for someone like Lady Selina to walk into his life. Now that she’d arrived, he didn’t know what to do.

  Chapter Four

  The next day, the party from Gillingham Manor was due to dine at Kirby Hall. Leah was anxious and out of sorts all day. She lost her temper at her lady’s maid, not once, but twice. Now that Selina had arrived, she needed to outshine her.

  It had poured steadily, all day. She blamed her mood on the weather, which caused Kirby Hall to become drafty.

  She arrived downstairs to dine, dressed in her yellow watered-silk gown. Yellow brought out the darkness of her hair and her eyes, and the soft cream tones in her skin. Around her neck, she had a delicate pearl necklace.

  “Oh, darling,” her mother said, “you look like a picture.”

  Father walked over to her. “I quite agree with your mother,” he said, squeezing her hand. Leah beamed.

  The door opened, and the butler peered inside the drawing room. “The Duke of Gillingham, the Dowager Duchess of Gillingham, Lord Munro, and Lord Sandbourne, My Lord,” Mr. Wickes announced, standing aside so that the party could pass him.

  “Welcome, welcome!” her father said as they entered. They all gathered together.

  “Where’s the Lady Selina?” Lord Sandbourne asked. Leah felt her mood plummet.

  “I hope she’s feeling well,” the Dowager Duchess murmured, her hand going to her lips.

  Her mother frowned. “I haven’t heard anything. Perhaps I should send Wickes to go and see…”

  Leah felt exasperated. Selina was late, and everyone still talked of her. The Duke walked over to her, smiling.

  “Hello, My Lady,” he said, bowing.

  “Your Grace,” Leah said as she curtsied. This was how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to give her preference, and smile at her, just in this way.

  “Are you well today?” he asked.

  “Very well,” she assured him with a smile. “Are you well?”

  Then, Selina walked in. Leah’s stomach curdled as she beheld her cousin, who looked exactly like a porcelain doll. Selina was dressed in a pale-pink muslin dress, her hair fixed in a way that accentuated her heart-shaped face. She wore a delicate gold chain around her neck with one tear-drop pearl hanging from it.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” she murmured, actually having the nerve to laugh as she curtsied to the whole room! “It’s the funniest story, actually.”

  Leah glanced around to find that everyone was beaming at her.

  “Well, go on, My Lady,” Lord Sandbourne said. “What caused you to keep us waiting for your presence?”

  “My maid had to fix my dress,” she said, turning to show them a long rip in the muslin, which had been neatly fixed so that it was nearly invisible. “You see, I tore it, trying to catch one of my letters, which had blown out through the window.”

  “Lady Selina! Whatever possessed you to have a window open today?” The Dowager Duchess asked, scandalized. “You might have caught a cold.”

  Leah was boiling inside. Here Selina was, the center of attention. And, for what? Ripping her dress while trying to save a piece of paper from blowing out through a window?

  “I do love the scent of a good rain shower,” Selina replied. “I love writing with the fresh air coming into my room. And then the wind snatched my letter away! I couldn’t have my mother’s letter read by just anyone! Who knows what hands it would fall into!”

  “And what secrets they would learn,” the Duke mused, his eyebrow quirked.

  “Indeed, Your Grace,” Selina agreed, shaking her head. “No one should ever learn the secrets that my mother and I know of the latest Parisian fashions. It would be a scandal. All of London, in an uproar. We’d be exiled, and my poor mother would never forgive me.”

  As everyone laughed, Leah gritted her teeth and raised her chin. Couldn’t they see through this? It was just Selina’s way of taking the attention for herself. Leah couldn’t recall a single Christmas where Selina hadn’t pulled some grand escapade and been the center of attention—except for the handful that she hadn’t been present.

  “Your maid does a good job at repairs,” the Dowager Duchess said approvingly. “I wouldn’t have
spotted it myself if you hadn’t pointed it out.”

  “Heaven knows, Faith certainly earns her pay with me around,” Selina replied.

  Leah could only watch in horror. She scanned everyone’s faces. They were all beaming at Selina in open adoration—including His Grace. Lord Munro was the only one, looking at Leah. He smiled at her, sadly. She didn’t want his pity, however well-intended. She looked away from him and down at her hands.

  Leah wasn’t used to making herself the center of attention. She rarely spoke unless spoken to because that was what was expected of her. It was the ladylike thing to do. She recalled Lord Munro’s words from the night before. This was her turn to be the center of attention. All she had to do was take it.

  “Your Grace?” she said, turning to the Duke.

  “Yes, My Lady?” he asked, the duke’s eyes still on Selina.

  “Did you stay out of the rain?” she asked.

  “Yes, quite.” He was speaking absent-mindedly. She could have said anything. She could have told him that she’d run naked across the fields, and his answer would be the same. He was caught in Selina’s spell.

  Leah bit her lip. The Duke glanced over at her and smiled. Perhaps she was imagining things.

  Jasper could barely take his eyes off of Lady Selina. Her golden hair shone in the light from the candles. In her soft pink dress, she seemed out of place in Kirby Hall’s grand early-Baroque style dining room, with its massive dark wood dining table and its blood-red walls. It was as though she’d stepped out of a soft spring Rococo scene—like the maiden on the swing in Fragonard’s painting.

  Not that he had to look away. She kept everyone entertained with stories over dinner. She was well-traveled, even for an aristocratic lady. Her parents had taken her to the continent, and often.

  “What’s the farthest South you’ve been, My Lady?” Stephen asked her. Jasper noted that his friend was warming up to the lady.

  “The very toe of the Italian boot,” she replied, taking a delicate sip of her wine, then setting the glass down on the table. “I stood on the sands of the beach and looked out upon the Mediterranean itself.”

  “I’ve never been to Italy,” Jasper said.

  “None of us have,” Reuben added jovially.

  “You must go,” Lady Selina told him. “The food is unlike anything we eat here. Garlic and tomatoes and olives.” She beamed. “And the art! It’s all so vibrant. So alive.”

  “Don’t tell me that you don’t like England, My Lady,” Stephen said good-naturedly.

  “England is my home, My Lord,” Lady Selina stated firmly. “And I love her very much. But when comparing her to other places, she’s very calm and staid.”

  “I tried to get your aunt to travel,” Lord Kirby said.

  “Oh, but we’re so comfortable here,” Lady Kirby replied. They beamed at each other.

  “That’s the whole point of traveling, though,” Lady Selina said excitedly, “is to not be comfortable.”

  “You give your opinions very freely,” the Dowager Duchess said, smiling.

  “Indeed, Your Grace,” Lady Selina said. “My father always told me that if my brother gets the family estate, then I should be the one to get the brains.”

  Everyone laughed at that. Jasper found himself even more intrigued by her. She was intelligent, witty, confident. When he glanced at Lady Leah, she was sulking. He could see why she appeared to dislike Lady Selina—she commanded the center of attention.

  He regretted, just a little, that he felt entranced by the very person that she seemed to dislike so much. He’d spent the entirety of the day, agonizing over what to do, for he knew that he must do something.

  After dinner, the party retired into the parlor. Selina seated herself by the window, where she could watch the rain. It pelted against the glass, dripping down.

  Footsteps approached, and she was surprised to find that Lord Munro, the Duke’s younger brother, was joining her.

  “Lord Munro,” she greeted him. He looked so much like the Duke, yet there were subtle differences— Lord Munro’s face was wider. His nose crooked—as though it had been broken. He smiled at her, baring his long front teeth. “You did not ask me to dance last night. That was very bad of you, My Lord.”

  “For that, I apologize, My Lady,” he replied good-naturedly. “I’m often told that I have two left feet when dancing, but I do have a very good singing voice.”

  “Will you give me the pleasure of hearing you sing, then, My Lord?”

  “Of course, My Lady.” He bowed gallantly.

  “Then I will forgive you, My Lord,” she said, smiling warmly. “Would you care to have a seat beside me?”

  “Thank you, My Lady,” he replied, seating himself a polite distance from her. “Why do you separate yourself from all of the others?”

  “I’m afraid that someone’s going to demand music soon, My Lord,” she replied. Behind him, she could see the whole party. The Duke was watching them, a mysterious look on his face.

  “Is that so dreadful?” Lord Munro asked her. She turned her eyes to him.

  “It is when you’re a lady, My Lord,” she replied, with mock seriousness. “You see, when you’re a lady, you will always be prevailed upon to prove to all the world that you’re accomplished.”

  “Is that so, My Lady?” His brow furrowed, and he was grinning lopsidedly. He was awkward, puppyish. There was the difference between the brothers—the Duke was dashing, all straight edges.

  “It is so, My Lord,” she stated. “I just don’t know how to break it to the present party that I prefer to give dramatic readings of poetry to playing the pianoforte.”

  “I’m sure they would understand, My Lady,” he said, “Although, if it would help, I can take your place.”

  “I would much obliged, My Lord.” She smiled at him, turning her eyes to the rain, falling down the panes. Thunder rumbled from off in the distance, causing a chill to run down her spine.

  “Ominous weather,” Lord Munro commented.

  “Indeed,” she agreed.

  Jasper couldn’t bear it any longer. When the ladies and Stephen moved to form a card game, he strode across the room, to join his brother and the Lady Selina.

  “Your Grace,” Lady Selina said as he neared. His brother turned, smiling at him languorously.

  “What are you two discussing?” Jasper asked, curiously.

  “We’re discussing the rain, Your Grace,” Lady Selina said. “It’s very ominous weather, is it not?”

  “Very much so, My Lady.”

  “How about we have some music?” Lord Kirby suggested to the room. “Selina, would you get us started?”

  “Seeing how Lady Leah is the bride,” Selina suggested. “Why doesn’t she have the honor of doing so?”

  “Quite right!” Lord Kirby said, turning to his daughter. Leah colored but stood up and walked to the pianoforte.

  “That was very well done, My Lady,” Lord Munro said. “I can’t help noticing how often Lady Leah gets slighted in the present company.”

  “I wholeheartedly agree, My Lord,” she replied. “It certainly doesn’t help cousinly affection.”

  “I’ll go and see if Lady Leah would care to play a duet,” Lord Munro said, standing up.

  “Oh, please do, My Lord,” Lady Selina said. “I’d love to hear your renowned voice.” Jasper felt a little flare of jealousy. After all, his younger brother was well-liked by all, and he was not engaged to be married.

  “I had no idea his voice was renowned,” Jasper murmured.

  “By his own admission, Your Grace,” Lady Selina said, smiling widely. They both watched his brother walk over to his fiancée. Lady Leah stared at Reuben, wide-eyed, before nodding.

  The two began to pore over the sheet music, choosing a duet to play. Jasper glanced toward the other side of the room, where both Lord and Lady Kirby, Stephen, and his mother sat, playing a game of bridge. He and Lady Selina were unobserved, for the moment.

  “Why don’t you want to
perform, My Lady?” he asked, curious as to why a lady who was so lively in talking was not desirous of taking the floor when asked to play.

  “Certainly, you’ve noticed how Lady Leah wants to have attention?” Lady Selina asked him.

  “Not any more than any other Lady,” he remarked.