Frightwood,” Lady Susan said and the
girls all shuddered loudly and dramatically.
“Rightwood,” Cubby
corrected.
“Trust me, if you’d
ever seen him up close, you wouldn’t say that,” Lady Adele warned her.
“I’ve seen him from a
distance, and he’s perfectly fine,” Cubby defended.
“You would change your
mind if you had to consider which gentleman you were going to allow to nestle between your thighs,” Lady Rose said with a laugh.
They all groaned.
“What?” asked Cubby.
“Oh
my! She doesn’t know does she?” Lady Adele addressed
the group in general.
They all shook their
heads including Cubby.
“It’s like the animals
on the farm Cubby, a man sticks his unmentionable between your thighs and…”
“Susan!” Lady Rose
cried in disgust.
“Well it’s true!” Lady
Susan declared.
“I’m very well aware of that thank you very much!” Cubby
defended herself quite well.
“Well,
perhaps you’re more grown up than we realized then!” Lady Susan teased.
“I
just can’t imagine letting that awful man do that to me!” Lady Adele said with
a sigh, “but I suppose I will have to, at least a couple of times, if we’re to
have heirs.”
Vincent Blackheath , current Duke of Rightwood, the awful man himself, wanted to laugh aloud
at the bizarre depiction of sex by the four very untutored debutantes. But remained silent as a ghost hidden behind the silk
screen in the corner of the library where the girls were taking a break from
the overheated ballroom. He observed only their shapes through a chink in the
screen.
“The animals seem to enjoy
it you know,” Cubby said pragmatically. Vincent did his best to stifle his
surprised snort of laughter.
“Ugh!” the rest of them
chorused again making loud dramatic shuddering sounds. Only one, Cubby,
giggled.
“Lord Frightwood does
appear to be more beast than man,” Lady Susan pondered.
“That shaggy mane and
black eyebrows…he’s quite untamed I’m sure,” Lady Rose said.
“It’s the amber eyes,
they are positively predatory,” Lady Adele affirmed. “Like a wild animal.”
“Can you imagine being
alone in the dark with him…?” Lady Susan asked, a sudden tremor appearing in
her voice.
“I’d rather not!” Lady
Adele declared.
“I’m
developing goose flesh at the very thought!” Lady Rose
exclaimed.
There
then followed only the soft sounds of their ballroom slippers against the
polished wooden floor and the creak of the brass hinges of the solid oak door,
as the ladies apparently decided it was time to return to the ball.
Vincent
waited a few choice minutes for them to make their departure before leaving the
comfort of his hidden spot. He still hadn’t caught a glimpse of the cheeky Cubby, she’d had her back turned to him the whole time. And
exactly who was she? Both her voice and attitude were adorable and warranted
further investigation. He scanned the ballroom, Lady Adele and Lady Susan two
of the Duke of Rothersford’s daughters stood side by side with Lady Rose,
Viscount Hardy’s daughter. No fourth girl was present, but then hadn’t they
said ‘grown up enough’? She must be new on the marriage mart, two of the girls,
the sisters, although both exquisitely beautiful in a brittle porcelain doll
sort of way were each on their second Season. He wouldn’t be surprised to
discover they needed a third to snag an acceptable suitor with those ugly
attitudes. They didn’t hide them well either, as the daughters of a duke,
perhaps they didn’t think they needed to.
Damn it, he didn’t want
to spend the whole Season seeking out a suitable bride. He didn’t need an
influx of the ready, his estates were doing very well, thank you very much, though
a dowry could always be handy. But
certainly not handy enough to put up with those kind of disdainful attitudes
for the rest of his life! Still, a cynical side of him almost relished the idea
of putting one of them through enduring his ‘unmentionable’ between
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