Read Online The Accidental Duchess by Madeline Hunter - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Madeline Hunter
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Was she mad? To come here and demand he make good on that wager—the idea still amazed him, as did all that had transpired.
She had been sure she would win. There was half a chance she would too. And if not, she would finally lose big, the way her family hoped and wanted. That had certainly happened, hadn’t it? The shock she displayed indicated she had begun to believe in her luck more than was wise.
That would end now. He would let her worry about his intentions for a day or so, then let her out of the bad bargain. By then she would have thoroughly learned her lesson.
His mind drifted to that kiss, as it had several times already. He wanted to say it had only been one more part of that lesson, but that was not entirely true. He could be excused for pressing his advantage a little, however. Considering the situation she had created, she was lucky it had stopped at a kiss. A woman should not allow a man to have her within his power of possession unless she did not mind him considering her in that light.
Consider he had. Rather explicitly. Poor Lydia had sat there, gaping in shock, while he pictured her naked on a bed. He doubted she had guessed that. She had been too distressed to imagine where his mind might be going. In the days ahead she might, however.
Damn right, he had kissed her. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of arousal, but mostly because he already knew it was all he would ever get.
He checked his pocket watch. With a sigh he set down his glass, and stood. He gazed again at the cards.
No, she was not mad. She had come for a reason, and it had not been to toy with him. Something important caused her to assemble the courage to dredge up that old wager, and meet with him alone in order to coerce him to follow through on it.
He flipped the two cards over and returned them to their deck. Money. She wanted the ten thousand. Badly enough to risk herself like this. He wondered why she wanted it. Or needed it. Whatever the reason, she had concluded there was nowhere else to get it. That meant she could not turn to her brother, or her friends, or her aunts.
Evidently, this had not been the first big loss after all. He should have quizzed her on her gambling debts, instead of succumbing to the baser urges her little game had provoked.
He left the library and went below. The butler caught his eye as he descended the stairs, and angled his head toward the dining room. Penthurst changed directions and aimed there.
“My apologies,” he said upon entering. “You are so often late coming down that I assumed you would not mind if I dallied over some brandy while I waited.”
His aunt’s head tilted back so she could look down her nose. She stood as tall and straight as possible for the full ducal effect. That pose had made her formidable and frightening when he was a boy. It still indicated she was not pleased.
“I wonder if our hostess will understand as well as I do,” she intoned.
“Our hostess will await our arrival even if we are two hours late, so should not mind at all that it will be less than thirty minutes. Shall we go?”
Working her mouth like she chewed on words that resisted being swallowed, she accepted his escort out of the dining room. “You were not only drinking some brandy. You had company. A woman.”
Hell. “Did you see her leave?”
“Of course not. Upon seeing her maid, I made myself scarce in the dining room. Why was Lydia here?”
He ushered her out of the building and toward the waiting coach. “She has a cause that she hopes I will use my influence on.” He preferred not to lie to his aunt, but that did not mean he never did.
She stepped up into the coach. “She came here to request that? She has not had a civil word for you in years, as best I have heard. She treats you like a stranger, and suddenly you are to be her friend because you once offered her transport to her brother’s party? Bold girl.
Bold
.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” he muttered as
Was she mad? To come here and demand he make good on that wager—the idea still amazed him, as did all that had transpired.
She had been sure she would win. There was half a chance she would too. And if not, she would finally lose big, the way her family hoped and wanted. That had certainly happened, hadn’t it? The shock she displayed indicated she had begun to believe in her luck more than was wise.
That would end now. He would let her worry about his intentions for a day or so, then let her out of the bad bargain. By then she would have thoroughly learned her lesson.
His mind drifted to that kiss, as it had several times already. He wanted to say it had only been one more part of that lesson, but that was not entirely true. He could be excused for pressing his advantage a little, however. Considering the situation she had created, she was lucky it had stopped at a kiss. A woman should not allow a man to have her within his power of possession unless she did not mind him considering her in that light.
Consider he had. Rather explicitly. Poor Lydia had sat there, gaping in shock, while he pictured her naked on a bed. He doubted she had guessed that. She had been too distressed to imagine where his mind might be going. In the days ahead she might, however.
Damn right, he had kissed her. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of arousal, but mostly because he already knew it was all he would ever get.
He checked his pocket watch. With a sigh he set down his glass, and stood. He gazed again at the cards.
No, she was not mad. She had come for a reason, and it had not been to toy with him. Something important caused her to assemble the courage to dredge up that old wager, and meet with him alone in order to coerce him to follow through on it.
He flipped the two cards over and returned them to their deck. Money. She wanted the ten thousand. Badly enough to risk herself like this. He wondered why she wanted it. Or needed it. Whatever the reason, she had concluded there was nowhere else to get it. That meant she could not turn to her brother, or her friends, or her aunts.
Evidently, this had not been the first big loss after all. He should have quizzed her on her gambling debts, instead of succumbing to the baser urges her little game had provoked.
He left the library and went below. The butler caught his eye as he descended the stairs, and angled his head toward the dining room. Penthurst changed directions and aimed there.
“My apologies,” he said upon entering. “You are so often late coming down that I assumed you would not mind if I dallied over some brandy while I waited.”
His aunt’s head tilted back so she could look down her nose. She stood as tall and straight as possible for the full ducal effect. That pose had made her formidable and frightening when he was a boy. It still indicated she was not pleased.
“I wonder if our hostess will understand as well as I do,” she intoned.
“Our hostess will await our arrival even if we are two hours late, so should not mind at all that it will be less than thirty minutes. Shall we go?”
Working her mouth like she chewed on words that resisted being swallowed, she accepted his escort out of the dining room. “You were not only drinking some brandy. You had company. A woman.”
Hell. “Did you see her leave?”
“Of course not. Upon seeing her maid, I made myself scarce in the dining room. Why was Lydia here?”
He ushered her out of the building and toward the waiting coach. “She has a cause that she hopes I will use my influence on.” He preferred not to lie to his aunt, but that did not mean he never did.
She stepped up into the coach. “She came here to request that? She has not had a civil word for you in years, as best I have heard. She treats you like a stranger, and suddenly you are to be her friend because you once offered her transport to her brother’s party? Bold girl.
Bold
.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” he muttered as
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