Read Online The Dangerous Duke by Arabella Sheraton - Free Book Online

of that unpleasant event.
    Your servant, etc.
    Deverell
    Fenella crumpled the letter in her hand. Compensate? Eliminate all memories of that unpleasant event? What was he trying to say to her…that the memories of that night, those signals of passion and her ardent response to him, were all disgusting and should be forgotten because they revolted him? He was buying her off!
    Shame flooded through her body in a burning wave. A red flush mounted in her cheeks as tears of rage and mortification sprang to her eyes. How dare he make her feel like a common whore, to be silenced with an expensive gift? How dare he humiliate her?
    She wanted none of his gifts; she wanted nothing from him. She wanted to shred the dress into worthless scraps. Fenella reached behind her to tear the pearl buttons from the fabric and rip the dress from her shoulders. A hesitant knock sounded at the bedroom door.
    “Miss?” It was Molly.
    Fenella dashed the tears away with the back of her hand. “Yes?”
    The maid’s cheery face peeped round the door in excited expectation. Molly gave a wide, admiring grin as she surveyed Fenella’s finery.
    “Beggin’ yer pardon, Miss, but ’er Grace wants to see ye in the new gown.” She scuttled behind Fenella and quickly fastened the remaining pearl buttons. “Ooh, but ye do look so fine, Miss. Shall I tell ’er Grace ye’ll be coming down now?”
    “I shall be there directly.”
    Molly scampered out the room. Fenella gulped down the sobs that rose once more. Her composure regained, she straightened the folds of the skirt, put on the slippers and gloves, and clasped the shawl around her shoulders. As she walked down the staircase, nothing remained of her distress but the heightened colour in her cheeks.
    “My dear, you look splendid!” the Dowager exclaimed when she saw Fenella’s changed appearance. “How delightful. And how very clever of Devlin to arrange all this by himself, don’t you think?”
    Fenella bit her lower lip and nodded, not daring to speak in case the tears poured forth again.
    “Turn this way…yes…now back again…oh, beautiful!”
    The Dowager clapped in delight and then rang the bell on the tea table. Blenkins appeared and the Dowager instructed him to summon Mrs. Perkins. In a few minutes, Mrs. Perkins rustled onto the lawn and dropped a curtsey. “Yes, ma’am?”
    When the housekeeper saw Fenella, she said, “Begging your pardon, Miss Fenella, but you look like a picture.”
    In spite of her intense anger and hatred toward Devlin, Fenella was just like any other young woman wearing a beautiful gown—she blushed prettily and her spirits rose.
    “Now, Mrs. Perkins, you remember when Miss Amelia stayed here, just before her wedding to that Farleigh fellow?”
    The housekeeper nodded.
    “Well,” the Dowager continued, “I know she left several very pretty dresses here since I outfitted her with a complete new wardrobe for her trousseau. See if you can find them.”
    “But, ma’am,” Fenella protested. “I cannot accept such generosity.”
    “No buts!” the Dowager admonished her. “Indulge an old woman’s fancies, my dear. Amelia had umpteen dresses she wore but once. I am sure that like most young girls you would enjoy a few new dresses.”
    Fenella subsided into silence. Every day the Dowager’s increasing affection and generosity made it more difficult to consider going, but depart she must at the end of three months. Fenella would simply leave any gifts behind.
    * * * *
    “And so dear Aunt,” Fenella wrote , “you will not believe how many dresses I have now! Miss Amelia Salton is the Dowager’s niece or grandniece, I forget which, and she is terribly spoiled. She married the Honourable Peregrine Farleigh, who stands to inherit a great deal of money. His parents are well placed in Society so it is an excellent match. Miss Amelia left behind the day dresses she no longer wanted. Oh, Aunt, such beautiful fabrics, as I have never seen before. The Dowager