Read Online The Debonair Duke by Emilyn Hendrickson - Free Book Online

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    “Still determined to locate the sender and intended recipient of the necklace?” He studied her from the depths of his gray eyes, the intentness of his gaze bringing a faint blush to her cheeks. “Any other young woman would be greatly tempted to keep those incredible sapphires and diamonds for herself. After all, it is not your fault the chap who delivered the package took it to the wrong Lady Pamela.” He picked up a pencil and began to toy with it. “And that is one thing about which I’m most curious. Why did the package come to you, in particular? Could there be a Lady Pamela living not far from you? Or perhaps a Lady Pamela with a house number the same as yours, but on a different street?”
    “I hope to discover precisely that this morning, Your Grace.” She glanced at her neat little watch pinned to her spencer and then gave him a shy grin. “Time is flitting by.”
    He became quite businesslike. “Here, you may have the Radcliffe copy of Debrett’s while I use my own. There is a stack of paper for making notes and extra pencils should you require them. I know they smudge, but ink can be so dreadfully messy —especially around books.”
    Gratefully, Pamela accepted the book, a portion of the stack of paper, and a neatly sharpened pencil. She needed a distraction from the duke. Fancy sitting here directly across from such a man and plowing through Debrett’s. It would take all her powers of concentration.
    * * * *
    An hour later, she sat back in her chair to rub the back of her neck. There were limits to one’s ability to pay attention to pages of names. She’d developed the ability to skim through the list with fair speed, the name Pamela seeming to leap out at her when it came. However, the names tended to blur: she hoped she’d not missed any.
    “I have an impressive list of gentlemen who have the required initials. How are you coming along?” the duke asked, glancing over at the precise notes filling the top page of Pamela’s paper.
    “I had no idea that my name was so popular. I imagine that Richardson’s novel had something to do with it, or so says my grandmother. At any rate, I have compiled a fair list of names, none of which are familiar to me. I fear this is not going to be as simple as I’d hoped.”
    “Goodness, but you two look terribly serious,” caroled Lady Anne from the open doorway, breaking into the silence that had begun between the duke and Pamela. She turned aside to say something to someone in the hallway, then drifted into the room bringing the scent of heliotrope with her.
    “Each of us are overly blessed with names. It is going to be more difficult than we expected or hoped,” the duke replied.
    “Well, it is time that you took a respite from your search. I insist you join me for a light repast.” Lady Anne turned to the door, motioning the young footman to enter. He wheeled in a cart bearing a hearty meal. Ham, meat pies, deviled kidneys, fricassee of eggs, and rolls were revealed when lids were removed from the dishes. Pots of tea and coffee sat atop stands that had candles beneath to keep the contents warm. The sight was unbelievably welcome to a suddenly hungry Pamela. The way the duke tucked into the food, it would seem that he felt the same.
    “Good,” Lady Anne said sometime later when an agreeable amount of food had disappeared, with Pamela and the duke wearing somewhat bemused and contented expressions on their faces.
    “That was truly excellent and most welcome. How considerate you are, Lady Anne,” Pamela said warmly.
    Lady Anne smiled, then turned to the duke. “Did you tell her about Tuesday?”
    Pamela darted a look from one to the other. Tuesday? When the duke shook his head , Lady Anne turned to face Pamela, her eyes sparkling with delight.
    “I trust you will join us come Tuesday morning? After you have spent a bit of time searching these books, you absolutely must join our waltzing party! There will be quite a number of us, you