Read Online The Duke's Dilemma by Nadine Miller - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Nadine Miller
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hissed, pushing Lucinda at Emily the moment they stepped from the carriage. “If she does anything to ruin her chances with the duke, I shall hold you responsible.” Then, pasting a determined smile on her face, her ladyship proceeded to engage the earl in conversation before he could follow his heart’s desire.
“Don’t make a fuss,” Emily warned as Lucinda balked at being led away like a naughty child. “Your mama always takes an afternoon nap after she lunches; you can walk with the earl then.”
Lucinda’s blue eyes puddled with tears. “Oh, Emily, whatever shall I do? Mama insists on tossing me at the duke as if I were a sweetmeat for him to consume, and I simply cannot abide the dreadful man. He terrifies me.”
“He is a little off-putting,” Emily agreed.
“Not at all like the Earl of Chillingham.” Lucinda sighed. “I am never terrified of him.”
“Of course you’re not.” Emily smiled to herself. She doubted a babe in leading strings could find anything terrifying about the earl.
“I will tell you a secret,” Lucinda whispered furtively, although they were already too far away for the countess to hear their conversation. “I am certain the earl loves me to distraction; he has as much as admitted so. But naturally he cannot declare himself until he can make an offer, and that will be a whole year away when he reaches his majority. Of course, he is not nearly as plump in the pockets as the duke, but I do not care a fig. Nor do I care that he will no longer be heir to the silly old title once the duke sets up his own nursery.”
“Well, there’s your answer then,” Emily declared. “If the duke offers for you, simply refuse him and wait for the earl. This is not the Dark Ages, after all. No one can force you to marry a man you dislike.”
Lucinda shook her head. “You are wrong. Papa can and he will because he cannot afford to wait a year with all his creditors hounding him. If the duke should offer for me, I am lost. Mama says I am the only asset Papa has not yet gambled away.”
She stifled a sob. “Oh, Emily! How lucky you are to be so ordinary-looking. You will never come to the attention of a man like the Duke of Montford.
Emily was still mulling over her cousin’s well-meant but somewhat unflattering observation when an hour later they sat down to the lavish picnic luncheon.
She looked up from her plate of salmon and asparagus pie, buttered lobster, and réchauffé of Veal Galantine to find the duke’s stoic gaze leveled on her. Her breath caught in her throat, but he merely scowled darkly and looked away—leaving her with an odd feeling of deflation. Not that she cared the least for the man’ s opinion, she reminded herself. Still his obvious disgust of her somehow made Lucinda’s thoughtless comment all the more cutting.
She watched him turn his attention to Lady Sudsley’s daughter, who sat on his right. It was obvious someone had warned the poor girl of her profile problem, because she was so desperate to face the duke head-on, her chin appeared to have formed a permanent attachment to her left shoulder.
Emily stifled her urge to giggle and gladly abandoned the duke, and his opinions, to such silly fribbles as Esmeralda Sudsley. Evidently the dreary fellow could conveniently overlook one’s physical shortcomings if one were born into the proper social status.
With a sigh of relief, she turned to Mr. Rankin, who sat beside her, and smiled so brilliantly at the kindly gentleman he blinked in surprise.
“I have two questions, Miss Haliburton,” he said, pushing his spectacles onto the bridge of his nose and returning her smile with one of his own. “One—how soon do you think we can safely manage to slip away from this collection of boring aristocrats and go rowing on the lake? And two—since we have already discussed the first two tablets, what profound bits of wisdom do you conjecture the third tablet of Atrahasis contains?”
Emily laughed. “My
“Don’t make a fuss,” Emily warned as Lucinda balked at being led away like a naughty child. “Your mama always takes an afternoon nap after she lunches; you can walk with the earl then.”
Lucinda’s blue eyes puddled with tears. “Oh, Emily, whatever shall I do? Mama insists on tossing me at the duke as if I were a sweetmeat for him to consume, and I simply cannot abide the dreadful man. He terrifies me.”
“He is a little off-putting,” Emily agreed.
“Not at all like the Earl of Chillingham.” Lucinda sighed. “I am never terrified of him.”
“Of course you’re not.” Emily smiled to herself. She doubted a babe in leading strings could find anything terrifying about the earl.
“I will tell you a secret,” Lucinda whispered furtively, although they were already too far away for the countess to hear their conversation. “I am certain the earl loves me to distraction; he has as much as admitted so. But naturally he cannot declare himself until he can make an offer, and that will be a whole year away when he reaches his majority. Of course, he is not nearly as plump in the pockets as the duke, but I do not care a fig. Nor do I care that he will no longer be heir to the silly old title once the duke sets up his own nursery.”
“Well, there’s your answer then,” Emily declared. “If the duke offers for you, simply refuse him and wait for the earl. This is not the Dark Ages, after all. No one can force you to marry a man you dislike.”
Lucinda shook her head. “You are wrong. Papa can and he will because he cannot afford to wait a year with all his creditors hounding him. If the duke should offer for me, I am lost. Mama says I am the only asset Papa has not yet gambled away.”
She stifled a sob. “Oh, Emily! How lucky you are to be so ordinary-looking. You will never come to the attention of a man like the Duke of Montford.
Emily was still mulling over her cousin’s well-meant but somewhat unflattering observation when an hour later they sat down to the lavish picnic luncheon.
She looked up from her plate of salmon and asparagus pie, buttered lobster, and réchauffé of Veal Galantine to find the duke’s stoic gaze leveled on her. Her breath caught in her throat, but he merely scowled darkly and looked away—leaving her with an odd feeling of deflation. Not that she cared the least for the man’ s opinion, she reminded herself. Still his obvious disgust of her somehow made Lucinda’s thoughtless comment all the more cutting.
She watched him turn his attention to Lady Sudsley’s daughter, who sat on his right. It was obvious someone had warned the poor girl of her profile problem, because she was so desperate to face the duke head-on, her chin appeared to have formed a permanent attachment to her left shoulder.
Emily stifled her urge to giggle and gladly abandoned the duke, and his opinions, to such silly fribbles as Esmeralda Sudsley. Evidently the dreary fellow could conveniently overlook one’s physical shortcomings if one were born into the proper social status.
With a sigh of relief, she turned to Mr. Rankin, who sat beside her, and smiled so brilliantly at the kindly gentleman he blinked in surprise.
“I have two questions, Miss Haliburton,” he said, pushing his spectacles onto the bridge of his nose and returning her smile with one of his own. “One—how soon do you think we can safely manage to slip away from this collection of boring aristocrats and go rowing on the lake? And two—since we have already discussed the first two tablets, what profound bits of wisdom do you conjecture the third tablet of Atrahasis contains?”
Emily laughed. “My
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