Read Online The Wild Duchess/The Willful Duchess (The Duchess Club Book 1) by Renee Bernard - Free Book Online

lost a bit of their sparkle, her lips compressing infinitesimally to betray her frustration. “We have been friends since before we could walk, Scarlett Blackwell. If you truly think my mother did not come home in a state of flushed and raw exhaustion from sitting with you and your mother through a day of social calls and somehow then failed to mention that a duke had paid his respects then I suspect that something has gone terribly wrong. So, let’s have it, Scarlett.”
    “It really isn’t…much of a story, Ivy.” Scarlett bit her lower lip. “I’m still trying to sort it out myself.”
    “Did a duke call on you?”
    “Yes, but not—it was not the duke I danced with and he is most definitely not a suitor.”
    “Wait. There are two dukes?” Ivy gasped.
    Scarlett held up her hands in protest. “No! It isn’t like that. It’s…complicated but all I can think to say is that one duke is enough and if I can convince the Duke of Stafford to never darken our door again, it will be a triumph.”
    “Truly?” It was Starr who asked the startled question. “I thought he was…civilized and very smart looking.”
    “Oh, was he?” Ivy pressed, her interest instantly ignited.
    Starr nodded. “I am a wretched sister and abandoned her to face him alone but he was quite overwhelmingly handsome. Like something out of a novel!”
    “He was no such thing!” Scarlett said quickly, coloring as her conscience pricked her at the outright lie but she didn’t want to admit that the dratted man was prettier than any other gentleman to her friends. “He was a bit puffed up and I’m sure that all dukes learn that trick like kittens that hiss and spit and give you the illusion that there is more to them than there really is.”
    Starr’s eyes widened. “He was not a kitten.”
    “Well, no, I did not mean to imply that he was.”
    Ivy leaned in. “Was he terrible then?”
    Starr looked inquisitively at her sister. “Was he, dearest?”
    “No! No. If he was terribly…pretty then—No! That’s not what I meant to say. He was very polite and not unattractive and not really the matter at hand. Stafford is nothing to me and merely meant to make a show of courtesy for his friend, the Duke of Chesterton.” Scarlett nervously tugged at the lace at her wrists. “It was a simple social call. Nothing more.”
    Ivy and Starr exchanged knowing looks but Ivy opted to be merciful. “Tell us of Chesterton then. How did you meet?”
    “It was by simple chance. We spoke first and he didn’t reveal that he was a duke right away which I thought was very kind since I was…speaking freely as I would with one of Father’s friends.”
    Starr sighed. “It is a wretched challenge, isn’t it? If you speak too quickly and without censure, then it’s a disaster. If you’re shy and say little, they assume you’re a dolt. I’d rather read a conversation than attempt to compose one off the top of my head.”
    “We must be ourselves,” Scarlett said firmly. “For who else could we be?”
    “Do you remember the Duchess Club?” Ivy asked.
    “I…yes, but I hadn’t thought of it in some time,” Scarlett said then her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh! I made a joke and said we’d marry dukes!”
    “And now look at you!” Ivy laughed. “I’d say your toes are very nearly on the edge of that leap.”
    Starr’s mouth fell open. “Imagine that, Lettie. You possessed the gift of prophecy and never knew it.”
    Scarlett shook her head. “But we never meant it. It was nothing to do with dukes so if I’m a seer then I was a bit off my game. It was all silly. Our secret club with its secret purposes—it was only a lark.”
    “No, it wasn’t.” Ivy sat up a little straighter, her demeanor changing instantly. “It was everything.”
    “Was it?” Scarlett asked.
    “For me it was everything. We swore to support each other’s dreams and to shake the foundations of the earth.” Ivy stood from the window seat and walked toward an