Read Online To Marry a Duke by Fenella J Miller - Free Book Online Page A

make a
spectacle of himself and Miss Tremayne.
    ‘Sweetheart, I think it best if we go in; we appear to have
an audience.’
    Demelza glanced round, unconcerned, and smiled at the
gawping gardeners. ‘Good; now I am thoroughly compromised Papa will have to
agree.’
    ‘Hoyden! Have you no shame?’
    ‘None at all,’ she giggled. ‘I suppose you must speak to my
father, ask his permission to address me?’
    Richard’s cheeks coloured and he took her arm to cover his
embarrassment. ‘Indeed I must, and it would seem to be a matter of some urgency
to do so.’
    *
    Demelza left her betrothed under the magnificent oriel
windows that dominated the face of the ancient section of the Priory. She ran
upstairs to share her news in a letter to her bosom bow, Lucy Carstairs. All
thought of breakfast forgotten in her excitement. Lucy would be so jealous that
she had not been the first to find herself a husband.
    She was so happy. She had stepped
into the pages of one of her favourite romance novels. She was the beautiful
heroine who had been swept off her feet by a handsome prince to live her life,
happily ever after, in a castle. Admittedly her future husband was only a duke,
but he was as handsome as any prince - indeed a great deal better looking than
the overweight Regent she had once seen a picture of in Ackerman’s Repository - and her intended did live in a castle.
Well, almost a castle, and if it only had two towers and a gatehouse, at least
it was ancient. All heroes dwelt in
ancient houses, of that, she was quite certain.
    She ran her tongue along her
still tingling lips and delicious warmth spread through her limbs.
    Lucy would hardly credit the news that
scarcely three weeks after leaving the hated seminary for ever, her best friend
had become affianced to a duke and received her first real kiss.
    She picked up her skirts and twirled around, laughing out
loud with happiness. When finally exhausted and giddy she ceased, it was to
find two young footmen grinning at her quite rudely. She had not noticed them
removing one of the dark brown portraits from the wall of the blue gallery. She
chose to ignore them and stalked past with her nose in the air, praying her
father never learnt of her outrageous behaviour.
    *
    Richard paused outside the study, took a deep steadying
breath, and knocked over loudly.Tremayne invited him
to enter.
    ‘ Ahh , Witherton, how can I be of
assistance?’
    Richard was not invited to be seated. ‘I have come to ask
your permission to address Miss Tremayne.’
    ‘The devil you have! Good God, man, you’ve only known her
five minutes.’
    ‘It’s long enough, sir, to know
our affections are engaged.’ He felt sick. This was not how the interview was
supposed to go. He hurried on, hoping to remove the look of disapproval from
his future father-in-law’s face. ‘In fact, sir, I’ve already asked Miss
Tremayne to marry me and she has done me the honour of accepting.’
    Tremayne’s basilisk glare did not bode well. His silence was
unnerving. Richard stumbled on. ‘This is what you wanted, sir, what we agreed.
I cannot understand why you look so grim. This is good news, surely?’
    Tremayne slowly pushed back his chair and strode round to
stand barely a yard away. Richard had to restrain himself from reversing; he
would not allow himself to be intimidated. He straightened his shoulders and
tilted his head to stare directly at him, refusing to back down
    ‘I hardly think such a precipitate move is good news, but
I’m prepared to be convinced. Explain yourself, Witherton.’
    Richard stumbled through an account of what had taken place.
When he finished Tremayne shook his head as if baffled. Then he laughed and the
tension between them vanished.
      ‘She’s the image of
her mother, you know, Witherton, but is like me in personality. I, too, make
impulsive decisions, but I’ve never lived to regret them. Let us hope my
daughter does not do so either.’
    The threat behind his jovial words