Read Online To Marry The Duke by Julianne MacLean - Free Book Online

searching for that devilish quality she’d been so wary of. Strangely, at this moment, she could see nothing but a genuine interest in her, and a sincere hope that she would enjoy London while she was here.
    Was she being naive now, to allow herself to feel more comfortable with him because he was asking polite questions? Or had she misjudged him before and put too much faith in the drawing room gossip?
    They strolled to another painting.
    “What about the society?” he asked, studying her eyes as if fishing for something. “It must seem a great labyrinth for you.”
    She looked up at the top of the portrait—at the coronet upon the nobleman’s head. “Rest assured, Your Grace, American society is equally as mystifying. We call ourselves a classless society, but we are far from it. In a country without titled nobility, people are ambitious. They want to better their situations and rise to the top, and rarely do their manners keep up with their wealth. Sometimes I think that certain rules of etiquette were invented just to make the barriers more visible and more difficult to circumvent, for we do not have aristocratic rank to make the lines clear.”
    “My apologies,” he said, looking up at the coronet also. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that society in your country is simple, on any account. I only meant to say that I,
myself
, find London society like a labyrinth on some occasions, and I had the benefit of being born and raised here.”
    She recognized what he was doing. He was trying to assure her that she was not an imbecile, that if she made the occasional social blunder, it was quite understandable. A tingle of appreciation moved through her.
    They wandered along to the next work of art. “No offense taken,” Sophia replied. “And I apologize for speaking so out of turn. I am grateful for your openness with me, Your Grace. It is the thing I find most difficult here.”
    “Openness?” He sounded surprised.
    “Yes. Or the lack of it. I haven’t been able to really talk to anyone or get to know them. The conversation is always so light, and I get my hand slapped for asking personal questions.”
    “Like Whitby the other night. I do apologize for that.”
    She smiled appreciatively and moved on. “I have two sisters.” She knew she was leaping upon the very conversational topics she’d been instructed to avoid, but she didn’t care. She wanted to show a little of herself to the duke. A little of the
real
Sophia Wilson. “I miss them very much. I long for our carefree talks and easy laughter. We tell each other everything.”
    “And what would you tell them if they were here now?” An appealing glint flickered in his eye, and she wondered what exactly he was expecting her to say. What he was hoping she would say?
    She took her time before answering, thought carefully about what she was feeling. Was it contentment? A sense of adventure? She supposed with some surprise that it was a little bit of both. Her feelings about this man were changing, despite her resolve to be cautious.
    Caution, as it happened, the very next instant took a holiday. Her reply came quickly, before she had a chance to heed it. “I would tell them that I prejudged someone that I should not have prejudged, and that I would like to start again with that person.”
    They stood in the gallery facing each other, staring. His expression revealed very little, but enough to tell her that she had done well with her reply.
    “I am a great believer in new beginnings.” He moved on, and she followed, feeling buoyant. “And I, too, have a sister I like to confide in, but I don’t think I will say anything like that to her. She is eighteen and romantic and will have it all over London by teatime tomorrow, that I have met the love of my life.” He grinned at Sophia. “And I don’t appreciate being the subject of gossip. Even if it is true.”
    Sophia nearly swallowed her tongue. Had he just suggested that he had feelings for her? Or