“Miss Pembleton, please stop.” The Duke hurried after her.
“Please go away.” Jane continued to walk away from him. “Have you not embarrassed me enough without needing to cause a scene?”
“I am not trying to cause a scene, nor was I trying to embarrass you. If you would just let me explain.” Blake sounded frustrated.
“Regardless of what you intended, I am embarrassed. Frightfully so.”
“Why?” The Duke’s earnest question stopped Jane in her tracks.
“What do you mean?” she whispered.
“I mean, why are you embarrassed? Half the people in that church were numb with boredom—plenty more were actually sleeping!”
“Yet, none of them were reading a-a salacious book.” Jane stammered, her cheeks reddening even more as she remembered the last line she had read. “Dear Lord, what kind of woman must you think I am? What kind of woman does that?”
She turned to Blake, her cheeks feeling as though they were on fire, tears of embarrassment streaming down her cheeks. “Go on, tell me that I am some filthy harlot. That I am a hypocrite. Go on, I know you want to.”
“I have no desire to do anything of the sort,” Blake replied. “I did not come here to judge you.”
“Then why did you follow me, if not to tease me?”
“While I do enjoy our little verbal sparring matches, I do not like to take advantage of an opponent who cannot be at their best due to their distress.” Blake sighed. “I sensed that I had upset you greatly, and I did not want to do so. I just want to understand why my words have affected you so.”
Jane tried not to gape at him. “How could they not? You pointed out my shame in a house of God.”
“What shame?” Blake’s earnest question caught her off guard. “From where I stand, you did nothing wanton or shameful.”
“Forgive me if I do not think that your opinion on what is wanton or shameful holds any merit.” Jane made to turn away but found herself unable to tear herself from the conversation.
“It was just a kiss,” Blake murmured. “A kiss in a book. Hardly the most salacious thing to have ever existed.”
“You would say that,” Jane pointed out.
The man has a more liberal view on such things than normal people.
“That does not make it untrue.” Blake looked as though he would move towards her, his hand trembling as it dropped to his side.
“That does not make it true.” Jane wrapped her arms around herself.
“A kiss is hardly the worst thing in the world. You need not characterize what you read as the most salacious and depraved thing when it was by no means anything of the sort.”
“And why does it matter to you if I think a kiss is something important?” Jane shot back without thinking. “Why does it matter if I think it immoral? Are you planning on kissing me?”
The Duke’s eyes widened, and even in the depths of her embarrassment, Jane felt a dull sense of satisfaction.
It is rather nice to be the one to take him by surprise.
ChapterTwenty
The Difference Between Thinking And Speaking
“Well, what does it matter to you what I think of kissing?” Jane asked, moving towards him.
“I… It… What?” Blake asked, trying to understand what had just happened.
As soon as Jane had stepped out of the church, he had followed her. She had moved surprisingly fast, and though he had not wanted to draw attention to her, he had needed to move just as fast to keep up with her.
I have never been so grateful for the length of my stride.
