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She stuffed her hand in the pocket of his coat, and with a frown withdrew his flask.
“Ah, liquid courage,” she said wryly.
“It is whiskey.”
She rolled the word on her tongue. “That night at the Gladstone’s I was so nervous I drank three full glasses of sherry.”
He remembered the sweet tartness on her tongue. Suddenly he was intensely curious about her. “What possessed you to act with such boldness?”
She gave him a considering glance, then a wide smile appeared on her lips. “I think someone is curious about me.”
He blinked.
She unscrewed the flask and took a swallow, then spluttered and coughed until her eyes watered. “Damnation!”
Edmond couldn’t help but smile at the loud unladylike curse. “No one told you to drink it.”
“I thought it would have warmed me like the sherry.” She grinned. “And it did.”
Then she held out the flask to him as if they were drinking companions. The night was taking on a surreal feel. Yet he gripped it, and took a swallow, welcoming the warmth that settled in his stomach and spread through his veins.
“The Earl of Vale kissed me when I did not want him to,” she said abruptly. “It was a soiree at his house in Hertfordshire, held by his sister. Lady Margaret insisted we all attend, and Lord Vale startled me in the gardens and tore my dress, and left bruises on my arms and lips.”
The cold rage that stirred in Edmond’s gut startled him. He shifted through everything he knew of the man, and made the resolve then that Vale would understand the error he’d made in touching his duchess. It hardly mattered Edmond had not known her then.
“He of course offered for me, and instead of Papa saying no, they thought his offer would restore my honor.” She scoffed. “My honor…when he had been the one to act in such a frightful and disgusting manner. I knew I could never marry such a man, and Mr. Atwood had offered for me several times. I simply thought being in his room would force Papa to see sense. I never expected to end up in your bed,” she said with a delighted smile.
Why she seemed so pleased he had no idea, for her folly took her from a man she had affections for.
He grunted noncommittally, but resolved in his heart that Lord Vale would be made to see the error of his debauched behavior toward Adeline. Edmond held the flask back to her and she pursed her lips.
“I already tasted it once, and I am sure you were appalled at my unladylike manner.”
“I do not believe taking a few sips of whiskey to be only a gentleman pursuit.”
Her mouth stretched and he was unwillingly fascinated by that crooked smile.
“How enlightened. I daresay I thought I would have been upbraided.”
“I was never one to fall in line with society’s expectation.”
“Very unusual, I thought all dukes were staid.”
“I don’t give a damn what’s proper,” he clipped.
She grinned and grabbed the flask, taking another swig of the whiskey and then shuddering at its potency. “The stars are beautiful,” she said on a sigh. “Do you know that many people simply never tilt their head back and marvel at the wonders of the universe? I’ve had three seasons and on some occasion manage to ask several ladies and gentlemen their opinion. They were very affronted I was not speaking on the latest on-dit. In fact, I think they found me odd.”
Why was he so riveted?
“My father admired the heavens.” Why had he offered that intimacy? He rarely spoke of his father, if ever. He normally protected his true sentiments and opinions behind a wall of reserve. A leg
acy his father had taught him and one Edmond was proud to say was natural to him. He only ever took a few people into his confidence, Westfall, his brother, and, on very rare occasion, his mother. Now he found himself unaccountably compelled to engage in conversation with his duchess, such intimate conversation, too.
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
“He sounds like he was a very sensible man.”
