“He did seem a little persistent.” Suddenly self-conscious of both his haste to get to her and the old-man’s cane that he needed to lean on to do that, when her robust admirer had no such impediment, Leo lowered himself into a chair.
“Opportunists always are.” She pulled a face. One that said that she was used to men trying to seduce her and that did nothing to ease his irrational jealousy any. “Have you had a successful evening convincing the rich to part with their money?”
“The coffers of St. John’s Hospital are significantly fuller, so yes.”
“You seem to have a knack for fundraising.” Sometimes, when she looked at him, he could see the cogs of her clever mind turning as if she were trying to figure him out just as much as he was trying to figure her out. He had no clue whether that was a good or bad thing but still foolishly hoped for the former. “I have never seen so many people so happy to have their pockets picked.”
Did that mean that she had been surreptitiously watching him too? A prospect that warmed him more than it should. “Being a duke has its advantages.”
“I suspect that is part of it, for sure, but a greater part is you. You are quite the charmer on the sly, aren’t you?” He tried to wave that compliment away, but she wouldn’t let him. “Being able to turn people to your way of thinking so effortlessly is a rare talent indeed. One that I wish that I possessed. But alas, I am too cynical, prone to lecture and can frequently be too…” Her brows kissed as she sought the right word.
“Prickly?”
Her bark of not-so-outraged laughter made him want to puff up with pride because, reluctantly, even if she did not lust after him in the way he did her, she was definitely warming to him. “I was going to say acerbic, but I suppose prickly fits just as well.”
“I admire that you do not suffer fools gladly, even when you thought me one of those fools.”
She smiled but didn’t deny it. “You have grown on me since then, your grace.”
“I apologize for that—because I appreciate how painful it must be to have to admit that.”
“Thank you.” Her lips twitched but she held her amusement in. “There is nothing a cynic loathes more than their lowly expectations being surpassed.”
“That is not it at all. You just hate being proved wrong.”
Her caged smile broke free. “There is that too.”
“But now that I have gone up in your estimation, I am curious, Miss Kendall—what was it in particular about me that you initially took the most umbrage about?”
For a moment, he didn’t think that she would answer honestly, but she sighed. “To be frank…” She swept her arm around the room. “This. I find it difficult to feel any compassion for those who have only ever existed among all this privilege and yet are so oblivious to it.”
Leo frowned, unsure whether to be offended by her sweeping generalization. “Surely none of us can help what we were born into?”
“Of course we can’t—but we can decide how we choose to treat people.” Her smile now was resigned. “I will wager that it would never occur to most of the people in this grand ballroom to share their toast with an employee or, for that matter, to use themselves to stop a heavy shower of books from raining down on one either. In fact, I’ll wager most do not even see their employees. Just as most have flatly refused to see me this evening. If they have, with the exception of that chancer just now who was on the prowl for a willing woman, they look down their aristocratic noses at me—just like those two ladies are currently doing.” She flicked her eyes briefly toward the exact same pair of debutantes who had simpered over him not an hour ago, who were undeniably shooting daggers her way. “They are positivelyoutraged that a duke would waste his precious time talking to someone as insignificant as me.”
He scoffed. “They are more likely outraged that you are the most beautiful woman in the room, Miss Kendall.”Oh good heavens above he had actually said that aloud!
Before he could find some way to claw that unintentional confession back, it was her turn to scoff. “You do not need to use your well-practiced charm to make me feel better about their disdain, your grace, for I am well used to being glared at down an aristocratic nose. Almost as much as I am to being rendered invisible by them. We are disposable and too easily replaced to even feature in their thoughts. That is the unique curse of a servant. To always be underestimated simply because we weren’t born to privilege and to always be judged solely by our humble exteriors.”
Then she grinned. “But be assured that while I am outwardly demure and seemingly oblivious to their scorn, as is expected from someone from my lowly station, internally I am judging them just as harshly as they are currently judging me. Perhaps even more so because I am such a prickly cynic. What pathetic creatures those two ladies must be to feel threatened by me? Even if I am currently talking to the most eligible peer in the ballroom.” There was a twinkle of mischief back in her fine eyes now. “How does that feel, by the way? To be coveted by every single young lady present who is in want of the most titled husband?”
“Awkward,” he said truthfully. “Annoying. But…” He nudged her playfully with his elbow. “That is the unique curse of us dukes. To always be underestimated simply because we were born with a silver spoon in our mouths and always be judged solely on our impressive title and even more impressive ducal exteriors.” Then he winked. Purely to get her reaction. Or perhaps to flirt. He really wasn’t sure which.
“Again, your practiced charm is wasted on me, your grace, as I have always tried to judge a man on his measure and not a lofty title that he inherited purely out of happenstance.”
“Dare I ask how I measure up?” He was in grave danger of genuinely flirting now as he fished for more compliments, and thought he might have gone too far because he felt her stiffen beside him until he realized that she had instead stiffened because they had impending company.
“Debden! It’s good to see you!”
Leo resisted the urge to groan aloud and pasted on a smile as he reluctantly held out his hand. “Corston.”Lord but he loathed this man!“I would stand but…” He tapped his leg as an excuse, even though he could easily stand on it if he chose to.
“Yes—I heard you’d had an accident.” Then the old letch ogled Miss Kendall. “But it least it gives you a decent excuse to sit out the dancing, eh? Who is this attractive filly?” Because surely every woman must be thrilled to be compared to a horse.
“My social secretary.” Leo left it at that. Because sometimes the only way to get rid of someone that you didn’t want to talk to was to leave an awkward silence dangling.
Corston’s smarmy chuckle filled it, and it was as grating as the man. “Then I shall leave you and…” The letch swept his eyes the full length of Miss Kendall. “Yourdelicioussocial secretary to it.”
They watched him walk away. Leo was on the cusp of apologizing for Corston’s inappropriate innuendo when she leaned closer. “Would it be impertinent to ask why you dislike Lord Corston so?”
