Page 27 of The Duke’s Wager

Great. Perfect.

“Besides…” Alfred was still smirking. “I don’t believe a mere apology would suffice in this case.”

“You don’t?” Edward looked at Alfred blankly. He had enough experience with women, but apologizing to one was not exactly something he was used to. “What do you suppose I ought to do?”

“Well…” Alfred looked at him as though he were a mere child – or an imbecile. “Usually, when you apologize to a woman, you go to her house with a note and a bouquet of flowers. You grovel… you beg… you plead.”

Edward grimaced at the thought. “I’m not really one for groveling.”

Alfred laughed at this. “Yes… I know that. You’re one for pleasing and leaving. But I don’t think that your usual plan will work with the challenge before you.”

He was right – of course, he was. Lucy was not like the other women he frequently bedded. She was the type to be worn down over time. She was the type of woman to be courted – slowly, gently, and attentively.

The only problem was that Edward was not the type of man to court anyone.

“Do you know how to apologize, Edward?”

Alfred was still mocking him – speaking down to him as though he were a mere child. Edward grimaced at this. His friend was really starting to grate on his nerves.

“Yes. I understand how apologies work, thank you very much.”

Alfred raised both hands, relenting. “Right. I’ll stop. So what do you plan on doing?”

“I’ll call upon their estate tomorrow. Ask to see her. But if I have to take on the Ice Queen and win… I’m going to need something far stronger than brandy.”

Alfred laughed at this and clapped a hand on Edward’s shoulder. “What do I always say? Never fret when Alfred is near.”

Edward sneered at his friend and shook his head.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means…” Alfred lowered his voice inconspicuously. “I have exactly what you need. Like I always do.”

CHAPTER TEN

The nerve of that man! She was blind with rage.

She could not believe – not for a second – that she had been sympathetic towards him. Lucy laughed derisively at the thought and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

Men. They truly were the absolute worst. An infuriating species indeed. All of them were the same: they wholeheartedly believed that some lame flirting and a lopsided grin would bring any woman to her knees.

Well! She was not any woman, and Edward Lockhart needed to realize that.

She would not fall that easily. Not for any man. The absolute gall he had – to cruelly mock her and call it an innocent joke.

Lucy scoffed audibly at the thought. Feeling sorry for him had been her mistake. It was certainly not one she was going to repeat. To think that she wasted so many years wondering why he had not contacted her – only to be sorely disappointed by the man he had turned out to be.

He was no different than the others who frequented these events. They were wolves, the lot of them. All they wanted was to bind her – turn her into a silent, dutiful wife. Well, they clearly did not know Lucy Beaumont at all. She was not silent – and she would not be anyone’s dutiful little bride.

“Lucy!”

Her father’s cane landed against her thigh in a rapt smack, and she jumped.

“I am talking to you, and you dare be lost in thought?”

Lucy swallowed the sigh before he could hear it. It would not do to irk him even further – she had already drawn his ire because she did not hear his rant.

“I apologize, father. I was merely tired.”