Page 3 of To Dare a Duke

She felt the old man’s gaze upon her and avoided his it.

“Now then, what’s the gossip?” Prue asked, turning the subject and forcing away the ghosts of the past, preparing instead to enjoy a comfortable chat with her most favourite source of news and intrigue.

Once they had turned over every aspect of life in the village and beyond to their satisfaction, the baron wandered off to mingle with his guests. Prue found a book she had not read—the baron had given her free run of his library some time ago—and settled down in a quiet corner. She had barely read the first line when a voice hailed her.

“Prunella?”

Prue looked up, startled to have been called with such obvious enthusiasm.

“Oh, it is you!”

A young woman hurried towards her. A slender and delicate redhead, she was as fragile and petite as a porcelain shepherdess.

“Alice!” Prue exclaimed, and jumped to her feet in such a hurry her book almost tumbled to the floor. She caught it before it hit the rug at her feet and then straightened to find Alice laughing at her.

“I might have known I’d find you skulking in the corner with a book in hand,” she said, grinning with such affection it was clear there was no criticism in her words.

“I was not skulking,” Prue retorted with a sniff. “I was just….”

She trailed off as Alice arched one elegant red-gold eyebrow. “Oh, well, yes. I was skulking, but honestly Alice, what else is there to do?”

“Avoid my mother?” the young woman suggested with a twinkle in her eyes.

Prue snorted and took her friend’s arm. “Oh, that goes without saying, but tell me, why are you here? I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Nor did I,” Alice replied as Prue put the book down and they set off on a walk about the grand house. “My uncle lives at Dunton Green and his wife has taken ill. Mama brought me to help her with the children for a few days until she’s feeling better. It was all very last minute, so I didn’t have time to write and tell you.”

“But, if that’s the case, why are you here tonight?”

Alice rolled her eyes, giving a despairing shake of her head. “My mother has made such a song and dance to my uncle about the difficulty of getting me suitably married that he took pity on her. I’m here with friends of the family. They have a son….” She grimaced.

“Oh, lord,” Prue said, with heartfelt sympathy. “Is he ghastly?”

“Buck teeth, bad breath, and a stutter,” Alice said on a sigh. “I mean, really, I do try not to be too fussy but—”

“But?”

“But there’s something about him, Prue,” Alice said, lowering her voice. “He … he’s very attentive but he makes me feel—” Alice shuddered, and Prue grasped her hand.

“What?”

“He frightens me a little.”

“Good heavens, Alice,” Prue exclaimed, turning to stare at her in horror. “There’s fussy and there’s …” It was her turn to run out of words, at a loss for what could possibly induce her friend to even consider the idea for a moment. The idea of lovely Alice married to a man who might be even a little like Prue’s father. She closed her eyes. “You can’t be considering such a match, Alice, truly. You cannot marry a man who frightens you. It’s not as if you’re penniless or at risk of destitution. Surely, you’re not so desperate to get out from under your mother’s clutches?”

“Not so desperate,” Alice agreed, sounding thoroughly desperate.

Prue sighed. “Oh, well. The season is almost upon us, and you can husband hunt to your heart’s content.”

Alice cut her a look. “Oh, yes, because I was so successful last season.”

“It was your first year,” Prue said with a huff. “You’ve got some town bronze now; you know what’s in store, so it won’t come as such a shock.”

Their eyes met and both gave a heavy sigh. Yes. They did indeed know what was in store, and Prue well knew that Alice dreaded it every bit as much as she did.

Chapter 2

Dear Prunella,,