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Chapter Five
Rosabel fought another blush. She had found their drive to be far more enjoyable than she had ever expected, but her surprising comfort in the duke’s presence allowed her tongue to run away on her. How terribly vulgar to offer Vicky as a potential bride for him. No wonder he declined.
“What about Miss Bridgestone?”
She wanted to clap a hand over her mouth. Bel hadn’t even known the thought had flitted across her brain before it came out of her mouth.Why was she pushing other ladies upon him?He had clearly stated that he was fully capable of finding his own bride. Of course, he was! And this was a highly inappropriate conversation for her to be involved in, in the first place. Imagine if the countess were to hear her. Rosabel nearly shuddered at the thought.
“Which one?” His curiosity warmed her, even as she blushed anew.
“I apologize, Your Grace. I had meant to hold my silence on the subject. I’m not sure where that suggestion even came from.”
“No need to apologize. I’m curious as to why you consider Miss Bridgestone to be suitable duchess material.”
Bel knew her cheeks were still red, but she made every effort to ignore the heat as she tried to think of an answer to his question. Before she could, he had another one.
“Is it to further your goal of helping the wallflowers?”
This made her choke back a laugh. “I hadn’t thought of that aspect, but I do suppose no duchess has ever been a wallflower.”
“Do you think a former wallflower would be able to handle the attention?”
It took an alarming amount of effort not to wrinkle her nose at the duke. She hadn’t had this much trouble containing her feelings and reactions since she had made her debut. The duke was not a good associate for her. He was spoiling all her best habits. With a sigh she answered his question.
“I would have said, no, prior to yesterday. Now, I am rethinking my opinion of wallflowers. I think they are a highly misunderstood strata of Society. Specifically, I think Miss Bridgestone would be up to any challenge.”
“But could she lead Society?”
“Does every duchess need to lead Society?” Rosabel countered. “Do you aspire to be a leader of Society? And what does that actually even mean?”
When the duke looked at her as though she had taken leave of her senses, Rosabel couldn’t disagree with him, but she carried on nonetheless. “In the case of Miss Bridgestone, no, I can’t say that I think she’ll set any fashions. But I could be thoroughly mistaken. It’s entirely possible that if she were to become a duchess, she might set a new trend of not being a slave to fashion. Or she could find a dresser she trusted, who would set the trends for her. But I do believe she has the strength of character to be able to be a leader, if she was called upon to do so. I am quite convinced that nearly any woman could do so, if the need arose.”
“Have you been reading Wollstonecraft?” The duke’s bland voice as he asked her the highly charged question made Bel laugh, to her dismay.
“You don’t allow me to be serious for more than a moment, do you?”
“Serious is highly overrated.”
“You are quite dreadful.”
When the duke chuckled again, rather than being mortified by the attention it drew, Bel’s chest warmed, and she felt for a moment that she had finally found a friend. With a blink she realized she was being foolish and tried to push the alluring thought from her mind.A lady does not become friends with a duke.
“Perhaps we ought to be heading home,” Bel ventured, causing Wexford’s eyebrows to rise. Her cheeks warmed anew. She supposed one did not give a duke direction. She tried to brazen it out, lifting her chin and removing as much expression from her face as possible, except for a slight, pleasant smile as she gazed about, avoiding his attentive eyes.
“That certainly put me in my place, didn’t it?” Wexford’s droll tone made her lips twitch, but she continued to avoid making eye contact with him. She couldn’t decide how she felt in that moment and didn’t want him reading her indecision. She would be relieved to be home and out of his company.
“Surely, I have already taken up too much of your time. As you said, you have many responsibilities you need to care for.” Bel hoped she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt. Perhaps she was grasping at straws in the hopes that she’d be free of his company shortly.
His low chuckle warmed her belly and made her heart rate increase.Perhaps she was falling ill.
“You are right. I do have too many things to take care of. But I have quite enjoyed the afternoon with you. Perhaps we could do it again some time.”
Rosabel’s heart sank. She finally faced him, hoping her feelings were not on display. She mustered up a slight smile and gave a neutral answer. “Thank you, Your Grace.”
∞∞∞
James wasn’t sure where he had gone wrong with his lovely companion. He had been enjoying himself far more than he could remember ever having done, especially in the company of a young noblewoman. But suddenly she had grown stiff and unresponsive, as though she had taken offence, but he couldn’t imagine what he had said or done to cause such a reaction. Perhaps the chit wasn’t the pleasant companion he had thought.
With a flick of his wrist, his responsive pair of horses turned quickly, and they were soon barreling back toward the Sherton townhouse. The silence between them was no longer companionable, much to his regret and anger.
“Thank you for the drive,” Lady Rosabel said with almost no sincerity.
James almost grunted but managed to remain civil. “A pleasure,” he replied. He didn’t bother getting down, allowing his servant to assist the young woman from the carriage. Watching her climb the front stairs at her measured pace, James couldn’t prevent his admiration, but he was determined to ignore it. He thought she was going to ignore him completely, so he was surprised when she glanced back over her shoulder just as a servant opened the door to her.
For the first time, he saw indecision written upon her face. It was a surprise as she always seemed so sure of herself. Even when she didn’t know how she felt about speaking with the wallflowers, she had been determined to do so. His curiosity about the young woman was again piqued, but he was fairly certain she was too complicated for his limited availability.
Her hand fidgeted as though she were trying to decide whether or not to wave. James found it endearing in the strangest way. He thought her eyes looked sad before he took himself to task for being missish. Lady Rosabel was simply too much trouble. He would wish her well with her mystery mister. But he continued to watch as she stepped through the open front door without actually waving goodbye to him.
Wexford’s servant jumped up into his position on the back of his carriage just as the duke urged his team into rapid motion once more. He had a mountain of work waiting for him on his desk. He didn’t have time to be mooning over a moody debutante.
He was relieved when he arrived in his library to find that his secretary had managed to keep the mountain to a reasonable level. James would be able to clear it before he needed to prepare for the evening’s social exertions. He had accepted invitations to three separate events. He wondered if the Shertons would be at any of them. It was a strong possibility, he mused as he reminded himself that thoughts of them would not be conducive to completing his work prior to the evening’s engagements.
