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A man could lose his soul if he looked any deeper, he thought to himself. Lady Emily Montgomery was becoming more and more of a temptation than he had initially realized. He took a step towards her, and she instinctively stepped back.
“Do you truly want to know?” he asked her silkily, noting how her lush breasts heaved a little bit as she breathed.
She nodded, biting her lower lip—a nervous habit of hers, he had noted.
“For one thing, do not let him get you away from the public eye unless you are set on marrying him,” he told her, effortlessly steering her back into a more populated area.
She nodded jerkily. “I suppose you are quite right. I would rather not have my reputation ruined, thank you very much.”
She said that with such an endearing primness that he could not help but smile. This particular wallflower was blossoming rather well under his tutelage, but it was good to know that she still kept quite a level head on her shoulders. She was going to need it once her beaux came flocking to the Montgomery townhouse.
However, the thought of some other man enjoying her company or strolling with her in the more secluded areas as they just did somehow put him in a dark mood—something that Daniel had never felt before in his entire existence.
It was…discomfiting, to say the very least.
* * *
After their brief stroll in the Park, Emily reached several conclusions—one of which was that His Grace, the Duke of Gilleton, had the most mercurial moods of any person she had ever met.
One moment, he was smiling at her and conversing with her quite amiably, and then the next, there seemed to be a dark cloud hanging over him. His abrupt silence lasted for the rest of their trip until he politely bid her goodbye at the Montgomery townhouse.
“I…I suppose I haven’t thanked you for your assistance, Your Grace,” she told him softly. “I do not know how I ever managed without your lessons, although…” she trailed off and bit her lower lip.
“Although what?”
Emily dared to raise her eyes to him. “I do wonder sometimes what you get out of helping me.”
The Duke frowned at her. “What exactly do you mean?”
“Like…am I a charity case to you?” she asked hesitantly.
“Of course not,” he answered swiftly in a clipped tone. “Do not be daft.”
Emily flinched at his abrupt answer, fearing she might have somehow offended the one man who had helped her so much in the span of a few days.
“This is merely the most fun I have had in years,” he drawled.
Oh…so he must view this as some sort of entertainment, she thought to herself.His Grace seems to indulge in the oddest things, but I cannot complain. After all, I ambenefitting so much from it.
“Will…will you come back?” she dared to ask him. “I mean…for tea…or something?”
Emily flushed as she started to fidget with her fingers—a bad habit, but one that she could not so easily shake off.
“Will you be needing more lessons?”
She nodded wordlessly in response.
“In that case, I will come when you send word.”
This stilted exchange did not go unnoticed by Amy, who could not resist taking a shot at her older sister by remarking that she seemed to have displeased His Grace.
“After all, what doyouknow about attracting men?” Amy sneered with her delicate nose in the air.
Emily flushed at that, but if the flowers from Lord Chaney were anything to go by, then she was steadily making progress. It was her dearest wish to at least have her engagement settled by the end of the season.
I would like nothing more than to be married to a man of sufficient means that I can tolerate, she thought as she made her way back to her rooms.
Although like any other young, unmarried female, she enjoyed the occasional romance novel and dreamed of a great love for herself, Emily found it highly unlikely anyone would fall in love almost immediately as so often happened in her books. She had spent two years searching for a husband, and even she could attest to the fact that she never felt that sudden jolt of passion for any of the gentlemen she had met.
