AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Six
“Ladies, this is the Duke of Benson,” Rufus said, gesturing to the man who Hermione had thought was a servant, “and his brother, Naval Officer Stenham.”
Hermione was so stunned she didn’t curtsy straight away. She stared at the Duke of Benson, her mind reeling. As his sharp blue gaze found hers, it was coupled with a mischievous smile, clearly taking pleasure in her shock. Hermione felt her father’s grip around her wrist tighten in admonishment, and she hurried to curtsy, bowing her head.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace,” she said, hoping by looking away from him, it would do something to hide her mad blush. She remembered with horror what had happened the night before. She had not only been sharp-tongued and rebellious with a Duke, but she had also kissed him.
“And you,” he said formally. Hermione lifted her eyes to his, finding him still bearing that insufferable smile as he gazed at her.
“Well, please, everyone take your seats. It’s high time we had some breakfast,” the Dowager Duchess pleaded with them, ushering with her hands for them to sit. “I am so ravenous, I could eat a house!”
“Horse, mother,” the Duke said with a small laugh.
“I’m sorry?”
“The phrase is I could eat a horse,” he said kindly to her.
“Oh yes, that’s right,” she chuckled to herself as she turned her attention to her plate. “How strange that phrase is… Why would I want to eat a horse?”
“Why would you want to eat a house?” the Duke pointed out.
Hermione tried to stifle her own laughter at the Duchess’ mistake. From what she could see, the Duchess was perhaps not quite as astute as her sons. As Hermione turned to the chair nearest to her, the Duke pulled the chair out for her. In the chatter amongst the others, he took the opportunity to whisper words to her. “I promise not to demand you leave this chair,” he said, winking at her.
She turned her head sharply away from him and took the seat quickly, just as he pushed it in. Any other time, she was sure she would have thought of a tart comeback; as it was, she was too baffled by the reveal to be able to come up with anything good.
Why was a Duke dressed as he was last night?At the very least, the reason why he found her actions of wandering the house at night impertinent made more sense. She was inhislibrary, readinghisbooks, and had refused to move when he asked. She rather wished the ground would open up, and she could disappear into it, never to face him again.
As he took the seat at the head of the table, he kept looking her way. She could feel it, even though she tried to keep her own focus on the food in front of her. To her dismay, she had chosen the seat closest to him by accident. A quick glance at Rufus and Cordelia showed the two were looking at each other with clear excitement. It only made Hermione groan inwardly.
“I understand we are to enjoy your company for a month,” the Duke said, addressing the group as a whole. “What has made you wish to leave London for so long?”
“Hermione had–” Phoebe began, but Rufus spoke over her before she could give any details away.
“We merely wished to take our family to see the ocean, Your Grace,” Rufus said with a simpering smile.
Hermione reached for her sister’s hand under the table, squeezing it in comfort. Being sensitive, Phoebe already looked hurt at her father’s sharp cut. Hermione knew Phoebe was sensible enough to never reveal what had happened in London, but clearly their father didn’t trust her not to.
“A break from London is just what we needed,” Rufus continued on.
“Still, a month is a considerable break,” the Duke said with care before settling his blue eyes back on Hermione. “One could almost wonder if you were escaping something.”
For an awful minute, Hermione thought he must know already what had happened to her in London, but then he turned back to Rufus with a smile. “Or is it just escaping London society in general?”
“You could say that, Your Grace,” Rufus chuckled with good humor. “We are merely excited to take a break from that world and spend some time in peace here in the countryside.”
“Then I hope you will enjoy your stay,” the Duke said, lifting his gaze back to Hermione.
As Fergus took up a thread of conversation, earning the attention of Rufus, Hermione was startled to see still the Duke did not look away from her. In fact, he leaned toward her, just an inch.
“How shocked are you on a scale of one to ten?” he asked, whispering to her with a smile.
“No scale is big enough, Your Grace,” she said. “Andyoushould have corrected me in my error last night,” she whispered back.
“Where would have been the fun in that?” he asked.
She was tempted to smile too, but she managed to clamp her lips tightly together and stop herself from doing so. She resolved to barely speak at all now for the rest of the breakfast. If this was the Duke, then she was in danger indeed, for she was already attracted to him and enticed by him. How could she trick a man she liked into a deceitful marriage?
* * *
