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Rosaline jolted herself back to the present, aware of a strange ache between her legs. She hadn’t felt that before. It wasn’t unpleasant, but she was very aware that she oughtnotto be feeling such things. Not in company, at least.
“I…” he began, regaining his composure, but it was too late. Rosaline had seen it.
She sat back in her seat, arms folded, triumphant.
Rosaline had won this battle. In a way, at least.
CHAPTER9
The Duke rose to his feet abruptly, and Rosaline followed, feeling oddly out of place in her own home.
Was that it, then? Their conversation was over, and now he was leaving?
What was more, she felt somehow disappointed, as if something had not worked out the way her body wanted in that conversation.
Rosaline wasn’t entirely sure what shehadwanted, only that she had not got it.
“Well, I think we’ve come to a mutually satisfactory agreement, don’t you?”
“Ithink so.”
“Then I won’t trespass any further on your time.”
“Won’t you stay for dinner?” Rosaline asked, knowing fine well that her mother would kill her if she didn’t believe Rosaline had properly pressed their illustrious guest to stay. She dreaded to think what food they would serve for dinner – or what heirlooms they would pawn to buy a decent cut of meat. She dreaded the idea of her parents oiling and simpering around a real Duke, especially one as cold, calculating, and assessing as the Duke of Keswick. He’d see right through her parents and would despise them for it.
Sometimes, Rosaline despised her parents too, but that weas different. They were her parents, and she’d earned the right to dislike them if she wished. They’d hurt her futures, and that of her siblings. They’d done nothing to the Duke. Not yet, at least. Besides sliming around him, of course.
“No, thank you.” The Duke answered. “My compliments to your parents, of course.”
“That’s wise. It’s probably tripe again.”
The Duke grimaced. “Oh, dear. Well, I shall take my leave. When you arrive with me at the next ball, rumors will go around about our courtship. That is as good as an announcement. From then on, our partnership begins in earnest.”
Then that was that. He slipped out as quietly as he’d arrived, nodding to Loudwater and disappearing out into the night. Rosaline followed him into the hall, catching a glimpse of empty street outside. Had the Duke not brought his carriage?
It seemed odd to think of a rich, illustrious dukewalkingeverywhere. Didn’t some of thetonsay that it was the mark of a gentlemen never to ride or walk when one could take a carriage?
That seemed like a singularly lazy way of doing things and was probably why half of the dukes and barons of thetonneeded corsets and stays to keep even a hint of a waistline. Coupled with all the tremendous dinners and banquets they enjoyed, she couldn’t help but think that a little more walking would be just the thing for those gentlemen.
The door closed, and that seemed to be the signal for the rest of the family to descend.
There was a scuffling, then the door to the study flew open. The Baroness led the way, racing towards her daughter, eyes wide and mouth agape.
The children flocked behind her. Susanna led the way, flanked by her younger sisters who all seemed to blend into one, with Edmund trailing behind. The Baron stayed in the doorway, eyes bulging.
“What did His Grace want?” The Baroness demanded. She was slightly out of breath, and kept glancing at the front door as if she expected him to come barging back in.
Rosaline smiled weakly. “Nothing much, Mama.”
The Baroness grasped her upper arms, squeezing so tightly that Rosaline winced.
“Don’t yousee? He is interested in you. Oh, Rosaline, this could solve all of our problems! Now, if you can just be a little proactive…”
Rosaline firmly disentangled herself. “Someone like me can’t pursue a man like the Duke, Mama. You must see that. If there’s to be a friendship at all, it will have to be on his terms.”
The Baroness wavered, trapped between her own greedy ambition and basic common sense.
“Did he say when he was coming back?” she asked.
