Page 42 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

As Phoebe and Lady Evelyn immediately gravitated towards each other, giggling over how much fun they were going to have over the weekend, Alice only felt her heart hammering in her chest. She slowly raised her eyes to meet those of her betrothed, who was gazing intently at her in the manner of a panther eyeing its prey. His lips curled into a slight smile as he walked towards her and reached for her hand.

“Lady Alice,” he murmured, bowing and pressing a soft kiss to the back of her hand. “Welcome to Fitzroy Hall.”

Alice had to remind herself to breathe. Just a few short days of not seeing him, and already she was losing her composure faster than a boulder could sink in the Thames.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Lady Wellington smiling at them, looking extremely satisfied. Her own mother looked exceptionally pleased with Colin’s warm welcome as well, and even her father looked as if he had recovered from his long illness just by looking at them.

It was enough to make her head ache, really.

Fortunately, she did not have to dwell much on that, for she was whisked away to join the small group of young ladies in the parlor. Phoebe briefly shot her a look of concern when she sat down, but Alice subtly shook her head. It would not do well to show signs of anything amiss in the presence of others.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Colin stalk off to join a group of gentlemen—the Wolves, Scarlett had whispered to her with wide eyes. It seemed that the old group had gathered in Fitzroy Hall as well.

Her eyebrows knitted when she saw him turn his back to her almost deliberately.

So, we are back to ignoring each other now, are we?

Alice pursed her lips. She should have known that the warm welcome she received had been nothing more than a play he enacted for their family.

With a slight huff, she turned her back to him and devoted her entire being to enjoying the conversation with her sister and friends. If he meant to ignore her throughout this whole affair, then she could play along. After all, he was not the only one she could talk to in the whole of Fitzroy Hall.

Let him have a taste of his own medicine.

Colin Fitzroy did not have a monopoly in the art of purposely ignoring someone—she could do it, too, and very well at that…

CHAPTER 17

Colin frowned when he saw her turn her back to him. Even then, he could not help but admire the gracefulness of the way she sat. Lady Alice Barkley had the regal composure of a queen and the all-consuming fire of a newly-born phoenix.

And he was the moth drawn to her flame, heedless of the danger that he put them both in with every moment his desire remained unquenched.

“I do not see Ethan around.” Hudson, the Duke of Wolverton, snorted. He crossed his arms over his chest as his dark eyes scanned the parlor with a hint of impatience.

Daniel merely shrugged. “You know how he is. He never comes on time, so he can draw even more attention to himself.”

The words sounded reproachful, but the tone belied the camaraderie they all shared. All of them Dukes and Wolves, admired and feared in equal measure by the marriage-minded ladies of the ton.

The three men sat in relative silence, allowing the chatter of the young ladies to fill the air instead. Fortunately, this small group of misses, including Colin’s betrothed, did not seem the least bit inclined to approach them in the efforts of trying to “tame a Wolf”—a rather foolish endeavor that had often sent many a young lady scampering away in tears, only to embolden another in her place.

No, the young ladies present seemed quite content to leave the gentlemen to their own devices—a fact which somehow irked Colin when he noticed that Alice had not looked over at him even once since he had met her at the front door.

“I have told you countless times to cease glancing over at the young lady like a lovelorn swain,” Daniel warned him, his eyebrow arched as he regarded Colin with a knowing look. “If you want her, then what is stopping you?”

Myself, he wanted to reply. My own selfish desires and the inherent darkness in me that will only destroy us both.

Instead, Colin merely shrugged. “I have told you before that this betrothal is nothing more than a farce. In three weeks, we will declare ourselves ill-suited for each other and get on with our lives.”

Hudson regarded him with a piercing look. “Somehow, that does not look like it to me.”

“Then what should it look like?” Colin retorted. “None of us have ever been betrothed—or have any plans to at all.”

“Yes,” Daniel replied drolly, “but none of the rest of us are pining like an idiot either.”

Colin was about to vehemently deny that he was “pining like an idiot,” as his friend had put it, when Ethan strolled in through the door, looking charmingly apologetic with his hair slightly disheveled and an affable smile on his face. As expected, he did not go directly to his friends. Instead, he went over to the ladies.

“Good afternoon, My Ladies,” he greeted them most congenially.

The young women all turned towards him, and seeing his warm and open attitude, they did not hesitate to chorus in welcome. Colin noted in particular how Alice’s eyes lit up when she saw his friend, when she had been pointedly ignoring him for the better part of an hour. His hands curled into fists at his sides as he inwardly debated whether it would be in bad form if he punched one of his oldest friends in front of his betrothed.

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