Page 45 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

She reached for her napkin to wipe the sauce off her mouth. As she did so, she hissed at the most vexing creature she ever had the misfortune to sit beside.

“Your Grace, will you please cease in your juvenile actions?”

Colin did not even acknowledge her, but his lips curled into the barest trace of a smile. “You have been ignoring me all afternoon,” he replied softly.

She nearly rolled her eyes at that. “No more than you have been ignoring me,” she shot back with a furious glare. “Will. You. Stop. That?”

He merely gave her a petulant look that had her torn between smashing her plate of roast lamb into his face and feeling some amount of pity for him. Aside from his behavior after their kiss in the Salisbury gardens, this was the most confused she had been. The man had the distinct ability to tie her up in knots, and not necessarily good ones.

“Little lamb…”

She speared some peas and glared at him. “Do stop it, Colin. You are acting like a petulant child throwing a tantrum.”

At that point, Scarlett broke into a fit of coughing, and Alice instinctively reached for a glass of water and handed it to her. The redhead grasped the glass and downed the water as if her very life depended on it, while the Duke of Wolverton watched wordlessly from beside her.

“Oh, thank you so much, Alice!” Scarlett gasped. “I would have choked to death if you had not been so attentive!”

Alice smiled at her friend’s theatrics.

Scarlett had the tendency to act flamboyantly, but there were very few who were aware of just how truly perceptive the redhead was. Alice should have known that her best friend would have been able to detect the tension between her and Colin from even a mile away.

She shook her head inwardly at that.

Are we really that obvious?

No sooner had Scarlett calmed than Alice heard him say something under his breath.

“I was only trying to honor our agreement,” he muttered irritably. “You were the one who set forth the conditions.”

So… he was angry that she would not allow him to touch her unnecessarily? Did that mean that he wanted to touch her? But why would he act like he wanted nothing to do with her?

She shook her head as she tried to feel some spark of joy when one of the servants replaced the roast lamb with a plate of sliced cake. It was chocolate, too, which she absolutely loved. Unfortunately, her thoughts were consumed by the man sitting beside her.

“You know, Colin,” she murmured angrily, “you really should not underestimate my intelligence by throwing back such an inane excuse for your behavior. If you cannot cooperate and be honest with me for once, then maybe there is no point in carrying on with our ‘betrothal,’ and you should just stop talking to me altogether.”

She sighed and pushed the plate of cake away, turning away from him with her lips pressed into a thin line. She would not cry—at least not in public and definitely not in front of him. She would not allow him the satisfaction of seeing her break.

“Little lamb…” He reached for her hand on the table, but she quickly withdrew it and tucked it under the table, refusing to so much as glance at him.

After dinner, she would feign some excuse—a headache or something. It would be an entirely plausible excuse after making the journey from London. No one would fault her for retiring early.

Just as supper was winding down to an end, Lady Wellington called everyone’s attention from the head of the table.

“Now that we have filled our bellies with this delicious fare,” she announced, “we shall proceed to the most entertaining part of the night—games!”

Alice frowned, her head snapping up in disbelief. Did she hear the Dowager Countess right? She had arranged for games tonight?

“Look under your dessert plates, everybody,” Lady Wellington urged with a huge smile. “There, you shall find the name of your partner—as well as the clue to the treasure hunt!”

Partner? Treasure hunt?

Alice’s mind was in a whirl. It was most certainly a novel idea and one that called to her more competitive side. She looked around as a murmur of excitement arose around the dining table. The young ladies chattered amongst themselves as plates were lifted and notes were drawn out from underneath.

As if in a daze, she, too, drew out the slip of paper from under her dessert plate.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments.

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