Page 15 of Taken By the Beastly Duke

"I think we should head towards the dining table." Charlotte said when they turned to see the guests pairing off to go to the dining table.

"I must find Townbrige, please excuse me," Charlotte said, hurrying away most likely to find her husband.

When they arrived in the massive dining room, Victoria had to make a conscious effort to prevent her mouth falling open in shock.

The dining table was a long stretch of furniture that took up the length of the huge room. By her guess the table could comfortably sit at least forty people.

On the long table there were numerous delicacies filling the room with such heavenly aroma that her mouth watered. She hoped the food tasted as good as it smelt.

Their hosts sat them close to each other, so close she could literally feel his breath whenever she turned and for the next three hours Victoria became acquainted with the concept of torture. No matter how she tried to avoid it, their legs almost always touched

She resolved to endure until she was distracted by strains of conversation reaching her ears

"I wonder what she wants with the Duke, seems she is make one last attempt to leap off the dusty shelf," a screechy voice she recognized to belong to Lady Pembroke whisper yelled.

The woman was half deaf so she just might not understand the concept of whispering. But then chronic gossips need not just stop simply because of a trifle mishap of a diminished hearing.

"Only a damaged man will go for such an old maid because no sound female would have him" her companion agreed

"I heard a tale that she had some disability. It explains why she remained on the shelf for so long," another added with a sneer in her tone.

At this point Victoria had gotten used to the whispers about her status as a spinster but she guessed most ladies at the age of five and twenty were married and some already had two children.

She learnt earlier to ignore them, but it seemed they have ceased to whisper it, instead these days they said it with tones designed for her hearing. It seemed today the duke had become collateral damage in their need for gossip.

She looked up at Anthony, but he seemed indifferent and she might have believed him if she didn't notice the ticking in his clenched jaw.

She longed to caution the gossiping ladies but that singular act might shatter her guise of the perfect lady. So she ignored them.

"Please Miss Victoria could you pass the pepper shaker?" Lady Pembroke requested.

Considering that the lady had just participated in the gleeful task of gossiping about her. It seemed bold of her to request help from the very person she had just gossiped about. Victoria was tempted to help her with the pepper shaker- making sure to spread it all over her face.

Instead she pasted on a bright smile and picked up the pepper shaker.

"Of course, my lady," she said passing the shaker.

Considering the restraint she had just demonstrated, Victoria was positive she deserved a nomination for sainthood.

She vented her anger by cutting her meat with unnecessary vicious force. Her private venting was interrupted by the amused voice of her seating partner.

"Careful darling, I think your anger is showing. Do spare the meat your wrath, would you?"

Victoria turned to him, her frustration growing.

"I must say you did a good job acting civilized with that horrid lady. You would have completely fooled me, except I was sitting right beside you and could feel your whole being vibrating with barely restrained rage," he whispered in her ear, the feel of his breath on the sensitive shell of her ear sending shivers down her spine.

"In the future darling, you must do a better job of masking your emotions," he said, turning back to his plate, an amused smile on his face.

Soon the dinner came to an end and they expressed their appreciation to their host and proceeded back to the duke's carriage that took them home.

Throughout their journey he didn't speak to her. Instead he stared out of the window and she was sure the serious expression on his face definitely had nothing to do with the view, because she doubted he could see anything in the only darkness outside the carriage

She studied his handsome profile, the uninjured part of his face was the most visible part to her, she marveled at his sheer masculine beauty and wondered what it will take unravel the layers under the serious personality he showed society.

With the way he had teased her at the dinner, she had seen flashes of the mischievous man he must have been before the accident.

She had to make the conscious decision to remind herself that her task was to save her sister from marriage to the brooding duke, not wonder how best to break his boundaries.

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