Page 9 of Wedded to the Sinful Duke

“I would love to.” He decided to be nice as he promised his cousin he would be. “But I have to find my cousin and speak to her.”

That was the kindest excuse he could come up with, and despite being a rake with a reputation of one, he was in no habit of insulting women or making them feel bad. On the contrary, their pleasure was as important to him as his own. The only difference was that he never made any promises to them. They always knew what they were getting themselves into with him and that helped him in considering himself an honorable man… despite his obvious reputation.

“Oh,” Elizabeth immediately realized what that meant. There was a lightning bolt of hurt in those beautiful eyes, but she smiled it away. “Of course.” Without another word, she withdrew from him, keeping her dignity intact.

What the devil are you doing?He gasped silently to himself. A part of him wanted to run after her, to tell her that he wanted to go with her wherever she would take him. But he could not move. He just watched her leave until she was out of sight, and once again, she was out of his mind as well.

He turned around in an effort to find the fiery-haired siren, but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he found Rebecca eyeing him furiously from across the garden. He inhaled deeply, walking over to her, ready to be scolded.

“Urgent business discussion with Lord Fitzwilliam?” she echoed his own excuse, much to his amusement. “Who on earth is Lord Fitzwilliam?”

“Oh, you know,” he shrugged, gesturing with his hands. “Lord Fitzwilliam. The man I spoke to.”

“You disappeared from the garden and ended up God knows where as you always do,” she frowned.

He almost told her that was exactly what happened, but he knew better than to divulge that. “I needed some respite from the crowd. These gatherings tend to be too much for me.”

That much was true. Only that respite was supposed to be Elizabeth but ended up being someone else, someone who now occupied his every waking thought.

“But you have barely spoken to anyone,” she pointed out. “There is a very nice young lady I wanted to introduce you to.”

“Speaking of young ladies,” he interrupted her, “have you seen a girl with reddish-brown hair tied up in a low bun, wearing a bright red gown?” As he spoke, he looked around, hoping that he would somehow manifest her there, but it was to no avail.

“No,” Rebecca shook her head. “I haven’t seen anyone like that. Is it someone we know?”

He smirked, feeling strangely titillated by the thought. “In due course.”

CHAPTER 5

Ciara was still lost in thought, sitting in the drawing room of Uncle Brendan’s London townhouse, when the sudden arrival of a carriage drew her attention from the memory of the garden party which still burned fresh in her mind.

“My dear Ciara,” Adeline claimed as soon as she walked in through the door, her eyes filled with concern. “Are you quite well? You left the garden party so abruptly without even saying goodbye, so I had to come and see for myself what on earth was going on. That isn’t like you at all.”

Ciara rose to greet her friend, offering a small but genuine smile. “Adeline, it is good to see you. Please, sit with me. I have much to tell you.”

As they settled into the plush chairs of the drawing room, Adeline leaned forward, her curiosity palpable.

“Would you like some tea?” Ciara offered. “I have just purchased some lovely brews from?—”

“Tea can wait,” Adeline interrupted her with a shake of her head. “First, I need you to tell me everything. You seemed so distressed.”

Taking a deep breath, Ciara began to recount the events of the afternoon in question although it still seemed impossible, even to her. “It was the most peculiar thing,” she commenced her story as if it was a fairy tale and not something that actually happened to her. “I needed some respite from the gathering, and I snuck away from the crowd to go to that little pond. As I was standing there, this stranger appeared before me, pulling me into an embrace and kissing me!”

“He… kissed you?” Adeline gasped. “A stranger?”

“An utter and complete stranger, Adeline,” Ciara confirmed gravely.

“And… what did you do?” Adeline asked, beginning to become slightly amused by the story, now that she had assured herself that nothing bad had happened to her friend.

“Well…” Ciara suddenly flushed in response to her friend’s question. “What do you mean what did I do?”

Adeline chuckled. “I mean exactly that, you silly girl. What did you do? Did you push him away? Did you scream? Did you slap him?”

“I… did none of those things,” Ciara had to admit with a pang of remorse. How come she didn’t think of any of those things? There was only one thing on her mind as he pressed his lips to hers. “I… I think I kissed him back.”

Adeline’s eyes widened in shock, in disbelief, in utter incredulity, and then she burst into a melodious laughter which didn’t seem to have an end. Ciara watched her friend chuckle and giggle until Adeline finally sighed, wiping the corner of her eye.

“Goodness me,” Adeline exclaimed. “I must say, I never expected that of you. To kiss a complete stranger. I must say!”

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