Page 26 of A Virgin for the Duke of Ash

“Y-you…” Lord Sidmouth trembled with what appeared to be barely restrained fury.

For a moment, Evie feared that he would drop all pretense at civility as he glared at Daniel with the fury of a thousand suns, and who could blame him? His adversary was smiling rather antagonistically at him, as if he derived some sort of pleasure watching his frustration.

Fortunately, the Earl of Sidmouth managed to gather himself, and with a gentlemanly and apologetic smile at Evie, muttered, “Well then, I must apologize for my approach, My Lady. I suppose congratulations are in order, unless His Grace wishes to keep this private?”

When Daniel smirked in response, Evie could not help but wonder why he seemed to be distinctly bent on riling the Earl.

“Of course not,” he replied graciously. “But you might want to count yourself fortunate to be among the first to know.”

Well, this is also the first time I have heard of it, and I do not count myself so lucky to be graced with such news!

Evie wanted to complain.

In fact, she felt a keen desire tohitthe smiling devil before her, for all the good her puny attacks would do to his ridiculously muscular frame.

Meanwhile, Daniel stood there, as if he reveled in the chaos he had managed to sow with his one declaration. He truly was a devil—sly and manipulative and heaven only knew what else!

She saw the Earl of Sidmouth clench his hands into fists as he returned the smile with one of his own.

“Well then, congratulations, Your Grace,” he bit out. “I must be going now.”

He turned on his heel and walked away, his pack of dandies following after him. Most of them sported confused expressions, and some of them merely shook their heads.

Lord Sidmouth had some sort of reputation amongst the young fops, who looked up to him and aimed to emulate him. It must have been such a shock to them to find their hero suffering such a crushing setback by no less than the Duke of Ashton.

Evie, however, wasnotpleased with the day’s turn of events.

“Well, well, well,” she heard Ethan mutter as he shook his head in amusement. “This should be something Colin would be pleased to learn about.”

Evie turned to the Duke of Sinclair. “He willnotbe hearing of this because His Grace”—she glared pointedly at Daniel—“will be rectifying this mess thathecaused right now!”

She hated how her voice rose to a hysterical pitch at the end, but she was truly close to losing her sanity—and the one responsible for it merely looked at her wordlessly.

“I will do no such thing,” he replied implacably.

“Well, you cannot ruin my reputation just because you dislike the Earl of Sidmouth!” she all but shrieked.

Daniel frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest. He raised his eyebrow at her.

“Well, doyoulike the Earl of Sidmouth?” he countered coldly.

“No, but?—”

“Ladies!” Ethan called over their brewing argument. “I declare myself rather parched and in need of refreshment. How about we proceed to the cake house?”

“A rather fine idea!” Scarlett piped up almost instantaneously. She turned towards Evie, who refused to move from her position. With a troubled sigh, she tugged at Phoebe’s sleeve instead. “Let us go with His Grace.”

Phoebe nodded quietly, throwing Evie a worried look before she left with Scarlett and Ethan.

Desperation, however, was clawing frantically at Evie’s insides. If Daniel refused to fix this situation, what was the rest of thetongoing to say when he rescinded his proposal?

There was no way that he was going to marry her, and she was hardly prepared to consider the implications of marriage tohim, of all people.

There had to be some way out of this. Perhaps they could break off the engagement a little later or?—

“Of course, I mean to rectify the situation,” he told her in a voice that sounded very much like that of an adult placating a child throwing a tantrum.

“Good,” she shot back belligerently, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared up at him. “And how do you intend on going about it, Your Grace?”

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